Two free-agent signings, in particular , The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. Similar to the receiver spot, college is pumping out NFL-ready cornerbacks every draft season, although last year's group failed to meet the hype, particularly the first rounders. In the last six years, Darius Slay Jr. has made it to the Pro Bowl five times, a remarkable stretch of dominance. via Seth Galina. His 71 forced incompletions since 2014 are fewer than only Darius Slay and Stephon Gilmore. > 2021 NFL > Advanced Stats. Verrett fought back to earn a starting job with the 49ers in 2020 and put up a top-20 PFF grade among qualifying cornerbacks on a career-high 803 defensive snaps. 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. Rhodes went from allowing a league-high 84.3% of the passes into his coverage to be completed in 2019 to just 50.7% in 2020 with Indianapolis. Houstons fielded the lowest-graded secondary in the NFL by a whopping eight grading points. 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. Ex-NFL cornerback Irv Cross, who died in 2021 years after being diagnosed with dementia, had Stage 4 CTE after nearly a decade of playing in the NFL, researchers said Tuesday Episode 2 of the "Top 100 Players of 2022" aired on Sunday, with three cornerbacks making the list between Nos. What Diggs is doing through six games is absurd. The Vikings invested heavily in the secondary in recent years and the numbers suggest that decision could pay dividends in the coming season. Browns honorable mention busts: Courtney Brown, (2000, first overall pick), Trent Richardson (2012, third overall pick) 8. Free safety Tracy Walker (12.85), though, offered little to suggest he can help Detroit turn the ship around quickly on defense. Houston might want to think about using its No. The two worst cornerbacks in the league were forced into action because of injuries. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs. / by Eric Mullin. The yards on Diggs ledger are largely hollow. Cornerback Charvarius Ward was also playing exceptionally better after missing a month due to injury. NFL teams most likely to unravel in 2021. With more than 20 pending free agents, the front office will have a lot of work to do. Donte Jackson, Carolina Panthers He also had 81 tackles, three sacks and seven tackles for loss. He gets to passes that most receivers cannot get to, making his multiple near-INTs in 2021 as impressive as his 7 actual interceptions. 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. . 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. I wouldnt have any issue calling White the best cornerback in football if Ramsey and Alexander didnt exist. Galina: The shortcomings of the Kellen Moore-Dak Prescott connection for the Dallas Cowboys (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports) Listen . 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 . 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. Obviously, this is a subjective endeavor, and we could argue for days about the names that are too high or too low. Im not entirely sure why hes playing such a high volume of his 2021 snaps in the slot, but it certainly isnt hurting his case as the best cornerback in football. Its unfortunate hes not more widely regarded as a ballhawk, but many cant look past the paltry INT numbers to his league-high 8 forced fumbles in 2020. 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. The secondary is the last unit remaining. 2020 Points-Allowed Rank: No. The Jets might have the best group of cornerbacks in the NFL a far cry from 2021, when they might have had the worst. If you take away a disastrous 2019 season with the Philadelphia Eagles in which he earned just a 44.8 overall grade, Darby has graded above 68.0 overall since being drafted in 2015. A Week 5 matchup with Amari Cooper and Dallas put that on display. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. So, which secondaries were a boon and which were a hindrance this season? 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. The perception of Rhodes is much different this offseason than it was at this time a year ago following a bounceback season for the Colts in 2020. Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. Published: Oct 20, 2022 at 03:19 PM . Las Vegas Raiders . Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts13. The top 2021 Cornerback prospects available for the 2021 NFL Draft. 1. Greg Newsome, Cleveland Browns, 26. 3 overall pick, 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. Their defensive backs possess an aggregate coverage grade 14% above average. ** - denotes 2023 prospect. No team, this season than Baltimore. 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. If Ramsey is the freak, Alexander is the new mold. Waynes three-year, $42 million contract was likely an overpay, but he does profile as a quality starting option. If Lattimores career was flipped in reverse order, theres a reasonable chance that he would be inside the top five on this list. The position as a whole combined for the third-fewest WAR among the 32 groups. He still showcases lockdown man-coverage ability at times, but it has been less consistent of late. Overall, New York allowed more EPA per pass than any other defense in the regular season. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. Despite being drafted in the top five back in 2018 and playing on a team generating plenty of buzz heading into the 2021 season, Ward is often overlooked as one of the NFLs top cornerbacks. Last season, he allowed 46 slot catches on 72 targets for 392 yards, 167 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no . 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. His 45.3 coverage grade was the fourth-lowest among qualifying cornerbacks. A strong work out at LSU's pro day on April 6th could help to turn around his draft stock. 2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook. Bryce Hall, New York Jets, XFL Fantasy Football Rankings Week 2: Josh Gordon, Jeff Badet, Max Borghi, and More, Final Fantasy PPR Rankings for the NFL Playoffs: Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliott, James Cook, and More, NFL All-Time RB Records: Season and Career Leaders, College football Week 6 live reactions, results, and takeaways. . Detroits defensive backs aggregate coverage grade is 27% below average. Cornerback Adoree Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney helped claw this secondary to a No. If he can replicate that impact as a rookie, the Raiders should be in extremely good shape in the defensive backfield. PFF's exclusive metrics provide Cornerback (CB) position rankings, grades, and snap counts. His 71.5 overall grade in 2020 was his highest single-season mark since back in 2017 with the Broncos. Minnesotas defensive backs rank 10th in aggregate coverage rating, performing 5% better than average. I still expect a lot from Stephon Gilmore, and with those expectations will come quick criticism if he doesnt perform to his standards. Only one defensive back nickel cornerback Tavierre Thomas didnt produce a sub-60.0 coverage grade. As the passing game has furthered its position as the dominant and most critical aspect of NFL attacks, the need for a secondary with the talent to regularly withstand aerial assaults led by a deep crop of quarterbacks has become an increasingly pressing one. 28. Rashad Fenton also saw his playing time increase after the first month of the season and closed out the regular season with an 81.1 coverage grade. 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. There is no shortage of defensive weapons on Clevelands roster. The Raiders defensive backs rank seventh for aggregate coverage, rating 10% better than the average. 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. No group of cornerbacks played more man coverage than the Miami Dolphins. The Texans dont have many players on their roster who they can rely on for steady play, but Roby is one of the few, assuming he doesnt receive another six-game suspension in 2021. Ranking who the top 32 cornerbacks in the NFL are for 2021 is like trying to rank your children. Carolina ranked 24th in outside coverage grade and allowed the fourth-worst passer rating to the outside (107.8). He has been one of the best run defenders (88.5 run-defense grade in five seasons with the Vikings) at the position since entering the league in 2015. Aug 3, 2021. Tampas secondary arguably already took a step forward as the Buccaneers claimed their second Super Bowl title last season. Jones was the NFL's highest-paid cornerback when he signed a five-year, $82.5 . (Gary Cosby Jr./. 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. Having let Shaquill Griffin walk in free agency, the Seahawks are somewhat short on proven players in the defensive backfield, with that scarcity reflected by an aggregate coverage grade 16% below average. After a broken-up pass against Wake Forest in 2016, he pranced behind the unsuspecting receiver in a manner Ive never witnessed. Hes a wide receiver baiting quarterbacks into throwing passes that he can jump. Tampa Bay dealt with a pile of injuries and COVID-19 in their cornerback room for most of the season, forcing the team to cycle through players. 27. 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. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. Eric Kendricks 639 # . NFL defenses will ask very different things of their cornerbacks, depending on the scheme they run. In 2021, the two 25-year-olds each missed several games but allowed under 700 yards in coverage combined. And yet, the Bills still sustained a top-five pass defense in terms of expected points added (EPA) allowed per pass down the final stretch of the 2021 regular season. Despite a productive three-year run with the Atlanta Falcons, Poole's one-year, $3.5 million free-agent deal with the New York Jets last offseason was met with little fanfare. In all, 17.1% of the targets into his coverage have resulted in either a pass breakup or interception over his career, a top-five mark among qualifiers at the position. 32. The league's inaugural 17-game season . He has graded considerably better in zone coverage than man coverage throughout his career, which could lead to an interesting fit if first-year defensive coordinator Joe Cullen brings over the man-heavy system that Baltimore employed. The veteran had a career year, earning the highest coverage grade (83.9) of his nine years in the NFL ranks. Projections: Offensive rookies. In 2019 and 2020, for instance, he played more in the slot than out wide. Only one defensive back nickel cornerback, Galina: The shortcomings of the Kellen Moore-Dak Prescott connection for the Dallas Cowboys. Terrell locked up his opponents on a weekly basis, allowing no more than 32 yards in a single game this year. See trending; Company. His 84.6 PFF grade finished as the third-best at the position. Brian Poole (not re-signed) was the only cornerback to hold opponents to negative EPA per target in 2020. . Personally, I want a guy who travels up and down the field on an assignment basis against the opposing teams best receivers. The only outside cornerbacks to allow fewer yards per coverage snap than Dean (0.8) on at least 600 coverage snaps since the start of the 2019 season are Richard Sherman (0.4) and Jalen Ramsey (0.8). The ability to limit production like Ramsey did against top-flight talent is invaluable for the Los Angeles Rams defense. Lavonte David 6943. Both players were among the 15 most valuable players at their respective positions, according to PFF WAR. 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. He gets to passes that most receivers cannot get to, making his multiple near-INTs in 2021 as impressive as his 7 actual interceptions. 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