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First of all: Pure track speed is NOT the most necessary characteristic you look for in cornerback. Coaches who sit and crunch 40 times when looking for DB's are the ones who give up a lot of passing yards. Why? How many times do teams go deep over the course of a game? For most, not many, and with skilled safeties you can generally get by with a corner who is a step slower but with better technique.
I'm not saying teams should shoot for corners of Notre Dame-esque speed due to technique, but it is much better to have a corner who can operate all the dimensions of his position to perfection rather than having a speedy one that takes more work.
Lets look at one guy for example: Leon Hall. All Big Ten corner and arguably the best defensive player in the conference this year. Guess what? There's a bunch of corners that are faster than him, so why is he successful? He has good form, he's physical, and plays the various dimensions of his position better than most players.
In otherwords: I don't care if you can run Ted Ginn down, if you can't cover an open man, get physical, and get a good jump on the ball, you're dead worthless as a defensive back. Also: Speed can be greatly improved upon over the 4 year course of the average players career in college.
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