Still, they held up well, ranking sixth in coverage grade and second in EPA per pass play allowed on such plays. 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. None of their cornerbacks had a quality campaign, but. In the News: Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, Aaron Rodgers, Jalen Hurts, Tom Brady, Brock Purdy. They ranked dead last in slot coverage grade following the regular season. 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. After trading Matthew Stafford in 2021 and T.J. Hockenson at the trade deadline last year, the Lions have five picks in the top 81 selections of this year's NFL Draft, including picks No. 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. No cornerback in the league has been more productive on passes 20 or more yards downfield over that span. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon . This kind of ranking for the Chicago Bears was expected this season, considering their cornerback situation outside of Jaylon Johnson. The Seahawks appear to be banking on Ahkello Witherspoon making a leap he never managed with the San Francisco 49ers. Although Ringo grew up dreaming of scoring touchdowns, his path to being a high draft pick could come because of his ability to prevent them. The safety pairing of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer may also be hoping for a bounce-back year, with the latter having allowed a burn on 13 of his 28 targets at free safety in 2020. Top Nine Defenses. Quinton Dunbar (44.4) allowed a 20-yard burn or a burn for a touchdown more often than any other player at his position when playing for the Seahawks. In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. He does the razzle dazzle better than any quarterback, but he . Having added Fuller and the most pro-ready corner in the draft, the Broncos secondary could soon mount a challenge to take the crown from the Rams. The Detroit Lions were, by most metrics, the worst defensive team in the NFL last year and they probably won't be much better . Darious Williams, Los Angeles Rams Hes intelligent and has ideal size and athleticism. 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. This week, were evaluating defensive backs. That pairing will be joined by arguably the premier corner from this years draft class, Patrick Surtain II, who makes the step up to the league after a stellar college career with Alabama, which he ended by helping the Crimson Tide to a National Championship and allowing 0.93 burn yards per snap. 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. Yet, with Quandre Diggs coming off a year in which he conceded a disappointing 13.82 burn yards per target, this is a group with more questions than answers. We use our own and third-party cookies to improve your experience and our services. Detroits defensive backs aggregate coverage grade is 27% below average. Jones allowed 1.4 yards per coverage snap . White does a fantastic job of toeing the line between aggressive and reckless. Eagles: 4-11-1. Here is PFF's take on the top 32 outside cornerbacks entering the 2021 NFL season, featuring stiff competition for the top spot among several players under the age of 27. He has been tested more than any other cornerback in the league since 2019, with a league-high 197 targets, but Davis has come out on top on a lot of those plays. We're ranking the division by position group. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. 16 ranking despite the team's poor state overall. 18. 24. Jones was the NFL's highest-paid cornerback when he signed a five-year, $82.5 . 5. Nelson ranks among the top 10 cornerbacks in the league in both completion rate allowed (53.9%) and passer rating allowed (75.1) among 68 players at the position to see at least 100 targets since 2019. Hill had his best seasons in LA . Using advanced data, weve ranked every secondary in the NFL by their performance in pass coverage. Its part of what makes identifying the leagues best at the position so challenging. Waynes three-year, $42 million contract was likely an overpay, but he does profile as a quality starting option. The Rams opted to let 2021's slot cornerback Darious Williams leave via free agency, replacing him by bringing back Troy Hill in free agency. 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. Verrett exceeded all expectations in his return from a string of injuries last season for San Francisco. This season, the division is up for grabs yet again. 2022 NFL season's top 10 shutdown cornerbacks: Eagles duo leads group; Sauce Gardner cracks list. Ramsey has been one of the best cornerbacks in the league since Jacksonville drafted him fifth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. So, which secondaries were a boon and which were a hindrance this season? Howard is one of the best playmaking cornerbacks that the NFL has to offer. 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. Only one defensive back nickel cornerback Tavierre Thomas didnt produce a sub-60.0 coverage grade. Theyre simply on a tier of their own for the time being. In both 2019 and 2020, he recorded a pressure rate below 9% (per SIS Datahub). KEY: Gms = Games Played, Tot Pts = Total Points Scored, Pts/G = Points Per Game, RushYds = Rushing Yards, RYds/G = Rushing Yards Per Game . Hes never recorded a PFF grade lower than 70.0 impressive consistency for a cornerback often tasked with tough assignments and is coming off the best PFF grade since his second year in the league. 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. The tandem tormented AFC quarterbacks for years. After a 3-0 start to the 2021 season, the Carolina Panthers were figured out on both sides of the ball. A few coverage lapses have led to big plays this year, but that happens in a scheme that relies on communication both pre- and post-snap. 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. 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. Henderson. However, Miamis cornerback really blossomed in 2020, intercepting a league-high 10 passes. Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. > 2021 NFL > Advanced Stats. The Packers still fielded a top-10-graded cornerback room this season despite losing one of the best cover corners in the game for most of the season. 3 overall pick on a defensive back like Derek Stingley Jr. (PFFs No. The Broncos' secondary underwhelmed to a certain extent in 2021, with veteran safety Kareem Jackson and cornerback free agent pickups Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby all producing poor coverage grades below 60.0. Ranking top 10 cornerbacks in NFL for 2021: Jalen Ramsey leads pack that includes talented newcomers . 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. Marcus Peters, Baltimore Ravens Rookie Patrick Surtain II also showed a lot of promise and looks like a star in the making. Theres reason to believe this secondary can take a big step forward in 2022 with its young core of safety Jeremy Chinn and cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and C.J. There is no shortage of defensive weapons on Clevelands roster. Las Vegas Raiders . It just wasnt all there for him in 2020. Ranking The Top 20 Cornerbacks in the NFL 2021Top 20 NFL CB in 2021NFL Cornerback Rankings before the 2021 NFL SeasonTop 20 Corners according to MitchMitch o. name season tm gp tkl ast comb sck scky int int yds int td ff fr fr td; jahleel addae: 2021 The lack of talent and experience was apparent, especially without safety Marcus Maye, who ruptured his Achilles midway through the season. 32. Williams career trajectory is very similar to Dean's in that he graded exceptionally well in a limited role in 2019 and didnt take any sort of step back in a full-time starting job this past season. Meanwhile, McKinney ranked in the top 10 in coverage grade among safeties. 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. That is how much top-end cornerback play there is in the NFL. This is not a forward-looking list, nor is it considering what a group accomplished prior to this season. 2020 Points-Allowed Rank: No. Minnesota put forth some of the worst cornerback play in the NFL. The newly minted Super Bowl champion is not only the top cornerback in the NFL, but also one of the best football players, period . But Las Vegas can afford to have confidence in the secondary going into 2021. The outlook isnt nearly as rosy heading into 2021 after a noticeable decline in play last season. The Jets might have the best group of cornerbacks in the NFL a far cry from 2021, when they might have had the worst. Butler had arguably his best season in coverage since his New England days last year with Tennessee. But certain units . Nonetheless, this year's class doesn't boast a marquee, Denzel Ward or Jalen Ramsey type bound to land inside the top five. Instead, hes heading in the wrong direction. Who led the NFL in receiving in 2021? Terrell locked up his opponents on a weekly basis, allowing no more than 32 yards in a single game this year. He allowed just 30 receiving yards on 359 coverage snaps across his final 11 games that season. Best Bets Tool. No Jaire Alexander? Terrell. He grew up in . 14. 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 32. 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). 1 cornerback who will allow them to play more man coverage if they desire. Home About Shop . But it's easy to know who the favorite is. After profiling as one of the top cornerbacks in the league from 2014 to 2018, Slay has taken a noticeable step back the past two seasons. But two underrated additions could see them catapult into the top five. 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. Only three Power 5 defenders gave up fewer. Only three inside corners gave up fewer burn yards per snap than Ugo Amadi (1.14) in 2020 while safety Jamal Adams was not the coverage liability many made him out to be; the Seahawks sack leader last season gave up a big play on 10 of his 41 targets. 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. Gilmore was comfortably the No. Cornerback Charvarius Ward was also playing exceptionally better after missing a month due to injury. Ranking the top NFL Cornerback contracts and salaries in the NFL White is right there with Howard as one of the best playmaking cornerbacks in the league. 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. 1 cornerbacks in the NFC South are tasked with. 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. Holland was the highest-graded safety since Week 9 by over four grading points. 1. Rookie Eric Stokes stepped up and grew into his role as the season wore on. Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts13. Projections: Offensive rookies. Which teams have the best -- and worst -- running back units? 11. There is a massive amount of talent currently at the position. 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. These rankings are solely analyzing the performance and impact of every secondary in the NFL from the 2021 regular season. Alexander has those piercing eyes that make him and Randall Cobb look related, and I cant imagine having to line up against him with those things staring a hole through the crown of my nose. 12. 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. Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. Outside corner D.J. 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. 11. With some personnel tweaks, the Chiefs secondary revived itself. Should the Giants opt to move on from the 27-year-old cornerback, they would clear $8.6 million . 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. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. His 84.6 PFF grade finished as the third-best at the position. Consequently, defenses are more stressed than ever before. 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. 6 on the list, as his 86.2 coverage . who passed away in February 2021 at age 81, played cornerback for the Eagles from 1961 to 1965, earning two Pro Bowl nods, and . Which team has the most wins as road dogs since 2015? Ward was one of the first to fit the new modern mold of NFL cornerback. The Bengals', pass coverage finished the regular season as the seventh-most improved group year over year in terms of EPA allowed per pass. 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