It was only natural that the prototype for cornerback shifted as well. 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. No Jaire Alexander? That is how much top-end cornerback play there is in the NFL. It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 season. 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. 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. 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. 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. It doesnt matter where Ramsey is at, though hes been a top-tier player at either position. Most tackles since 2015:1. Best Bets Tool. If Lattimores career was flipped in reverse order, theres a reasonable chance that he would be inside the top five on this list. With more than 20 pending free agents, the front office will have a lot of work to do. 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. The Pro Bowl free safety will have an exciting mix of experience and youth alongside him. Terrell was actually the second-highest graded cornerback in coverage in the 2021 regular season, behind only Jalen Ramsey. Only one defensive back nickel cornerback Tavierre Thomas didnt produce a sub-60.0 coverage grade. NAME GP TKL AST COMB SCK SCKY INT INT YDS INT TD FF FR FR TD; Tom Farris: 11: 4: 43: 0: 1: 0: Steve Filipowicz The secondary is the last unit remaining. but it was his worst season from a production allowed standpoint since making the switch to cornerback in 2018. Since 2019, Marlon Humphreys done exactly that in Wink Martindales aggressive man-to-man scheme. 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. Ranking the top NFL Cornerback contracts and salaries in the NFL 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. He isnt at the top of the CB rankings yet simply because this is all so new. Which teams have the best -- and worst -- running back units? 9: 10: 5: 15: 0.0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: . 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. Instead, hes heading in the wrong direction. Cornerback Trevon Diggs has been possibly the biggest boom-or-bust cornerback of the PFF era. NFL Player Grades. His 17.3% forced incompletion rate ranks second among cornerbacks who have seen at least 100 targets over those two years. Yet, between Mullens progress, the arrival of Hayward and the selection of free safety Trevon Moehrig in the second round of this years draft, the Raiders secondary is one that looks primed to establish itself as one of the better groups in the NFL. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. The following are the 2022 NFL team overall defense statistics, including team rushing yardage, team passing yardage and total team yardage. 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. Still, they held up well, ranking sixth in coverage grade and second in EPA per pass play allowed on such plays. The NFL in 2014 settled a class action lawsuit with retired . For the most part, the Buffalo Bills invest wisely in the right people and positions. 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide Cornerback (CB) position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Xavien Howard has always been an outstanding blend of consistency and aggression. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. The 2021 second-round pick is a valuable piece to this secondary moving forward, but the other cornerback spots need some work. 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 top cornerbacks for 2022 are all established stars who are all playing some of the best football of their careers. Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore Ravens. While Surtain will go early in the 2021 NFL Draft, he is not as good of a prospect as Jalen Ramsey or C.J. 1 wide receiver in man coverage. And there are a couple of surprise names feature among those secondaries who look ready to take a leap in 2021. Cleveland also received some sneaky high-quality play from 2020 undrafted free agent A.J. Chicago Bears - Will Anderson, OLB/DE, Alabama. Minnesota put forth some of the worst cornerback play in the NFL. But two underrated additions could see them catapult into the top five. Theyre simply on a tier of their own for the time being. With the help of PFFs advanced database which is used by all 32 NFL teams we'll rank all 32 NFL secondaries from the 2021 regular season. Rhodes will look to continue to build on that success on another one-year deal with the team in 2021. 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. Having an elite cornerback who is capable of traveling with an opposing team's top receiving threat, such as Jalen Ramsey, can take pressure off other players in the secondary. Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. 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. 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. He should once again be put in a position to succeed under Fangio next season. 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. Howard is one of the best playmaking cornerbacks that the NFL has to offer. Kendall Fuller, Washington Football Team 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. a 2016 second-round pick has been the worst safety in the NFL this year. Patrick Surtain II, Alabama. But from the slot, the Seahawks' coverage unit was a bit of a nightmare. Nik Needham was an underrated player among the group by producing a top-10 slot coverage grade in the NFL. 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. On the bright side, Emmanuel Moseley played admirably with a 17.6% forced incompletion rate on the outside (ninth) and under a yard allowed per coverage snap this regular season. Jones allowed 1.4 yards per coverage snap with Miami in 2020 double his 0.7 yards per coverage snap average across the 2018 and 2019 seasons in Dallas. Christian D'Andrea. Ramsey produced the highest coverage grade and most PFF WAR among all cornerbacks in the regular season. The 2021 top-10 pick allowed over 60 yards just once last season and led the draft class in combined interceptions and pass breakups (12). He gets to passes that most receivers cannot get to, making his multiple near-INTs in 2021 as impressive as his 7 actual interceptions. He grew up in . Which team has the most wins as road dogs since 2015? No group of cornerbacks played more man coverage than the Miami Dolphins. 30. Hes slimmer, and with that lack of cumbersome muscle, hes more efficiently able to transition and stick. 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. Fuller allowed just 53% of the passes into his coverage to be completed with four interceptions and nine pass breakups. Green, who posted a 90.3 coverage grade across his 116 coverage snaps. The strength of this group comes from two former Washington Huskies. Butler allowed the 10th-most burn yards per snap among corners with at least 200 coverage snaps (2.42) while Alford has not played since the 2018 season. Davis and Dean form one of the best cornerback pairings in the NFL. Figures indicate statistics each team allowed to their opponents. Much of the Raiders presence in the top 10 is tied to the astute acquisition of veteran corner Casey Hayward, whose adjusted open percentage of 17.3 was the fifth-best in the NFL among players at all defensive positions, though a less impressive burn yards per target average of 11.20 reflects how often he was left on an island for the Los Angeles Chargers last year. In 2017, Slay led the league in interceptions and . A Week 5 matchup with Amari Cooper and Dallas put that on display. 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. Design by Matt Sisneros. 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. So this is one of the worst cornerback trios in the NFL, not just the NFC West. 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. Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati . 4-overall prospect). 4 . 19. However, he was overly aggressive at times and susceptible to giving up the big play. These rankings are solely analyzing the performance and impact of every secondary in the NFL from the 2021 regular season. However, with a full offseason under their belt to coalesce further, the arrow is pointing up for a young and clearly talented secondary that will again be playing behind one of the best front sevens in football after the Bucs kept the band together for another run in 2021. Things got off to a rough start when the Lions lost 2020 No. He finished with the lowest slot coverage grade in the NFL. Gilmore was comfortably the No. 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. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. who passed away in February 2021 at age 81, played cornerback for the Eagles from 1961 to 1965, earning two Pro Bowl nods, and . 18. . 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. Its part of what makes identifying the leagues best at the position so challenging. 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. Williams is Denver's long-term answer at running back . The result was a season where Alexander was worth 1.4 wins above a replacement-level player, almost a full half-win more than any other cornerback. He graded at 75.0 or higher in every season that he saw more than 100 snaps from 2012 through 2019, and he did it all while posting the highest forced incompletion rate in the NFL. Theres a reason he has received plenty of interest since his release. Even with the big plays allowed early in the season, quarterbacks have just a 68.1 rating when targeting Lattimore this season. 8 forced fumbles in 2020. Lattimore possesses everything you could want in a cornerback. Safeties Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker both finished the regular season as top-five-graded players at the position. Brian Poole (not re-signed) was the only cornerback to hold opponents to negative EPA per target in 2020. . The Broncos head into 2021 with questions still abounding over their quarterbacks, but there is no doubt they have a championship-caliber defense, of which the secondary looks to be the strength. 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