Pro Football Network strives to passionately deliver purposeful, captivating, and exceptional football content. Sign Up. Houston Texans: Whitney Mercilus, OLB. But Las Vegas can afford to have confidence in the secondary going into 2021. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. 6 and . CORNERBACK PROSPECT RANKING 2023 NFL DRAFT. which is used by all 32 NFL teams we'll rank all 32 NFL secondaries from the 2021 regular season. Personally, I want a guy who travels up and down the field on an assignment basis against the opposing teams best receivers. His 45.3 coverage grade was the fourth-lowest among qualifying cornerbacks. 10. Rhodes will look to continue to build on that success on another one-year deal with the team in 2021. 1. Washington possessed one of the better defenses in the NFL in 2020;Jacksons addition should only improve it, giving them a No. . Which team has the most wins as road dogs since 2015? 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. Two of Indianapolis' outside cornerbacks earned top-20 coverage grades this season: Rock Ya-Sin and Isaiah Rodgers. 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. So, which secondaries were a boon and which were a hindrance this season? The outlook isnt nearly as rosy heading into 2021 after a noticeable decline in play last season. It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 season. And Peters ranks tied for fifth at the position in pass breakups (52) over that same time frame. As you can probably expect, the quarterbacks are at the top and there are plenty of wide receivers. 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 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. Haden may be on the downward slope of his career, but he has provided Pittsburgh with steady play at cornerback since joining the team in 2018 and should continue to do so in 2021. The veteran had a career year, earning the highest coverage grade (83.9) of his nine years in the NFL ranks. Should the Giants opt to move on from the 27-year-old cornerback, they would clear $8.6 million . Ward was one of the first to fit the new modern mold of NFL cornerback. 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. If Ramsey is the freak, Alexander is the new mold. With their help, the Raiders ranked top five in yards per attempt and explosive pass rate allowed this year. I wouldnt have any issue calling White the best cornerback in football if Ramsey and Alexander didnt exist. Terrell. It doesnt hurt that Washington can feel comfortable playing him at multiple positions in their secondary, either. Some cornerbacks are tasked with shutting down their side of the field in zone, while other top cornerbacks are given the unenviable job of following the opposing teams No. 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. He remains among the league leaders in targets, and with that comes the yards. He allowed just 30 receiving yards on 359 coverage snaps across his final 11 games that season. Jun 5, 2021 5:19 PM EDT. Henderson. 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. Taron Johnson, Buffalo Bills 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. Greg Newsome, Cleveland Browns, 26. Darious Williams, Los Angeles Rams Nik Needham was an underrated player among the group by producing a top-10 slot coverage grade in the NFL. Nickel Ronald Darby (37.8) and free-agent signing Kyle Fuller (40.3), inexplicably released by the Chicago Bears, each ranked in the top seven in burn percentage allowed for corners with at least 200 coverage snaps. In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. His 3.2% missed tackle rate was the second-lowest among safeties. James Bradberry, New York Giants, 21. Casey Hayward, Las Vegas Raiders 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. Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. Free Agent Rankings QB Annual 2022 PFF analyzes every player and every play of every game in the 2022 NFL season. Mahomes is king again at age 25 and may not be dethroned for a long time. 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. These rankings are solely analyzing the performance and impact of every secondary in the NFL from the 2021 regular season. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. While Tier 4 cornerbacks constantly compete for top-15 spots at the position and are average at worst, Tier 6 corners compete for top-30 spots and sometimes have below . Opposing offenses simply werent able to attack him in coverage. Data modeling by Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads. Design by Matt Sisneros. Cornerback was a clear need for the Jaguars entering this offseason. The NFL in 2014 settled a class action lawsuit with retired . 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. 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. In truth, he could be there already. 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. 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. 4-overall prospect). He was 10th in the NFL at his position in adjusted open percentage (21.58). White does a fantastic job of toeing the line between aggressive and reckless. His 19.1% forced incompletion rate was a top-five mark at the cornerback position last year, tied with Jaire Alexander. Henderson. Unfortunately for Detroit, one of those corners is now on their roster. Not a single one of Dallas' top eight defensive backs by snaps earned a coverage grade in poor territory below 60.0. He ranks top 10 in both slot and outside coverage grade. When hes been asked to man up against some of the best receivers in the NFL, hes delivered. 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. 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. Nonetheless, this year's class doesn't boast a marquee, Denzel Ward or Jalen Ramsey type bound to land inside the top five. Ranking the top NFL Cornerback contracts and salaries in the NFL Donte Jackson, Carolina Panthers From Week 7 on, Ward allowed more than 50 yards in coverage just once. 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. 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. Still, they held up well, ranking sixth in coverage grade and second in EPA per pass play allowed on such plays. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. His lone interception was a career-worst -- as was his tally of 50 combined tackles and 66.2 completion percentage allowed -- but with a full training camp to come (after having been absent a traditional one in 2020 due to the COVID-19 . Mackenzie Alexanders return after a year with the Cincinnati Bengals may see him start at nickel, and he will need to improve after allowing 11.16 burn yards per target from the slot last season. 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. The following are the 2022 NFL team overall defense statistics, including team rushing yardage, team passing yardage and total team yardage. Nickel Byron Murphys burn yards per target average of 7.50 was the fifth-best among inside corners in 2020 and Budda Baker has established himself as one of the premier safeties in the NFL, with his adjusted open percentage of 16.38 trailing only three defenders last season. Tampas secondary arguably already took a step forward as the Buccaneers claimed their second Super Bowl title last season. Jenkins has been about as consistent as they come over his nine-year career. 2022 NFL Cornerback Rankings. Ask any executive or coach around the league at this Seattle Seahawks: Ahkello Witherspoon, D.J. Subscribe to PFF+ to unlock . Hes slimmer, and with that lack of cumbersome muscle, hes more efficiently able to transition and stick. He does the razzle dazzle better than any quarterback, but he . J.C. Jackson isnt the most consistent cornerback in the world, but hes not necessarily the gambler that Howard and Marcus Peters tend to be. His six penalties this past season were fewer than any year since his rookie season in 2013. Dean allowed a burn on 30 of his 64 targets, his percentage of 46.9 comfortably better than the average of 52.8 for corners with at least 200 coverage snaps. David Carr constructs his own ranking of the top 10 cornerbacks, but All-Pro . 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. TreDavious Whites continuing success is a reason for that, as the two-time Pro Bowler first among all cornerbacks in adjusted open percentage allowed (16.20%) in 2020. Detroits secondary has been problematic over the past few years, and it didnt get any better in Year 1 under Dan Campbell. In both 2019 and 2020, he recorded a pressure rate below 9% (per SIS Datahub). 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. In his first two seasons, A.J. 1. The Eagles aren't the best NFC East team on paper. Buffalos secondary endured a crushing blow in Week 12 when CB1. Terrell was actually the second-highest graded cornerback in coverage in the 2021 regular season, behind only Jalen Ramsey. Dean expanded his role in the Buccaneers defense from fewer than 400 snaps in 2019 to 935 defensive snaps this past season. a 2016 second-round pick has been the worst safety in the NFL this year. No team, this season than Baltimore. Reader, yet neither made an impact last season due to injury. Questions remain at cornerback, however, after Avonte Maddox struggled while playing outside corner last year and Darius Slay underperformed. Hes going up against each teams best receiver, shadowing them around the field. The Pro Bowl free safety will have an exciting mix of experience and youth alongside him. T.J. Green has played because of . Changing that and successfully developing Okudah and Melifonwu will be crucial to this secondary climbing out of the cellar. Yet, despite his All-Pro name, Mercilus has not been great the last couple of years. Two free-agent signings, in particular Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton have helped them get there. Last season, he allowed 46 slot catches on 72 targets for 392 yards, 167 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no . Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. NAME SEASON TM GP TKL AST COMB SCK SCKY INT INT YDS INT TD FF FR FR TD; Jahleel Addae: 2021: IND. Injuries destroyed the Ravens this past season. Hill had his best seasons in LA . 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. Here is PFFs 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. 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. No problem. Houston might want to think about using its No. 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). Ya-Sin's 2020 coverage grade was over 20 points lower than his 2021 mark, and Rodgers played just 38 NFL coverage snaps entering the season, so this wasnt expected. 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). NFL defenses will ask very different things of their cornerbacks, depending on the scheme they run. 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. While it wasn't easy putting together this list, here is our ranking of the NFL's 10 best cornerbacks in 2022. 28. The position as a whole combined for the third-fewest WAR among the 32 groups. Brian Poole, New York Jets. 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. Lavonte David 6943. Wards dominance in single coverage (96th percentile grade since 2018) has been particularly noteworthy. The league's inaugural 17-game season . Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Ranks top 10 in both 2019 and 2020, he recorded a pressure rate below 9 % ( per Datahub... 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