[Direckshun]

S J.L. Skinner, Boise State

Watching the Chiefs fall this past week, I kept thinking back to watching JL Skinner lay some lumber for Boise State all year. Teams just absolutely do not care about challenging the Chiefs across the middle: S Juan Thornhill is not remotely physical enough to punish the middle of the field. To Veach's credit, that's exactly what we acquired S Bryan Cook for, but it's unclear to us outside Arrowhead One Drive if they think Cook is ready to ascend into the space that Thornhill will soon vacate. Maybe, at the end of the day, Cook is a third safety. Time (and the coaching staff) will tell.

If he isn't, let me try to fix all of our Thornhill problems with Skinner. Skinner is everything we ask Thornhill to do and hope Cook can someday do. He's long at 6'4" but a track star, built for tight end coverage. He spent a lot of time as a two-deep safety in Cover Two, where his speed translates. And he patrols the middle of the field to "tax" teams that try to challenge us there. All those hits that WR JuJu Smith-Schuster gets, Skinner can deliver to other teams. He can be part of the solution at safety. (Again, this is all based on how Cook continues to progress.)

That said, the Combine and Senior Bowl will be critical viewing for him. He is faster-than-quick, so will he be a liability in coverage against slot receivers? I have him right now as a 3rd, but I could see that dropping as far as the 5th if he tests poorly, or a 2nd if he answers those concerns unquestionably.