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. 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. Ramsey produced the highest coverage grade and most PFF WAR among all cornerbacks in the regular season. Projections: Offensive rookies. Jackson has allowed just five of 48 targets at that depth to be completed, tallying 11 interceptions in the process. 247Sports Composite. Subscribe to PFF+ to unlock . . The Packers signed veteran Rasul Douglas midseason, and he far surpassed expectations with a 76.5 coverage grade. We started to see signs of the Louisville product's playmaking ability in 2019, as his 16 forced incompletions ranked second at the position. Hes one of the few thatll travel anywhere on the defense to cover an offenses best weapon. So this is one of the worst cornerback trios in the NFL, not just the NFC West. No Jaire Alexander? The top cornerback room? We often bring up the difficult coverage assignments that No. Thats a tip of the cap to everyone in the secondary for stepping up, including 2020 seventh-rounder, 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. Obviously, this is a subjective endeavor, and we could argue for days about the names that are too high or too low. These rankings are solely analyzing the performance and impact of every secondary in the NFL from the 2021 regular season. 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. It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 season. Xavien Howard picked an opportune time to hold out for a new contract.. Ward and Newsome, in particular, produced top-10 coverage grades when in single coverage. Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. They consistently ranked near the bottom of the league in every metric imaginable, including defensive back, Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley brought his patented Seahawk Cover 3 defense and got the right players in place to carry it out at a quality level. I wouldnt have any issue calling White the best cornerback in football if Ramsey and Alexander didnt exist. If you built a cornerback in a lab, they would look like Ramsey. Nickel corner Sean Murphy-Bunting also did a decent job at preventing big plays, conceding eight on 44 targets on the inside. Nov 15, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston (2) celebrates after a touchdown by running back Alvin Kamara . The hope for Miami will be that he gets back toward the player who earned a five-year, $82.5 million contract last offseason. He recorded coverage grades of at least 72.0 in each of his first three seasons in the league and has allowed just 51.4% of the passes thrown into his coverage to be completed. Witherspoon allowed a burn on half of his 28 targets last season. And star cornerback Jalen Ramsey is a huge reason why. Jackson missed the majority of the 2020 season with a lingering knee injury, but he profiled as one of the most promising young cornerbacks in the league before last year, fresh off a career-high 82.5 coverage grade in 2019. 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. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones has not played since the 2021 season. Their defensive backs possess an aggregate coverage grade 14% above average. 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. Even if the young Jaycee Horn hadnt gone down to injury, this would have been an outstanding move for the Panthers. He grew up in . Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. The official start of NFL free agency doesn't begin until March 13. And we mustnt forget about the impact of rookie safety Jevon Holland. 11. Defensive rookies. Rookie Eric Stokes stepped up and grew into his role as the season wore on. Two of Indianapolis' outside cornerbacks earned top-20 coverage grades this season: The Broncos' secondary underwhelmed to a certain extent in 2021, with veteran safety, Cornerback was a major area of concern for the Cardinals. Its part of what makes identifying the leagues best at the position so challenging. 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. Blake Martinez 6575. Theyre simply on a tier of their own for the time being. The only member of the Detroit Lions on our initial 2022 NFL top 100 players list, Frank Ragnow missed a majority of the 2021 season with a turf toe. 32. 28. 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. 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. Both players were among the 15 most valuable players at their respective positions, according to PFF WAR. Jones matched his interception total across the first five seasons of his career last year with Miami, but it was his worst season from a production allowed standpoint since making the switch to cornerback in 2018. Chidobe Awuzie, Cincinnati Bengals 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 . Meanwhile, McKinney ranked in the top 10 in coverage grade among safeties. T. The Las Vegas Raiders took down the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football in an overtime thriller, bringing an end to the 18-week marathon to the postseason. Terrell has flashed the ability to become one of the truly . The newly minted Super Bowl champion is not only the top cornerback in the NFL, but also one of the best football players, period . However, I prefer to look at this exercise as a nod of respect toward the top cornerbacks in the NFL for the 2021 season. Galina: The shortcomings of the Kellen Moore-Dak Prescott connection for the Dallas Cowboys Still seems like we're waiting for the first domino to fall with the Bears . With the defense surrounding the young CB, he could easily be higher on the list heading into next season. MORE: The 10 most intriguing prospects in the 2023 NFL draft class. 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. But Las Vegas can afford to have confidence in the secondary going into 2021. No group of cornerbacks played more man coverage than the Miami Dolphins. Only one defensive back nickel cornerback Tavierre Thomas didnt produce a sub-60.0 coverage grade. Shaquill Griffin, Jacksonville Jaguars 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. One was to Waynes, and the other was to interior defensive lineman D.J. Its too early to say Gilmore cant get back to that level, though. Personally, I want a guy who travels up and down the field on an assignment basis against the opposing teams best receivers. But two underrated additions could see them catapult into the top five. He still showcases lockdown man-coverage ability at times, but it has been less consistent of late. Things got off to a rough start when the Lions lost 2020 No. 12. The 2017 first-round pick earned a 76.4 coverage grade and led the league in pass breakups (18) en route to being the second-most valuable cornerback in the league, according to PFF WAR. 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. Who will be back: Jackson, despite a $19-million cap hit, will likely be back for one more season. Free-agent signing William Jackson III was an up-and-down performer. After a broken-up pass against Wake Forest in 2016, he, . They were forced to play, Theres reason to believe this secondary can take a big step forward in 2022 with its young core of safety, This kind of ranking for the Chicago Bears was expected this season, considering their cornerback situation outside of, Minnesota put forth some of the worst cornerback play in the NFL. Health remains the biggest concern for Verrett heading into next season. NFL teams most likely to unravel in 2021. Heck, he played more snaps in the slot in 2020 than he did on the outside! According to PFF WAR, the veteran corner was the sixth-most valuable cornerback in the league over the 2015, 2017 and 2018 seasons. I simply wont acknowledge any Jalen Ramsey disrespect in this dojo. 30. In his first two seasons, A.J. Detroits defensive backs aggregate coverage grade is 27% below average. 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. 15. What Diggs is doing through six games is absurd. Episode 2 of the "Top 100 Players of 2022" aired on Sunday, with three cornerbacks making the list between Nos. His 71 forced incompletions since 2014 are fewer than only Darius Slay and Stephon Gilmore. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. The position as a whole combined for the third-fewest WAR among the 32 groups. . Only three Power 5 defenders gave up fewer. 2021 NFL Defensive Secondary Rankings, by Unit 32. No group of cornerbacks played more man coverage than the Miami Dolphins. The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder earned a few poor game grades early on, but he soon righted those wrongs. but it was his worst season from a production allowed standpoint since making the switch to cornerback in 2018. Casey Hayward, Las Vegas Raiders That is how much top-end cornerback play there is in the NFL. Jun 5, 2021 5:19 PM EDT. Opposing offenses simply werent able to attack him in coverage. However, if White can keep up his torrent pace in 2021, he could easily elevate into the same conversation for CB1. 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. Copyright 2019-2023. name season tm gp tkl ast comb sck scky int int yds int td ff fr fr td; jahleel addae: 2021 Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams Only one defensive back nickel cornerback, Galina: The shortcomings of the Kellen Moore-Dak Prescott connection for the Dallas Cowboys. Green, who posted a 90.3 coverage grade across his 116 coverage snaps. Two free-agent signings, in particular , The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. 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. The 2023 corner class doesn't hold any superstars like last year's Sauce Gardner but it still has a number of quality pro prospects with five having close to first-round grades on them. 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