29. The NFL's top 11 safeties. Asante Samuel Jr. showed some positive play at times this season, with seven pass breakups and two interceptions, but he still finished with a triple-digit passer rating allowed en route to being the 11th-most valuable rookie corner. This kind of ranking for the Chicago Bears was expected this season, considering their cornerback situation outside of Jaylon Johnson. He isnt at the top of the CB rankings yet simply because this is all so new. The secondary finished 26th in unit coverage grade and ranked in the bottom 10 in passer rating, yards per attempt and separation allowed when the quarterback threw from a clean pocket. He and Darrelle Revis are the only two cornerbacks with at least 250 targets since 2010 who have allowed fewer than 50% of those passes to be completed. The slot was also a considerable issue all year long, as Chicago produced the sixth-worst coverage grade at the position this season. The top cornerbacks for 2022 are all established stars who are all playing some of the best football of their careers. This week, were evaluating defensive backs. He still showcases lockdown man-coverage ability at times, but it has been less consistent of late. Best Bets Tool. Ranking top 10 cornerbacks in NFL for 2021: Jalen Ramsey leads pack that includes talented newcomers . Cornerback Trevon Diggs has been possibly the biggest boom-or-bust cornerback of the PFF era. His 71 forced incompletions since 2014 are fewer than only Darius Slay and Stephon Gilmore. His technical inconsistencies are the only thing keeping him from being among that next tier up. Things got off to a rough start when the Lions lost 2020 No. To look exclusively at the secondary, the results for defenders who spend their playing time almost exclusively in the box have been filtered out. Buffalos secondary endured a crushing blow in Week 12 when CB1. Moehrig allowed a big play on 20.3% of his targets in 2020, giving them up at the sixth-fewest rate of all Power 5 safeties with at least 25 targets. The official start of NFL free agency doesn't begin until March 13. 12. Two of Indianapolis' outside cornerbacks earned top-20 coverage grades this season: Rock Ya-Sin and Isaiah Rodgers. targeted, which leads to his interceptions. Tennessees loss has turned into the Giants gain. . Ramsey is a freak, and on top of it all, hes so good against the run that his late-career safety transition will probably end in an All-Pro berth or two. Not a single one of Dallas' top eight defensive backs by snaps earned a coverage grade in poor territory below 60.0. Tampas secondary arguably already took a step forward as the Buccaneers claimed their second Super Bowl title last season. Bears. Those struggles wouldnt last, though. 32. Lattimores PFF grade has fallen from 86.1 as a rookie to 77.5 (2018), 65.6 (2019) and 59.1 (2020) in the three years since 2017. Browns honorable mention busts: Courtney Brown, (2000, first overall pick), Trent Richardson (2012, third overall pick) 8. With their help, the Raiders ranked top five in yards per attempt and explosive pass rate allowed this year. 24. 2022 NFL season's top 10 shutdown cornerbacks: Eagles duo leads group; Sauce Gardner cracks list. So, which secondaries were a boon and which were a hindrance this season? Going into the 2021 season, there are several teams that stand out as best prepared to do that with the talent they possess in the defensive backfield. NFC West teams gained even more firepower at the quarterback position in a dramatic offseason, magnifying the issues for a Seattle secondary that is a long way from the Legion of Boom. Its impossible to discuss what Peters brings to the table and not start with his knack for getting his hands on the football, as his 31 interceptions since entering the league in 2015 are nine more than any other cornerback. T. The Las Vegas Raiders took down the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football in an overtime thriller, bringing an end to the 18-week marathon to the postseason. Led by Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams and rookie Greg Newsome II, the Browns' cornerback grade finished with the third-best coverage grade in the NFL. Chicago Bears - Will Anderson, OLB/DE, Alabama. Injuries held him to just over 300 snaps for San Francisco last season, but Sherman was the highest-graded cornerback in the league (90.3 overall) back in 2019. When hes been asked to man up against some of the best receivers in the NFL, hes delivered. The cornerback room was more in the middle of the pack, ranking 16th in PFF WAR generated. Jacksons grading profile has been consistent across his first three seasons in the NFL after joining New England as an undrafted free agent in 2018. The Tuscaloosa News via AP) Height: 6'2" (95th percentile) Weight: 208 (94th) 40-Yard Dash: 4.42 seconds (85th) Bench Press: 18 reps (33rd) Vertical Jump: 39 inches (84th) Broad Jump: 131 inches (91st) 3-Cone Drill: N/A 20-Yard Shuttle: N/A Bio: In what will be a theme for this list of players . He ranks in the 80th percentile of qualifying cornerbacks in forced incompletion rate and the 70th percentile in coverage grade while in single coverage since entering the league in 2014. Hes a wide receiver baiting quarterbacks into throwing passes that he can jump. The Jets four most-played cornerbacks on the outside or slot this year were either Day 3 picks or undrafted in one of the past two classes. Free safety Tracy Walker (12.85), though, offered little to suggest he can help Detroit turn the ship around quickly on defense. Jackson was one of the five highest-graded outside cornerbacks in the NFL and allowed the second-fewest yards per coverage snap at the position. It was only natural that the prototype for cornerback shifted as well. Nickel Byron Murphys burn yards per target average of 7.50 was the fifth-best among inside corners in 2020 and Budda Baker has established himself as one of the premier safeties in the NFL, with his adjusted open percentage of 16.38 trailing only three defenders last season. Detroits secondary has been problematic over the past few years, and it didnt get any better in Year 1 under Dan Campbell. Tre Flowers' open percentage of 85.7 was the fifth-worst of all corners in the NFL, though the play of another former Niner, D.J. TreDavious White has been one of the top cornerbacks in the league since the minute he stepped on an NFL field. Bradberry's 2021 season, though, was abysmal. Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. T. Washington: 7-9. Hell still give up a big play here and there (as his yards per reception allowed shows), but thats the nature of being an aggressive cornerback. Las Vegas will hope Hayward can accelerate the development of Mullen, who was an encouraging 15th in burn yards per target (8.67) among outside corners with at least 200 snaps. . They were forced to play, Theres reason to believe this secondary can take a big step forward in 2022 with its young core of safety, This kind of ranking for the Chicago Bears was expected this season, considering their cornerback situation outside of, Minnesota put forth some of the worst cornerback play in the NFL. The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. Age: 28 (29 on 8/4/23) Playing time: 16 games, 316 special teams snaps (77.07% of team total), 63 defensive snaps (5.99% of team total) Key statistics: 19 tackles, 1 quarterback hit, 4 pass . 90-81. His six penalties this past season were fewer than any year since his rookie season in 2013. He was one of the league's worst corners by nearly every metric, which led to the new regime cutting him outright. There is a massive amount of talent currently at the position. Two free-agent signings, in particular , The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. Brian Poole (not re-signed) was the only cornerback to hold opponents to negative EPA per target in 2020. . Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. Still seems like we're waiting for the first domino to fall with the Bears . It hasnt taken Alexander very long to establish himself as one of the leagues best coverage cornerbacks. Pro Football Network strives to passionately deliver purposeful, captivating, and exceptional football content. Opposing offenses simply werent able to attack him in coverage. Minnesotas defensive backs rank 10th in aggregate coverage rating, performing 5% better than average. T.J. Green has played because of . No team, this season than Baltimore. He should give the Broncos some playmaking ability at cornerback if he can stay healthy. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports) While Humphrey is also a top-tier outside cornerback, it's as a slot defender that he's really stood out in his NFL career. 30. Seattle Seahawks: Ahkello Witherspoon, D.J. He had spent the vast majority of his time in the slot across the first four years of his NFL career, even dabbling at safety with the Chiefs in 2019. Ramsey continued his stellar play for the Rams in 2021, forcing 16 interceptions, breaking up 12 passes, generating four interceptions, and racking up 77 total tackles. He ended up allowing 0.37 yards per coverage snap the third-lowest figure in the PFF era behind only Asante Samuel in 2019 and Nnamdi Asomugha in 2008 (0.36 each). So this is one of the worst cornerback trios in the NFL, not just the NFC West. Greg Newsome, Cleveland Browns, 26. Subscribe to . Jenkins has been about as consistent as they come over his nine-year career. 32. But with Horn getting shut down after a Week 3 injury and Henderson struggling to get acclimated after getting traded to the team a month into the season, it was a subpar year for the secondary. Howards 2020 performance put that playmaking ability on full display, with double-digit pass breakups and interceptions to go along with an 89.6 coverage grade. The 2017 first-round pick earned a 76.4 coverage grade and led the league in pass breakups (18) en route to being the second-most valuable cornerback in the league, according to PFF WAR. Kendall Fuller, Washington Football Team 14. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. 2021 NFL Defensive Secondary Rankings, by Unit 32. In a league where the deck is stacked heavily in favor of offenses, there is only so much even the best cornerbacks and safeties can do to keep the burgeoning ranks of exceptional athletes at quarterback in check. He gets to passes that most receivers cannot get to, making his multiple near-INTs in 2021 as impressive as his 7 actual interceptions. Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. 27. Its part of what makes identifying the leagues best at the position so challenging. Free Agent Rankings QB Annual 2022 PFF analyzes every player and every play of every game in the 2022 NFL season. Outside corner J.C. Jackson was also one of the best at his respective position, earning a top-five PFF grade in the regular season. Using advanced data, weve ranked every secondary in the NFL by their performance in pass coverage. The most impressive part is that it all comes in a man-heavy Baltimore defense few cornerbacks in the league possess that kind of ability. Fuller was back in Washington for the 2020 season following a two-year stint in Kansas City. The Lions have done a disappointing job of drafting and developing talent under previous regimes. Free-agent signing William Jackson III was an up-and-down performer. The Raiders secondary has received its fair share of criticism in the Jon Gruden-Mike Mayock years, with doubts cast over the merits of selecting Trayvon Mullen in the second round in 2019 and Damon Arnette in the first last year. 1. a 2016 second-round pick has been the worst safety in the NFL this year. William Jackson III, Washington Football Team Buffalos secondary endured a crushing blow in Week 12 when CB1 TreDavious White went down with a season-ending torn ACL. He finished with four picks, made the PFWA All-Rookie Team and was PFF's 41st-graded corner in 2021, just behind Colts Pro Bowler Kenny Moore. However, he was overly aggressive at times and susceptible to giving up the big play. Should Malcolm Butler and Robert Alford earn starting roles, they will provide veteran presences at outside corner, yet their recent play should not inspire much confidence. Feb. 28 (UPI) --Former NFL star cornerback Irv Cross, who died in 2021, was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, Boston University researchers announced Tuesday. Williams earned coverage grades above 81.0 in each of the last two years and made some remarkable plays on the ball in coverage in Brandon Staleys defense in 2020. In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. The Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, who became the first Black man to work full-time as a sports analyst on national television, is the latest football player diagnosed with CTE. "Mr. Cross was . He allowed a mere 0.46 yards per coverage snap and 3.1 yards per target in that span, both of which ranked second among cornerbacks. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. Fuller allowed just 53% of the passes into his coverage to be completed with four interceptions and nine pass breakups. He gets his hands on passes left and right without getting himself so out of position that hes unable to recover. Overall, New York allowed more EPA per pass than any other defense in the regular season. Cowboys: 6-10. This is not a forward-looking list, nor is it considering what a group accomplished prior to this season. Chidobe Awuzie, Cincinnati Bengals No, he was targeted often because of who was on the opposite side, and his ball skills shined in the process, recording 10 INTs in 2020. 4 . Washington possessed one of the better defenses in the NFL in 2020;Jacksons addition should only improve it, giving them a No. Here is the fourth version of our Vikings 2023 Mock Draft Tracker, which features 16 recent predictions from around the world of . Reed, provided some grounds for optimism as his burn yards . His 19.1% forced incompletion rate was a top-five mark at the cornerback position last year, tied with Jaire Alexander. And there are a couple of surprise names feature among those secondaries who look ready to take a leap in 2021. Since entering the league in 2016, 18.7% of his targets in coverage have resulted in a pass breakup or interception, leadingall cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 150 times over those five years. Still, they held up well, ranking sixth in coverage grade and second in EPA per pass play allowed on such plays. 1 wide receiver in man coverage. And he only got better as the season progressed. The only member of the Detroit Lions on our initial 2022 NFL top 100 players list, Frank Ragnow missed a majority of the 2021 season with a turf toe. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 season. Hes slimmer, and with that lack of cumbersome muscle, hes more efficiently able to transition and stick. Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore Ravens. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon . Verrett exceeded all expectations in his return from a string of injuries last season for San Francisco. Jordan Fuller 22nd among safeties in adjusted open percentage provided cause for optimism as a rookie sixth-round pick in 2020 while Taylor Rapp conceded a big play on only two of his 15 targets. Outside corner, Opposing quarterbacks netted a 71.8 passer rating when throwing at one of Clevelands outside cornerbacks this season, the lowest among the 32 defenses. NFL Player Grades - current. However, his return came at outside cornerback for the Football Team in 2020, where he put up impressive coverage numbers at his new position. he 2021 NFL regular season is over. With the help of. None of their cornerbacks had a quality campaign, but Bashaud Breeland who was waived in mid-December was the main reason for the outside struggles. Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears Cross, the former NFL defensive back who became the first Black man to work full-time as a sports analyst on national television, is the latest football player diagnosed with the brain disease CTE. As I said in last week's Schein Nine, NFL offenses are more creative and dynamic than ever before. Davis has put up a solid grading profile and coverage stats across the past two seasons in Tampa Bay despite that tough slate of opposing wide receivers. While Pittsburgh ranked in the top 10 in EPA allowed per pass play for the season, they struggled quite a bit when not producing pressure on the quarterback. Butler has been one of the best in the league at getting his hands on the football throughout his career. NAME SEASON TM GP TKL AST COMB SCK SCKY INT INT YDS INT TD FF FR FR TD; Jahleel Addae: 2021: IND. The Patriots boast what could very well be the best of the top cornerback duos in 2021 if Stephon Gilmore has a bounce-back season. The Rams may have lost key pieces in the secondary in the form of safety John Johnson and cornerback Troy Hill but, even with the departure of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, moving the ball on Los Angeles through the air will be an imposing challenge in 2021. Nickel Ronald Darby (37.8) and free-agent signing Kyle Fuller (40.3), inexplicably released by the Chicago Bears, each ranked in the top seven in burn percentage allowed for corners with at least 200 coverage snaps. The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. Hes one of the few thatll travel anywhere on the defense to cover an offenses best weapon. Jenkins was part of the facelift at the cornerback position for Tennessee this offseason, replacing Malcolm Butler and Adoree Jackson with Jenkins and first-round pick Caleb Farley. Detroits defensive backs aggregate coverage grade is 27% below average. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. Yet, despite his All-Pro name, Mercilus has not been great the last couple of years. They consistently ranked near the bottom of the league in every metric imaginable, including defensive back, Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley brought his patented Seahawk Cover 3 defense and got the right players in place to carry it out at a quality level. 11. Marshon Lattimore was the highlight of a Saints secondary that ranked seventh in coverage grade and allowed an open target at the third-lowest rate in the league. 2021 stats: 11 games (11 starts), 1 INT, 6 PBUs, 1 FF, 1 FR, 0.5 sacks, 41 combined tackles (27 solo). Justin Simmons was the best defender in the NFL in terms of adjusted open percentage in 2020, leading the way by allowing pass-catchers to get open against his coverage just 14.99% of the time. He grew up in . They ranked dead last in slot coverage grade following the regular season. If Ramsey is the freak, Alexander is the new mold. Williams is Denver's long-term answer at running back . This group should contend for the top spot next season. Patrick Surtain II has been quite literally living up to his name as an elite cornerback and has helped the Denver Broncos maintain their position as a top-tier defense even after trading away their star edge rusher. Peters and Humphrey are the only top-10 duo on this list and a big reason why Baltimores secondary has had the success that it has over the past two seasons. Jackson is fluid and explosive with great natural feet to play a sticky brand of man coverage. Melifonwu was tied for ninth in the fewest burn yards per snap (1.23) allowed among Power 5 corners in his final season with Syracuse. Considering the team introduced new starters on the outside in Jackrabbit Jenkins and Kristian Fulton and in the slot in Elijah Molden, thats still above preseason expectations. With some personnel tweaks, the Chiefs secondary revived itself. Overall, Philadelphia's cornerback room finished second in coverage grade this season. However, Miamis cornerback really blossomed in 2020, intercepting a league-high 10 passes. His addition, along with the signing of Joe Haden, helped stabilize a turbulent cornerback position in Pittsburgh over these last two seasons. Terrell locked up his opponents on a weekly basis, allowing no more than 32 yards in a single game this year. The Bengals handed out two big contracts on the defensive side of the ball last offseason. Hes a wide receiver baiting quarterbacks into throwing passes that he can jump. Veteran Casey Hayward Jr. who played in Bradley's scheme with the Los Angeles Chargers was the 13th-highest graded outside corner of the regular season, while rookie Nate Hobbs was the highest-graded slot corner. Quarterback Josh Allen, cornerback Tre'Davious White, wide receiver . The veteran had a career year, earning the highest coverage grade (83.9) of his nine years in the NFL ranks. If that happens and J.C. Jackson progresses, they could solidify themselves with a gold medal there. 1. The fifth-year cornerback out of Alabama has recorded at least 800 coverage snaps in the slot and out wide throughout his NFL career. Nik Needham was an underrated player among the group by producing a top-10 slot coverage grade in the NFL. We use our own and third-party cookies to improve your experience and our services. From Week 7 on, he was one of the 25 highest-graded cornerbacks in the NFL. Building a high-powered offense is a sustainable way to win in the NFL, but ensuring the defensive secondary isnt a liability is what separates the contenders from the rest. From Week 12 to the end of the regular season, he was one of the 10 highest-graded cornerbacks in the NFL. The amount of top-level play from NFL cornerbacks is astonishing. It shouldnt be a surprise that the group finished with one of the three-lowest unit coverage grades of the year. Opposite him for most of the season was Kindle Vildor, who posted a 45.6 coverage grade that ranked in the bottom five in the NFL. But certain units . The yards on Diggs ledger are largely hollow. He has picked up coverage grades between 70.4 and 72.4 every season, gradually increasing his playing time each year. This is the worst front seven in the NFL. The position as a whole combined for the third-fewest WAR among the 32 groups. Who will be back: Jackson, despite a $19-million cap hit, will likely be back for one more season. No group of cornerbacks played more man coverage than the Miami Dolphins. The Bills defensive backs rank 15 points above the average in aggregate coverage grading. With the start of the 2021 NFL regular season just around the corner, NFL.com analyst and former scout Daniel Jeremiah projects the best- and . Whitney Mercilus has always benefited from the presence of J.J. Watt. The Vikings' gave up the third-most yards on the outside (1,802) while also tying for the third-fewest plays on the ball (18) at the position. 25. The Eagles now have one of the NFL's most talented cornerback trios, with both Bradyberry and Slay making PFF's top 32 cornerbacks list. Things got off to a rough start when the Lions lost 2020 No. Even with the big plays allowed early in the season, quarterbacks have just a 68.1 rating when targeting Lattimore this season. Rookie Tyson Campbell was a reason for optimism, as he notched a couple of elite game grades above 90.0 in his last couple of months of action, but his inconsistent play was too severe for him to add considerable value to the secondary. In his first two seasons, A.J.

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