He was drafted out of Clemson in the 3rd round of the 2017 NFL Draft and after sitting behind Byron Maxwell for 3 weeks of the 2017 season he was sent in to replace Byron Maxwell the overpaid veteran CB who did not live up to his contract and when he got his chance Cordrea Tankersley showed promise and played pretty well.
He recorded a season-high five combined tackles and deflected a pass during the 20-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints. As a rookie in his debut, Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees targeted Tankersley as he was matched up with Michael Thomas. He allowed just four of seven completions for 36-yards and congratulated by Drew Brees for his play. WIKI
Tankersley managed to hold on to the starting job throughout the season until injuries derailed his rookie season the last 3 games of the season.
I was excited because I thought that was the beginning of the Dolphins finally fielding two CB’s that would remind us of the two best CB’s that ever played together in a Dolphin uniform, Sam Madison & Patrick Surtain, my article Young Puppies On The Outside reflected my hope and enthusiasm regarding our upcoming 2nd year CB Xavien Howard and this upstart rookie Cordrea Tankersley locking down both sides of the field and solving the CB position for years to come.
The one thing I mentioned in my article was if injuries would disrupt their development and sure enough in his 2nd year with a slow start and an apparent demotion in the 2018 season Cordrea Tankersley suffered a season ending injury and was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL in practice in November.
Tankersley was not fully healthy in the beginning of the 2019 season and was placed on the reserve/PUP list to start the season while recovering from the torn ACL and eventually scratched for the whole season as the team was in full rebuild mode and i felt they wanted ti assure that Cordrea Tankersley will come to camp in 2020 and be fully healthy.
The question is what can we expect from Cordrea Tankersley in 2020? Is he prepared to compete for a starting role opposite Xavien Howard? Only time will tell but the Dolphins can’t wait on Tankersley and I look for Miami to add competition and let it all work itself out.
Hopefully Tankersley will rise to the occasion and return to the play that got him the starting job his rookie season and after sitting out last year he should be fully healthy and have a good knowledge of what Brian Flores is looking for him to do.
I look forward to seeing how he battles in camp for a role on our defense.
The Dolphin Seer 