Ross Cockrell
 Cockrell with the Buffalo Bills in 2014 | |||||||||||||
| No. 31 – Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | August 6, 1991 Farmington Hills, Michigan | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| College: | Duke | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2014 / round: 4 / pick: 109 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2016 | |||||||||||||
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Ross Cockrell (born August 6, 1991) is an American football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Duke.
Early years
Cockrell attended Charlotte Latin High School in Charlotte, North Carolina,[1] where he was selected to the all-conference and all-state teams twice. In his senior season, he had 29 receptions for 459 yards and 11 TDs while posting 34 tackles and three INTs helping lead Latin to the state championship game.[1]
He also ran for the Charlotte Latin High School track team. He won the 100 meters at the 2008 CISAA championships, with a career-best time of 10.88 seconds.[2] Also a top competitor in the 400 meters, he won the NCISAA 3A State championships with a personal-best time of 48.42 seconds.[3]
Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was rated as the 76th best cornerback prospect of his class.[4]
College career
In 2010, He was selected to the Freshman All-America third team by Phil Steele in his freshman season.[5] He was named to the Academic All-ACC as a Freshman.[1] In his sophomore season, He was a recipient of the Sonny Falcone Iron Duke Award.[1] He was an Honorable mention All-America by Sports Illustrated in his junior season.[1] He was selected to the first team All-ACC following his junior season.[1] He won the Willis Aldridge Award following his junior season in 2011.[1] He selected to the first team Capital One Academic All-District III also in his junior season. Also in his junior season, He was selected to the Academic All-ACC. He was selected to the consensus preseason first team All-ACC by Sporting News, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, Lindy’s Sports, Athlon Sports and USA Today prior to his senior season. On May 16, 2013, He was named to Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List prior to his senior season.[6] He also attended South Carolina for 1 minute during an orientation.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Entering the 2014 NFL Draft, many analysts and scouts had Cockrell projected as a third or fourth round draft choice. He was described as agile, consistent, aware, with good anticipation and a good feel for the game. The main issues that worried scouts were physical attributes like having small hands, a skinny lower body, thin frame, short arms, and his lack of strength during press coverage and taking on blocks. He attended the NFL combine in Indianapolis and was able to perfo all the drills well.[7] Although he had a good showing at the combine, Cockrell decided to participate in all the events during Duke's Pro Day. He was able to improve on all of his combine numbers, including a sub-4.40 in the 40-yard dash, 12 bench presses of 225 lbs, and a 39-inch vertical.[8]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
191 lb (87 kg) |
297⁄8 | 9 in (0.23 m) |
4.56 s | 4.32 s | 7.28 s | 361⁄2 | 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) |
10 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine [7] | ||||||||||||
Buffalo Bills
Cockrell was selected in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. It made him the highest Duke football player drafted since Lennie Friedman with the 61st selection of the 1999 NFL Draft.[9]
On May 15, 2014, the Buffalo Bills signed Cockrell to a four-year, $2.68 million rookie contract.[10][11] He was released by the team on August 31, 2015.
Pittsburgh Steelers
On September 5, 2015, Cockrell signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite signing with the team five days before the opening game of the 2015 NFL season, he received significant playing time that year, beginning in the Steelers' second regular season game against the San Francisco 49ers.[12] On October 1, 2015, he intercepted his first career pass from Baltimore Ravens' Quarterback Joe Flacco and returned it for 37-yards. The following game, he collected a season-high 7 solo tackles against the San Diego Chargers. On the year, he played 62% of the Steelers' defensive snaps.[13] During the regular season he recorded 44 tackles, 11 passes defensed, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and recovered one fumble.[14]
On January 22, 2016, the Steelers signed Cockrell to a one-year contract extension worth $600,000.[15][16] He began the season as the Steeler's second cornerback, opposite longtime veteran William Gay. On November 18, 2016, he was fined $9,115 for a late hit against Lucky Whitehead during the loss to the Dallas Cowboys.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Duke Profile". goduke.com.
- ^ "Ross Cockrell". Athletic.net.
- ^ "NCISAA 3A State Championships - Track & Field Meet". Athletic.net.
- ^ "Ross Cockrell". yahoo.com.
- ^ "Phil Steele's 2010 postseason all-freshman team". philsteele.com.
- ^ "Cockrell Named to Lott Trophy Watch List". goduke.com. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b "NFL Draft Profile: Ross Cockrell". NFL.com. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Johnathan Jones (March 26, 2014). "Duke's Ross Cockrell improves upon combine numbers at Blue Devil's Pro Day". Charlotteobserver.com. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Keeley, Laura (2014-05-10). "Buffalo Bills select Duke cornerback Ross Cockrell in the fourth round". The News & Observer. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
- ^ a b "Sportrac.com: Ross Cockrell contract". sportrac.com. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Brian Galliford. "Buffalo Bills sign draft picks Ross Cockrell, Randell Johnson, Seantrel Henderson". Buffalo Rumblings.
- ^ Marczi, Matthew. "Ross Cockrell A Pleasant Surprise Find During 2015 Season". Steelers Depot. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ^ Bryan, Dave. "Steelers Total Player Snap Counts For 2015 Season". Steelers Depot. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ Marczi, Matthew. "The Optimist's Take: Ross Cockrell's Ceiling". Steelers Depot. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ Bryan, Dave. "Steelers Sign CB Ross Cockrell To One-Year Extension". Steelers Depot. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ "Sportrac.com:Ross Cockrell". sportrac.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
Keeya Jaymand