Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne was torched for five receptions, 108 yards and two scores against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. The former first-round pick has been absolutely atrocious when he’s actually seen the football field in his two-plus years with the team.
Anyone who has watched the Cowboys play during this span know this full well.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t mince words when addressing Claiborne’s performance thus far as a member of the team. Maybe it was a way to light a fire under the young defensive back, but one thing is clear: the talented player needs to improve his performance soon (via Star-Telegram).
Is he what we had hoped for at this point when we drafted him with the sixth overall pick, giving up the [second-round] pick to go up to the sixth pick to get him? No,” Jones said on KRLD-FM. “But he’s going to be a good player.
Dallas yielded a second-round pick to move up from the 14th spot to sixth overall in order to select Claiborne back in the 2012 draft. At that time, it was seen as a bold move for a team that needed help at cornerback. Sadly for a team that’s obviously in need of an influx of talent on both sides of the ball, those two picks ended up being used to select Michael Brockers and Alshon Jeffery.
Dallas simply can’t afford to keep throwing Claiborne out there if he’s going to get burned on a consistent basis. And despite some optimism that he’s going to be a “good player,” Jones fully understands this.
Photo: USA Today