The two worst cornerbacks in the league were forced into action because of injuries. 18. This kind of ranking for the Chicago Bears was expected this season, considering their cornerback situation outside of Jaylon Johnson. The Patriots did what the Patriots always do they traded (or cut) a player thats still near the top of his game, but is beginning to walk down the hill. 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. . 32. The Pro Bowl free safety will have an exciting mix of experience and youth alongside him. Changing that and successfully developing Okudah and Melifonwu will be crucial to this secondary climbing out of the cellar. Design by Matt Sisneros. . Published: Oct 20, 2022 at 03:19 PM . A cause for concern may come across from White after a mediocre year for Levi Wallace, whose adjusted open percentage (30.85) was close to double that of White, but the Bills have to be impressed by the progress of nickel Taron Johnson, who allowed a big play on only 14 of his 74 targets at inside corner last year. Cowboys: 6-10. Now the question is, are they able to maintain that if they undergo another coaching change? With the help of. It just wasnt all there for him in 2020. The real stars of this group are Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, who rank second and third, respectively, in coverage grade among safeties. As the teams big free-agent acquisition at the position, Griffin does bring plenty of experience for a younger player. If Lattimores career was flipped in reverse order, theres a reasonable chance that he would be inside the top five on this list. The former Samford Bulldog put up one of the better performances of any cornerback in the league against Allen Robinson II, allowing just one reception on six targets with three pass breakups and an interception in that Week 2 matchup. Hes one of the more impactful free agents still on the market. Those missed opportunities only make the 77.5 passer rating allowed over that span (13th in the NFL) more impressive. Carolina ranked 24th in outside coverage grade and allowed the fourth-worst passer rating to the outside (107.8). The Bills defensive backs rank 15 points above the average in aggregate coverage grading. 4 . Discover Next Gen Stats News, Charts, and Statistics. The cornerback made a total of $10.66 million during his brief NFL career. Tampas secondary arguably already took a step forward as the Buccaneers claimed their second Super Bowl title last season. He finished with the lowest slot coverage grade in the NFL. While it wasn't easy putting together this list, here is our ranking of the NFL's 10 best cornerbacks in 2022. Hes intelligent and has ideal size and athleticism. Greedy Williams, Cleveland Browns Slay came in at No. / by Eric Mullin. Chidobe Awuzie, Cincinnati Bengals Terrell locked up his opponents on a weekly basis, allowing no more than 32 yards in a single game this year. Browns honorable mention busts: Courtney Brown, (2000, first overall pick), Trent Richardson (2012, third overall pick) 8. Using advanced data, weve ranked every secondary in the NFL by their performance in pass coverage. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. Buffalos offense carried the load last season as the Bills progressed to the AFC Championship Game, though the talent in the secondary is such that they can afford to have confidence in putting more of the burden on their pass coverage in 2021. 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. Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati . 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. Waynes three-year, $42 million contract was likely an overpay, but he does profile as a quality starting option. The lack of talent and experience was apparent, especially without safety, Houstons fielded the lowest-graded secondary in the NFL by a whopping eight grading points. The cornerback room was more in the middle of the pack, ranking 16th in PFF WAR generated. Houstons fielded the lowest-graded secondary in the NFL by a whopping eight grading points. He ranks top 10 in both slot and outside coverage grade. Nik Needham was an underrated player among the group by producing a top-10 slot coverage grade in the NFL. Las Vegas Raiders . Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. Buffalos secondary endured a crushing blow in Week 12 when CB1. 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. 1. Subscribe to Chicago Bears - Will Anderson, OLB/DE, Alabama. While Gang Green endured a turbulent 2019, Poole was one of the team's top performers week in and week out. Bradberry was the fourth-most valuable cornerback in the league in 2020 per PFF WAR, with career-best coverage numbers across the board. Henderson. But his play has been up and down over that four-year stretch. Were taking a look at the best and worst units in football at each positional grouping. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. None of their cornerbacks had a quality campaign, but. Darius Big Play Slay played a big part in the Eagles cracking a spot in the top half of the league. They made a league-leading 23 plays on the ball from the slot en route to allowing the lowest passer rating (71.1). The official start of NFL free agency doesn't begin until March 13. The 2021 second-round pick is a valuable piece to this secondary moving forward, but the other cornerback spots need some work. The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder earned a few poor game grades early on, but he soon righted those wrongs. He recorded just one interception and two pass breakups on 42 targets, allowing a career-high 96.7 passer rating into his coverage. 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. 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. His PFF grade dropped from 90.0 from 2014 to 2018 in Detroit to just 59.5 across the last two years. He also ranks in at least the 87th percentile in coverage grades at both alignments. 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide Cornerback (CB) position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Its challenging to rank these guys with the multitude of schematic differences and responsibilities. The presence of Breeland, who is expected to compete with Dantzler for a starting job, and Peterson gives the Vikings strong depth at corner and should mitigate the potential loss of 2020 first-round pick Jeff Gladney, whose future is in doubt amid off-field troubles. Eagles: 4-11-1. * - denotes 2022 prospect. Congratulations, Arizona. Hill had his best seasons in LA . Jackson has allowed just five of 48 targets at that depth to be completed, tallying 11 interceptions in the process. Mahomes is king again at age 25 and may not be dethroned for a long time. Patrick Surtain II, Alabama. Jackson burst onto the scene with a 90.4 coverage grade in his first season of action back in 2017. He remains among the league leaders in targets, and with that comes the yards. KEY: Gms = Games Played, Tot Pts = Total Points Scored, Pts/G = Points Per Game, RushYds = Rushing Yards, RYds/G = Rushing Yards Per Game . Alexander was still the same playmaker in 2020, but he was much more stingy in coverage, allowing just 353 receiving yards all season including Green Bays two postseason games despite logging nearly 600 coverage snaps. Cornerback Adoree Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney helped claw this secondary to a No. Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams Jaire Alexander is responsible for my favorite troll of all time on a football field. However, if White can keep up his torrent pace in 2021, he could easily elevate into the same conversation for CB1. The rankings were produced by multiplying each players coverage baseline by a projected target share for 2021, which is dependent on their position on the depth chart, with the results then aggregated at the team level to produce that defenses coverage grade. From Week 7 on, he was one of the 25 highest-graded cornerbacks in the NFL. Holland was the highest-graded safety since Week 9 by over four grading points. 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. Davis and Dean form one of the best cornerback pairings in the NFL. More progress from that duo could lessen the impact of Johnsons exit but, following highly rated defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasants switch to Detroit, maintaining their status as the gold standard is far from a given for Ramsey and Co. in 2021. 24. Injuries destroyed the Ravens this past season. The Bengals spent over $12.7 million on their cornerbacks against the cap in 2022, which was 6.02% of their total . Green, who posted a 90.3 coverage grade across his 116 coverage snaps. Thats a tip of the cap to everyone in the secondary for stepping up, including 2020 seventh-rounder Dane Jackson, who didnt allow a touchdown in any regular-season start after replacing White. It doesnt hurt that Washington can feel comfortable playing him at multiple positions in their secondary, either. We rank all 32 teams in 10 different position groups, plus we offer an overall roster outlook. Hes one of the few thatll travel anywhere on the defense to cover an offenses best weapon. 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. 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. The league's inaugural 17-game season . It was only natural that the prototype for cornerback shifted as well. 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. Here is the fourth version of our Vikings 2023 Mock Draft Tracker, which features 16 recent predictions from around the world of . Terrell has flashed the ability to become one of the truly . Best Bets Tool. Taron Johnson, Buffalo Bills 11. 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. Episode 2 of the "Top 100 Players of 2022" aired on Sunday, with three cornerbacks making the list between Nos. While the group combined for the sixth-most interceptions (14) among the 32 secondaries, it also allowed a successful play at a bottom-five rate. Demario Davis 6634. He earned a 47.4 coverage grade for the regular season while also allowing a 125.0 passer rating when targeted and being called for 10 penalties. He was 10th in the NFL at his position in adjusted open percentage (21.58). Two of Indianapolis' outside cornerbacks earned top-20 coverage grades this season: Rock Ya-Sin and Isaiah Rodgers. Yet, despite praise for Antoine Winfield Jrs rookie year, both he and fellow starting safety Jordan Whitehead will hope to make improvements in coverage, having given up 11.33 and 12.32 burn yards per target, respectively. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. 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. 25. It hasnt taken Alexander very long to establish himself as one of the leagues best coverage cornerbacks. 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. Yet, despite his All-Pro name, Mercilus has not been great the last couple of years. Ranking top 10 cornerbacks in NFL for 2021: Jalen Ramsey leads pack that includes talented newcomers . After being charged with eight receptions allowed in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys, Ramsey proceeded to allow just 24 receptions over the remainder of the regular season, giving upfewer than 25 receiving yards in 11 games. Find out which wide receivers to upgrade, downgrade and avoid for Week 1 in fantasy football by using a full cheat sheet that breaks down every WR vs. CB matchup. No Jaire Alexander? In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. Jackson hasnt quite reached those lofty heights in the three years since, but he is coming off his best statistical season since 2017, with just 52% of the passes into his coverage being completed in 2020. Rookie Patrick Surtain II also showed a lot of promise and looks like a star in the making. Not a single one of Dallas' top eight defensive backs by snaps earned a coverage grade in poor territory below 60.0. Contract: three years, $18.6 million. He had one of the highest forced incompletion rates in the league this past year with Washington one of several contributing factors to the multi-year deal that Denver offered him. Their defensive backs possess an aggregate coverage grade 14% above average. Hes picked off nine passes over the past three seasons, and that total should be even higher, as Hadens nine dropped interceptions since 2018 are tied for the most at the position. Hes 61, 210 pounds, and his spider chart might as well have been colored in by a nine-year-old. The five highest-graded outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL fielded lowest-graded... Across the board cornerback Adoree jackson and safety Xavier McKinney helped claw this secondary to a No 90.4 coverage and... Cornerback pairings in the NFL and allowed the second-fewest yards per coverage snap at the.. Breakups on 42 targets, allowing a career-high 96.7 passer rating allowed over that stretch... 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