Recognition is surely coming Marshall’s way
DARRELLE Revis need not feel bad whenever Brandon Marshall wins their training camp matchup.
I don’t believe there is any cornerback in the NFL who can cover this Brandon Marshall.
Revis in his prime would have been a fair fight. Revis in his prime didn’t win every single battle against Randy Moss.
This Brandon Marshall is a different animal.
He doesn’t have Moss’ deep-threat speed, but he is more of a deep threat now that he is in the best shape of his life at a svelte 225 pounds. And at 6-foot-4, there isn’t a corner he can’t box out, particularly in the red zone. He is a beast. Machine Marshall. Monster Marshall. Patrick Peterson, because of his size and physicality, would seem to have the best chance against him. Maybe Aqib Talib.
Revis always has been able to impose his will on receivers largely because of his beautiful mind, a result of his fanatical study. Marshall, however, is as smart as they come and knows every trick in the book.
Marshall’s fire is fueled partly by a belief that he is underrated around the NFL, even after all these years, in a market in which he has to play second fiddle to gravity-defying Odell Beckham Jr., who has captured imaginations playing a grand total of 27 games. Beckham has 187 catches for 2,755 yards and 25 touchdowns. Marshall has 882 catches for 11,273 yards and 79 TDs. And six 100-yard seasons.
Unlike Revis, he has never been put on a pedestal as the best at his position. Unlike Revis, he has never won a Super Bowl. In fact, he has never played in the playoffs.
It wasn’t Marshall who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated recreating the iconic 1965 Broadway Joe image before the 2015 season. It was Revis.
Marshall, 32, loves the stage here every bit as much as Revis does, the bigger and brighter the better for all to see his genius.
And for whatever it’s worth, and it’s probably worth more than two cents, Marshall hasn’t made near the money Revis has, because no one has.
“He’s a big wide receiver — 6-4, 230, can run — he has all the physical tools,” David Harris said Friday after the Revis-versus-Marshall skirmish.
And a Year 2 telepathy with Ryan Fitzpatrick that should enable Marshall, assuming he is not plagued by a case of the dropsies (10 drops last season), to better his 2015 numbers — 109-1,502-14 TDs — and that emboldened him to challenge Antonio Brown with a bet on receiving yards this season.
I asked cornerback Buster Skrine how much of a nightmare it is for a defensive back to cover Marshall.
“Brandon, the thing about him is he’s big, but he’s extremely athletic,” Skrine said. “He has the athletics of a smaller receiver. So just going into the game, when a DB guards Brandon, they have to know that he can catch any ball in his radius, and he’s a faster guy.”
Revis is mostly revered around the league, and his ego will not allow him to believe he is anything less than the best, even now. Revis and Marshall are as prideful as they come. I asked Skrine what makes Revis great.
“Ultimate competitor,” Skrine said. “And he’s a technician, so with Darrelle, he frustrates people with his technique. And he’s a competitor. You see him every year, he does well in camp, and he does well every season he plays, so ultimate competitor.”
Harris was the second-round draft choice in 2007. Revis was the first-round pick of the Mike Tannenbaum-Eric Mangini regime.
“He has always enjoyed going against the best, no matter if it’s practice or on Sundays,” Harris said. “Reeve’s been playing at a high level for a long time, and it’s no different now.”
Revis is driven to prove naysayers wrong as he stands defiantly on Revis Island. He is fortunate in this regard: When the real bullets start flying, he won’t have to defend his island from Brandon Marshall.