Second and third-year NFL players ready to break out in 2019

#13 Isaiah Oliver

I had this guy as my 17th overall prospect in last year’s draft and third cornerback behind only Denzel Ward and Jaire Alexander – and I didn’t think it was that big of a gap. Somehow Oliver fell all the way to the 58th pick in the draft and Atlanta might have found themselves a new number one corner. Coming out of Colorado, Oliver had rare length and speed in addition to that competitive edge I need to say from guys at the position.

While the college tape on him was very limited, I thought his upside was outstanding, but he would need some time to develop. However, with all the injuries the Falcons suffered last season, Oliver was pushed into the lineup quickly and since they didn’t have some of the pieces needed to run their normal scheme accordingly, he was asked to play a lot of zone, which he isn’t as suited to do.

I remember vividly how the Falcons were playing the Bengals in week four last season and they were in cover-two with 11 seconds left, but instead of sinking with A.J. Green on a corner route from a tight-split alignment, Oliver jumped on the swing route by the running back and allowed the game-winning touchdown. That’s definitely something he will learn from, but at the same time, I don’t think the Falcons should ask him to do a lot of that going forward.

I see Oliver as a perfect fit for that cover-one, press-bail scheme the Falcons actually want to run, where he can not only crowd receivers off the line and squeeze them into the boundary with his long arms, but also get his fingers on balls that most corners wouldn’t even come close to. With Atlanta’s two starting safeties and their rangy linebacker Deion Jones back healthy, this could be one of the scarier defenses in the league and Oliver could be the one asked to shadow the opposing number one receivers.