Houston Texans: Whitney Mercilus, OLB. The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. Steven Nelson, Philadelphia Eagles Terrell has flashed the ability to become one of the truly . While it wasn't easy putting together this list, here is our ranking of the NFL's 10 best cornerbacks in 2022. Carolina ranked 24th in outside coverage grade and allowed the fourth-worst passer rating to the outside (107.8). The Raiders defensive backs rank seventh for aggregate coverage, rating 10% better than the average. The lack of talent and experience was apparent, especially without safety Marcus Maye, who ruptured his Achilles midway through the season. Howard has struggled so far in 2021, but the same can be said for the entire Dolphins defense. Here is the fourth version of our Vikings 2023 Mock Draft Tracker, which features 16 recent predictions from around the world of . 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. He has picked up coverage grades between 70.4 and 72.4 every season, gradually increasing his playing time each year. Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati . Blake Martinez 6575. 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. 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. No team, this season than Baltimore. 20. who passed away in February 2021 at age 81, played cornerback for the Eagles from 1961 to 1965, earning two Pro Bowl nods, and . Reed, provided some grounds for optimism as his burn yards per target average of 8.21 put him 15th among corners with at least 200 coverage snaps. They ranked dead last in slot coverage grade following the regular season. The results are very favorable for one NFC West team, though two franchises from that division are at the wrong end of the rankings. He should give the Broncos some playmaking ability at cornerback if he can stay healthy. His PFF grade dropped from 90.0 from 2014 to 2018 in Detroit to just 59.5 across the last two years. Eric Kendricks 639 # . Will Harris at least had an admirable 2020 at strong safety, finishing third among all safeties in burn yards per target (7). Devon Witherspoon is a player who has had the best production throughout 2022 and has been simply elite while . Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. He also stands out as one of the better zone-coverage cornerbacks in the NFL, ranking in the 94th percentile of all cornerbacks on such plays during the 2020 season. Darius Big Play Slay played a big part in the Eagles cracking a spot in the top half of the league. In 2021, the two 25-year-olds each missed several games but allowed under 700 yards in coverage combined. Its challenging to rank these guys with the multitude of schematic differences and responsibilities. NAME SEASON TM GP TKL AST COMB SCK SCKY INT INT YDS INT TD FF FR FR TD; Jahleel Addae: 2021: IND. 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. Xavien Howard picked an opportune time to hold out for a new contract.. Houston might want to think about using its No. Terrells breakout to elite status, Atlanta would be threatening to place last on this list. Last season, he allowed 46 slot catches on 72 targets for 392 yards, 167 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no . Las Vegas Raiders . 1 wide receiver in man coverage. With the defense surrounding the young CB, he could easily be higher on the list heading into next season. . Who led the NFL in receiving in 2021? From Week 7 on, Ward allowed more than 50 yards in coverage just once. 1 cornerback in the league heading into the 2020 season, fresh off a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019. 27. This season, the division is up for grabs yet again. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. Overall, New York allowed more EPA per pass than any other defense in the regular season. I still expect a lot from Stephon Gilmore, and with those expectations will come quick criticism if he doesnt perform to his standards. Henderson. After recording three straight coverage grades of at least 85.0 in New Englands defense, Gilmore put up just a 58.5 coverage grade in 2020. There is a perception that Shermans better days are behind him, but entering his age-33 season, there is still plenty of room for Sherman to take a step back and still be one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. No team covered the slot better in the 2021 regular season than the Patriots. White does a fantastic job of toeing the line between aggressive and reckless. 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. The Detroit Lions were, by most metrics, the worst defensive team in the NFL last year and they probably won't be much better . Demario Davis 6634. While Surtain will go early in the 2021 NFL Draft, he is not as good of a prospect as Jalen Ramsey or C.J. After an offseason in which Arizona did little to address the cornerback position, the onus may again be on that pair to elevate those around them, unless Butler and Alford unexpectedly recapture their form of old. Even if the young Jaycee Horn hadnt gone down to injury, this would have been an outstanding move for the Panthers. The defense endured blows at multiple position groups, including in the secondary with Marcus Peters (torn ACL in the preseason) and Marlon Humphrey (torn pectoral in Week 13). Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon . 5. . No Jaire Alexander? Those struggles wouldnt last, though. 2021 stats: 11 games (11 starts), 1 INT, 6 PBUs, 1 FF, 1 FR, 0.5 sacks, 41 combined tackles (27 solo). To further my point, Matthew Staffords EPA is 39, and hes an MVP candidate at quarterback. 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. He has earned overall grades between 64.7 and 72.9 in every season since 2012, barring a career-high 82.5 grade in his first year with the Giants in 2016. NFL Player Grades - current. The back-to-back AFC champions stood at a 2-3 record, and the secondary was performing at league-low levels. Butler has been one of the best in the league at getting his hands on the football throughout his career. Now the question is, are they able to maintain that if they undergo another coaching change? The key to the Lions improving in that regard will be Jeff Okudahs ability to shake off a difficult rookie season and justify his status as the third overall pick in 2020. His value is easy to see. So this is one of the worst cornerback trios in the NFL, not just the NFC West. Since 2019, Marlon Humphreys done exactly that in Wink Martindales aggressive man-to-man scheme. If he can replicate that impact as a rookie, the Raiders should be in extremely good shape in the defensive backfield. Ward was one of the first to fit the new modern mold of NFL cornerback. The Bengals handed out two big contracts on the defensive side of the ball last offseason. From Week 12 to the end of the regular season, he was one of the 10 highest-graded cornerbacks in the 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. Since 2017, he has forced more incompletions on passes 20-plus yards downfield (18) than he has receptions allowed (14). 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. 6 on the list, as his 86.2 coverage . Nickel corner Sean Murphy-Bunting also did a decent job at preventing big plays, conceding eight on 44 targets on the inside. 25. 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. Veteran Artie Burns and seventh-round rookie Thomas Graham Jr. were small-sample darlings with 85.1 and 90.6 coverage grades, respectively, but they didnt get enough reps to make a sizable dent. 4) New England Patriots: Stephon Gilmore & J.C. Jackson. Return to Top; Players. 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. Ya-Sin made his best plays on his few snaps in press-man, while Rodgers' top moments came in off-zone when racking up stops. 22. 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. Fuller is set to be reunited with Vic Fangio in Denver. The strength of this group comes from two former Washington Huskies. Those missed opportunities only make the 77.5 passer rating allowed over that span (13th in the NFL) more impressive. 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. There is a massive amount of talent currently at the position. 9: 10: 5: 15: 0.0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: . Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs. He wasnt alone out there, either safety Marcus Williams also helped anchor the group with an 84.3 coverage grade that ranked seventh at the position. Donte Jackson, Carolina Panthers Mar 1, 2021 at 11:51 am ET 34 min read NFL Draft season is in full swing, so a Top 50 Big Board is in order. 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. They were among the five least valuable secondaries in the league, and the cornerback room, in particular, finished as the second-lowest graded group. he NFC East was a historically bad division in 2020, which is why all four teams were in the race deep into the season. 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. T. Washington: 7-9. The Patriots will look for that bounce-back season in 2021. When Diggs is targeted, the opponents quarterback rating is 45. 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. Cross died in 2021. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. 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). 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 NFL defenses will ask very different things of their cornerbacks, depending on the scheme they run. Jones allowed 1.4 yards per coverage snap . Pro Football Focus graded rookie Sauce Gardner as the best corner in the NFL. Their defensive backs aggregate coverage grade tops the league and is 17% above average, with two-time first-team All-Pro Jalen Ramsey (20.45%) and the underrated Darious Williams (21.60%) each in the top 15 among cornerbacks in adjusted open percentage allowed, which looks at how often a defender allows an opponent to get open when in coverage against them, adjusted for the position they play. James Bradberry, New York Giants, 21. 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. Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones has not played since the 2021 season. Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. 3 overall pick on a defensive back like Derek Stingley Jr. (PFFs No. Five rosters still have more questions than answers, which makes these teams the worst the NFL has to offer as they prepare for the 2021 campaign. 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. Still, the Saints defense was great last season and has continued to be so in 2021. T.J. Green has played because of . In 2020, Howard led the league in interceptions (10) and pass breakups (20) for his first All-Pro nod. 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. a 2016 second-round pick has been the worst safety in the NFL this year. Both players were among the 15 most valuable players at their respective positions, according to PFF WAR. The 2021 second-round pick is a valuable piece to this secondary moving forward, but the other cornerback spots need some work. The top cornerback room? 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. Carlton Davis III was less impressive, giving up a burn on exactly half of his 92 targets, though the fact he conceded a big play on 25% of his targets (the average was 26 among all corners) leaves room for encouragement. 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. His 75.8 coverage grade in 2020 ranked 15th among all qualifying cornerbacks across the league, and he was called for just two penalties all year. TreDavious White has been one of the top cornerbacks in the league since the minute he stepped on an NFL field. Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams. Bears. The top cornerbacks for 2022 are all established stars who are all playing some of the best football of their careers. Pro Football Network, LLC. Adoree Jackson, New York Giants After a 3-0 start to the 2021 season, the Carolina Panthers were figured out on both sides of the ball. increasing that usage from 21 percent in 2021 (29th in NFL . 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 Bengals', pass coverage finished the regular season as the seventh-most improved group year over year in terms of EPA allowed per pass. Kendall Fuller, Washington Football Team That mark was also good for fourth-best at the position in the 2021 regular season. Slay will look to rebound under a new coaching staff and get back to making plays on the ball after ranking second in the league in forced incompletions (75) across his seven years in Detroit. Hes 61, 210 pounds, and his spider chart might as well have been colored in by a nine-year-old. Heck, he played more snaps in the slot in 2020 than he did on the outside! Safety Jimmie Ward was the teams highest-graded defensive back in coverage (73.7). Slay came in at No. 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. Subscribe to PFF+ to unlock . It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 season. He finished with the lowest slot coverage grade in the NFL. Hes intelligent and has ideal size and athleticism. Christian D'Andrea. 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. The official start of NFL free agency doesn't begin until March 13. 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. 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