Analysis: Daryl Worley's Rookie Season - Growth, Potential, And Dominance; A Look At A Very Underrated Panther Corner

[Saca312]

Daryl Worley had it rough from the start. Expected to be the #2 corner of a decimated Panthers secondary, it's certainly no easy task for any rookie coming out of college. The typical rookie corner would fail under these conditions.

It's just hard to be a good corner right out of the gate.

Even so, Worley took the challenge head on. Putting his best on the field, he showed growth week after week; his play getting better by the minute. What started off as a roller-coaster of horror ended in a steady stream of potential and growth. 

It's not far-fetched to say Worley is not that far behind Bradberry's game at this point.

So, what made Worley's 2016 season so special? Are people overlooking just how good Worley is? Will Worleybird and Beastberry be making headlines in 2017 as one of the NFL's premiere CB tandems?

Take a look at Worley's film. The answer is in his own play.

Daryl Worley's 2016 Rookie Season In Review

Coming in as a rookie, Worley needed all the help he could get. It's hard to expect Worley to be able to handle NFL receivers on his own. McDermott's solution was to have Worley give a lot of cushion to wide-outs in coverage. This helped Worley have an advantage against deep routes and getting burned, as he has more room and time for error.

However, this often put him at a disadvantage at defending short routes and passes. Players gained good chunks of yards on Worley by exploiting this weakness.

Hyde gets an easy reception for a good 6 yards on a simple short route. 

Although Worley does close in and show good tracking and tackling, he still had a whole lot of empty space in front of him begging for an easy reception. Granted, Bradberry also had the same issue of giving up a lot of cushion to wide receivers. Nevertheless, it still proves how limited Worley was as a new rookie.

It was also common to see Worley let up on simple first downs. Worley often had a lot of help surrounding him, but to no avail.

Worley's hips didn't flip as fast as they should've, giving the 49er wideout plenty of room to work with. Running his route, the 49er receiver had just the room he needed to make an easy first down reception on a 3rd and long. Worley didn't stand a chance at preventing the inevitable.

To top it off, Worley was part of the reason Vance McDonald went for a long TD. 

During Worley's life alert moment, McDonald was able to weave through the Panthers defense for a rather easy touchdown. Without Worley being there in prime position to stop him, it was just a matter of out-running everyone to the endzone.

The 49ers elected to do a sail concept in this play. TE McDonald takes a vertical release and cuts on the 7 route. Chip dialed up a cover 3 beater as he noticed the Panthers defense hinting towards that formation. Worley would've been in position to prevent this from being a touchdown, but tripping up nullified his role.

Even with all these rookie mistakes, Worley still flashed potential. Discounting the McDonald touchdown, Worley never gave up a huge play all day. He showed he could deflect and defend passes with solid coverage in certain instances.

Knowing that his receiver would go for the first down on an obvious 3rd and down situation, Worley sits and waits for him to come right into his trap. Having the 49er covered right during the turn, Worley comes in to break up the pass on a solid play.

It's stuff like this that became more common as the weeks went by.

Worley's start was rough. He'd occasionally whiff tackles, give up first downs, and hand over a lot of yards. As @CPantherKing said, Daryl 'Whiff' Worley gave up a lot of plays due to his inexperience.

However, this incompetence didn't last long.

Unlike popular opinion, I believe he showed starter level consistency beginning week 6. In fact, the amount of flaws in Worley's game dropped dramatically since then. Sure, the 3-4 yard chunks occasionally came due to McDermott's scheme, but rarely did Worley appear as the prime culprit of mishaps.

After the Julio debacle that Worley partly contributed to, our secondary was the laughingstock of the NFL. Worley's game was like night and day as he went up against Mike Evans.

With a little help from Coleman, Worley was able to lock up Mike Evans step by step. This forced Evans out of the play. It would take a picture perfect pass from Jameis - which he's not usually able to do deep - in order to give Evans a chance. Worley was in prime pass-breakup position the whole time, so even that possibility was low.

Worley showed dominance he never did a few weeks before against Julio. It was night and day with his performance, stepping in for an injured Bradberry. Although he did give up one TD to Mike Evans that was all on him, Worley did real well for most of the night. 

It was this night when Worley made it clear he was learning and growing, and it showed.

Later in the season, Worley stepped it up. The Panthers knew Worley was getting the hang of things, and it showed in their new playcalls for Worley. For instance, take a look at this defensive formation:

Notice Daryl Worley in press man with the other half of the field in zone. This usually happens when the team is comfortable in your abilities to play one on one with receivers and win match-ups, which basically means the team considers you a solid corner. It was clear the Panthers began to trust Worley more and more as a viable starter.

When playing press, Worley showed more comfort and fluidity than in the beginning of the year. His hips flipped at a much faster rate than normal and his timing impeccable.

Against the Rams WR, Worley stands in press coverage and stands step by step with him. Turning and flipping his hips in rapid fashion, Worley ensures that his receiver does not get the upperhand.

Don't downgrade his impact going one on one against receivers. In man coverage, Worley held down his man in picture perfect technique. 

Given his one on one chances, Daryl Worley really showed up. Unlike prior weeks, Worley was given more of a chance to go after receivers on his own without the need of having much help surrounding him. 

However, that doesn't mean he didn't make mistakes. Take for instance this play:

For one, it's a weird defensive formation that got two Cardinal wide receivers wide open on opposite ends of the endzone. Worley and Coleman have some sort of miscommunication, leading to Worley's receiver being wide open for an easy touchdown. Without Coleman and Worley switching, the result was them getting jammed on the wrong guy.

However, Worley showed tremendous growth from this learning experience. Take this other play from the SD game:

Bill Voth explains it best here:

Quote

Not only did Worley learn from his mistake against Arizona, but he made what may have been the most underrated play of the win by knocking a two-point conversation out of the hands of future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates.

"One thing we always emphasize is turning to the man," Worley said. "When it doesn't feel like you can make a clean play on the ball, make a play through the man. And that's exactly what I did."

Added defensive coordinator Sean McDermott:

"That's a teaching point for us in terms of finishing a play, being willing to go to the ground with a big tight end. As a corner, we always want to finish plays, and finishing plays sometimes means in order to separate the man from the ball you've got to be willing to go to the ground, and he did that.

"And the communication he had with Kurt in the slot at the point was something we worked on."

Worley learned from his past mistake on a very similar play involving Antonio Gates. This is the type of stuff you just love seeing from rookies, and the pace Worley is learning the ropes is staggering.

Daryl Worley's coverage kept getting better as the weeks went on. No longer did he whiff as much as he used to, nor did he seem to be as scared of going up against an NFL wideout.

In his first interception of the year against SD, Worley was stuck like glue on his WR. Although a tad underthrown by Rivers, Worley was never beat the whole play. No matter if Rivers placed it perfectly or not; Worley was going to make a play on that ball.

Later in the year against the Raiders, Worley and Bradberry got a taste of going against two of the league's hottest WRs in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Worley played lights out and had himself a really nice game.

Going against Amari Cooper in the endzone, Worley stayed locked on and deflected a sure touchdown. Cooper had no chance with Worley draped all over him, contributing to one of Amari Cooper's worst games of the season. 

Worley actually went against Amari Cooper a lot more than originally thought and did really well. Going up against Cooper is no easy task, but Worley stayed put and did his job. Cooper would try everything to take advantage and get something out of these corners, but no one let up.

First of all, Amari Cooper's footwork is a thing of beauty. It's not often you see NFL WRs carry out such beauty in their feet, but Cooper does this flawlessly. Worley counters by staying safe and not biting, forcing Cooper to retreat to the left for just a small gain.

The thing with this is the fact there was a play just like this the prior week that led to a touchdown in Oakland's favor. The fact Worley negated this to just a small chunk is quite impressive.

Worley's coverage was nowhere short of impressive. Against these dangerous WRs, Worley was unhinged. He stood strong and played his role down to the letter.

In this particular instance, Worley finishes up with an impressive pass breakup. Staying step by step with his receiver and covering him up like a blanket, it's not that far off to say his play looks just as good as Bradberry's. 

His run defense is nothing to scoff at either. PFF was not kidding when they said Worley's one of the best rookie run defenders in the league.

Worley comes in at blinding speed towards the edge, stonewalling the Raiders RB to a halt. With proper tackling form, Worley pretty much eradicates @CPantherKing's "whiff" nickname as he hones in on his target; taking him out swiftly and effectively.

Worley continued to look better and better as the weeks went by. When faced with new challenges and situations, Worley took them head on and came out on the winning side. 

Against DeSean Jackson - Tampa's new WR - Worley stayed with him. When a Washington WR attempted to set up a pick against Worley, he simply brushed right past that attempt and forced Jackson to go vertical. The result was an incompletion.

Finalizing his rookie campaign, Worley had his rematch against Tampa once again. Without missing a beat, Worley stood up to the challenge and played phenomenally.

In this instance, the Buccaneers call 2 seam verticals. Carolina opts into cover 3. Worley does a beautiful job reading the play and causing a pass breakup against the Bucs receiver. Not an easy play for any normal corner to make, but Worley does it beautifully.

Worley's physicality grew more intense as the year went on. He wasn't afraid to go up and get rough with anyone when need be. That was no exception against Jameis' offense.

Worley goes inside and roughly pushes down the Tampa WR, disrupting the throw. Worley prevents a TD by getting physical and ensuring that the receiver had no chance of holding on to the ball. A very smart and savvy play by Worley.

Man coverage was something Worley really got the hang of as the season hit its twilight stage. He stayed on his man consistently and locked him up well. 

Now, don't let my boy Bradberry's amazing lockdown of Mike Evans distract you from Worley. Worley was able to stay step by step with his man even when the WR put a move on him and turned around. Worley trailed and stuck on him like glue, eliminating him as a possible target.

A lot better than the beginning of the year where a play like this would leave Worley in the dust.

Worley's performance against Tampa was fantastic. It brought hope to many Panther fans about the future, and shut up the doubters for a moment. Worley shined and played like the premiere corner he was. 

Conclusion

Daryl Worley had a very underrated 2016 campaign. He had a steeper learning curve to climb in comparison to Bradberry, but he showed up real well. For a rookie, you couldn't ask for better growth and development. Worley looked like his own by the year's end, and I'd even argue he's nearly on the same level as Bradberry right now.

PFF gives a good review of Worley. After starting the season off in the 80s-90s, Worley finished off the season as the 55th ranked cornerback. His 75.4 grade put him above the likes of Revis, and fan favorites Trae Waynes and Delvin Breaux. He exceeds the likes of rookie Eli Apple who seems to be the media's other rookie darling. While his coverage is considerably lower than Bradberry's, his run defense of 79.7 puts him in the top 15 of cornerbacks.

With Steve Wilks now manning the defense, it's not far-fetched to assume Wilks will be far more aggressive than McDermott was. With Worley and Bradberry both coming into their own, our defense will no longer have to compensate our linebackers or scheme to give our corners cushion. Add in Munnerlyn and this defense is sure to be scary good.

Don't count out Daryl Worley. He isn't far behind Bradberry at this stage of his career, and he's only scratching the surface.

[Steves89]

Saca, you need to start charging for this stuff. I always look forward to reading what you write.

[Saca312]

9 minutes ago, Steves89 said:

Saca, you need to start charging for this stuff. I always look forward to reading what you write.

Just doing what I can to make these six weeks of nothing fly by.

[motocross_cat]

Only beef i got with saca is it can be abit too fluffy sometimes.  

You build me up bro, hope carolina dont let me down.

[rayzor]

love the work, the writing, and the knowledge.

always really good stuff and consistently getting better.

haven't "whiffed" yet.

[rayzor]

btw..i'm loving what this defense could be looking like coming into the season. the front 7 is looking legendary, imo.

this secondary is looking fantastic. Not only do we have probably the best couple of safeties we've had in a looong time, we've got these two young tough CBs with a ton of experience coming into just their second season who are far ahead of where josh norman was at this point in his career. bring into the mix a spunky and aggressive capt. munnerlynn who is one of the best nickle DBs in the league and what should be a much more aggressively called defense under wilks and i think we'll be back as a top 5 D within a couple weeks.

can't wait for this season to start.

[Verge]

I loved Worley coming out of WV, he always seems like such an aggressive, scrappy, kid who learned very well from his mistakes. The dude has the mentality of that pissed off little brother, always trying to prove something, and never letting big bro take advantage for too long.  

[pantherphan96]

Losing Norman might have been better long-term in getting Bradberry and Worley a season's worth of in-game experience. Hope we see more press coverage from the CB's this year, especially with Coleman back in his natural position and another veteran behind the CB's in Adams.

[Saca312]

3 minutes ago, pantherphan96 said:

Hope we see more press coverage from the CB's this year

Worley's been sensational at that. He actually got the hang of it before Bradberry did (Worley VS Rams, Bradberry Saints 2nd try), but both are real good now.

[uncfan888]

Nice thread, Saca. I think Worley will continue to improve this season. 

Oh yeah.. In before nctarheel0619 or CPK ruin this thread

[rayzor]

4 hours ago, Promethean Forerunner said:

The hate Worley got was unreal. He was baptized in the fire right out the gate but he improved every week. I won't name names but y'all were fugging stupid for chastising a kid who was learning and adapting to the position at the next level.

totally agreed. he was a rookie from a small school all of a sudden turned into a starting CB playing against the best WRs in the world. there was going to be some learning curve, some adjustment to the speed of the game and tendencies of those WRs, QBs, and the OCs calling the shots.

what we saw initially was to be expected. denying his growth as the season went on as well as the correction of his mistakes every game was exactly what we needed to see. i didn't think there would be some magical switch that came on turning him into a allpro player. what should have been expected and what was witnessed was real incremental growth that let us see potential for something great.

what i didn't really realize until saca pointed it out was just how good he was in press coverage. i think we've got ourselves a really good one and in teaming him up with bradberry as gettleman did, was an incredibly savvy move. sure, it hurt last year...but what didn't? what we've got now, though, is two CBs who can be absolute studs teamed up for years with an incredible front 7 led by a future HoFer in luke.

i think this defense is going to be lethal for a long time and the bradberry/worley combo (with special guest capt munnerlyn) will be an integral part of that.

[The Huddler]

I see a rookie who has showed flashes.. rookie.. flashes...

 

But im told im biased homer to think he might be solid

 

but ive been told by emotionally imature fugs that he sucks

 

so im going with the pie rift to say he sucks

 

 

like rookies thrown out there should be all pro like wtf worley like youre ass

[Paa Langfart]

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

he was a rookie from a small school

uh no.  I would not call WVU a small school.

[Jangler]

8 hours ago, Steves89 said:

Saca, you need to start charging for this stuff. I always look forward to reading what you write.

meh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKLNB0FY2e0