Looking at New York Jets undrafted free agent, Xavier Coleman, cornerback from Portland State.
The NFL draft is over, but the work never stops. Not for the New York Jets or any other team. Rookie camps have opened, and the Jets have begun to work their draft class into the pro game. They have started installing the system to give them a start in accelerating the learning curve in their rookie seasons.
But that's not all. Immediately after the draft ended, Mike Maccagnan and company went into the process of signing free agents that weren't selected. It becomes a bidding war from the moment the draft ends, players go to as many teams as they can in an attempt to make their NFL dreams come true. The signings come fast and furious, and social media buzzes with all of the names.
Today, we are going to take a look at one of the players that the Jets signed. This is a player that does fill a position of need. Cornerback play was not good in 2016. Darrelle Revis is gone and the youth movement in full swing. One of those players brought in after the draft was Xavier Coleman, a cornerback out of Portland State. He is the subject of our profile today.
According to his NFL Draft Scout profile, Coleman always made plays on the football. In 2015, he led his conference with 13 passes defended and ranked second with five interceptions. Those numbers declined in 2016, mainly because quarterbacks wouldn't throw his way as often. Still he managed five passes defended and two interceptions. During his time at Jesuit High School, he played in 45 games, starting 35 of them. His career numbers included 152 tackles, 32 passes defended and nine interceptions.
This is a player that could find the football and didn't shy away from contact.
At his pro day, he ran the forty yard dash in 4.5 seconds. It's not an elite number, but it is nothing to dismiss or scoff at either. He was clocked at 6.81 seconds in the three-cone drill, which is a bit more eye-opening. Coleman was definitely noticed by the scouts based on that performance.
Here is some video on him from 2016:
It's difficult to glean a lot from one tape that lasted four minutes, but we'll do what we can.
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The guy is hungry to hit somebody, that much is clear. Coleman doesn't give up on plays and always sticks his nose in to make contact. He doesn't shy away from it. This is a good sign. He also will play, at times, close to the line and use his hands on his opponent. There isn't a lot of hand fighting seen at the college level, so when it is seen, it's exciting. Xavier Coleman has skills that should translate to the pros.
He will be interesting to watch as the level of competition increases. Like it or not, the school he went to isn't the high level of competition that others are, and that ends up hurting a player's pedigree. We shall see how he brings it as camp moves along.
But Coleman is an easy guy to root for. You can teach technique to a player. A player can be taught schemes. He can be taught what life in the NFL is like. He can't be taught heart. Coleman has heart.
Rich Cimini of ESPN wrote about the fight that Coleman endured for his life, and won, that began when he was just 14 years old. After two fainting incidents, he was diagnosed with "bicuspid aortic valve disease", a deformity that negatively affected blood flow. Football was out of the question, and when he learned of his diagnosis, he wasn't pleased:
Coleman was on his way to a stellar high school career when the original diagnosis was delivered on Dec. 23, 2009. He was shattered by the news that he couldn't play football. When the doctor left the room, he threw a chair, ripped cushions off the exam table and tossed books around the room. His mother was in the room. She didn't try to stop him; she let him vent.
He ended up being forced into open heart surgery in 2012 due to the condition worsening, and they were able to fix the problem. Four months later, he took an interception for his high school team back for a score, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
As a man who has survived through a rare condition as well, it won't be too difficult for me to root for Xavier Coleman, and hope he is wearing the green and white in 2017.
If anybody deserves a chance to make it, it's Xavier Coleman. If he can fight a life threatening condition, and anything involving open heart surgery fits that category, he can make an NFL football team.
