Five Questions With "Frogs O' War" about Greg McCoy

Our extensive post draft coverage is rolling on as only Windy City Gridiron can do it, and this time we caught up with the guys over at Frogs O' War (awesome name btw) about the Chicago Bears newest corner back, 2012 7th round draft pick, and former TCU Horned Frog Greg McCoy.

In case you've missed any of our other Five Questions With... series of posts about the Bears rookies, first you should feel shamed, and then you should click the link above to catch up. Now on to the five questions...

Windy City Gridiron - Did TCU play more man to man or zone coverages? And how did McCoy fare in their coverage schemes?

Frogs O' War - McCoy played the "field corner" position which is generally man coverage, but TCU's 4-2-5 is pretty versatile and asks its DBs to do a lot of things, so he's quite familiar with zone as well. As a zone corner he had some nice success, but I think he's better in a man to man role.

WCG - How did McCoy do when playing against "bigger" schools?

FOW - It's hard to say how much of TCU's early struggles against the pass in 2011 were the corners fault, as the Frogs were brutalized over the middle due to poor safety play. This meant that for the Baylor game McCoy was rarely tested, but in the Rose Bowl the previous year McCoy had a stellar game working across from Wisconsin's Nick Toon (now a Saints draft pick) with the most efficient QB in the nation that year, and against a similar Baylor team in 2010 with good safety play the Bears as well were unable to pass effectively - and a lot of that comes back to McCoy's stellar play. The Boise State game (which you'd have to lump in with the big schools, two first round draft picks this year and all) showcased a lot of great play from McCoy as TCU was able to flummox all-world undrafted QB Kellen Moore.

WCG - Smallish defensive backs are nothing new to Bears fans, were taller receivers able to exploit McCoy's 5'9" frame?

FOW - McCoy excels in position and leverage, and does a nice job of putting receivers into an uncomfortable stride. I can't recall seeing a game where I'd say he was bullied, but TCU didn't play any teams with a Calvin Johnson-esque receiver - so don't expect the impossible.

WCG - How would you rate him in the toughness/physical category?

FOW - With an exceedingly high intensity and firmly defensive minded coach in Patterson, being soft is the fast track to the bench. McCoy is great at redirecting receivers and certainly isn't one of the allergic to contact corners you see from time to time. That said he's not a huge dude, so that can be an issue when asked to take down a big back with a head of steam.

WCG - In 28 starts and 51 games, McCoy only had 7 interceptions, was that more due to teams not throwing his way or him just not having good ball skills?

FOW - In early 2011 there was simply not a need to challenge McCoy as the secondary was weak over the middle and it led to a shortage of balls thrown out his way early. However, McCoy finds the ball early and can track it well - his size can put him in more of a pass breakup role but there weren't many passes that he put both hands on that he didn't come down with. There are two or three moments in just about any game where you'll see the DB just staring at his hands, cursing that he wasn't able to hang on to what should've been an easy pick - I can assure you that player will not be Greg McCoy.

Thanks again to the guys at Frogs O' War for giving us some good info on McCoy!