Galina: The shortcomings of the Kellen Moore-Dak Prescott connection for the Dallas Cowboys 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. targeted, which leads to his interceptions. The ability to limit production like Ramsey did against top-flight talent is invaluable for the Los Angeles Rams defense. They consistently ranked near the bottom of the league in every metric imaginable, including defensive back PFF WAR generated: 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. Hes going up against each teams best receiver, shadowing them around the field. Hes one of the more impactful free agents still on the market. Donte Jackson, Carolina Panthers Those three cornerbacks shared a combined 17 years of experience in the NFL. Veteran. The low-level play ultimately led to his benching by the seasons end. David Carr constructs his own ranking of the top 10 cornerbacks, but All-Pro . 28. 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. The Raiders defensive backs rank seventh for aggregate coverage, rating 10% better than the average. 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. He returns to the field in 2022, a huge boost . Chidobe Awuzie, Cincinnati Bengals 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. Both players were among the 15 most valuable players at their respective positions, according to PFF WAR. This week, were evaluating defensive backs. Sign Up. Shaquill Griffin, Jacksonville Jaguars Top 32 cornerbacks in the NFL for the 2021 season | 1-10. Consequently, defenses are more stressed than ever before. White does a fantastic job of toeing the line between aggressive and reckless. Veteran Casey Hayward Jr. who played in Bradley's scheme with the Los Angeles Chargers was the 13th-highest graded outside corner of the regular season, while rookie Nate Hobbs was the highest-graded slot corner. What do you want out of your elite cornerback? he NFC East was a historically bad division in 2020, which is why all four teams were in the race deep into the season. Safety Jayron Kearse was the highest-graded defensive back on the roster, due in large part to his strong tackling. 23. With the start of the 2021 NFL regular season just around the corner, NFL.com analyst and former scout Daniel Jeremiah projects the best- and . 19. 25. Return to Top; Players. The Eagles aren't the best NFC East team on paper. 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. Jacksons grading profile has been consistent across his first three seasons in the NFL after joining New England as an undrafted free agent in 2018. In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. As a result, Diggs' coverage grade rang in just above the 50th percentile among cornerbacks. Las Vegas Raiders . 1. When Diggs is targeted, the opponents quarterback rating is 45. It shouldnt be a surprise that the group finished with one of the three-lowest unit coverage grades of the year. The lack of talent and experience was apparent, especially without safety Marcus Maye, who ruptured his Achilles midway through the season. NFL teams most likely to unravel in 2021. Carolina ranked 24th in outside coverage grade and allowed the fourth-worst passer rating to the outside (107.8). Top 32 cornerbacks in the NFL for the 2021 season | 1-10, Top 32 cornerbacks in the NFL for the 2021 season | 11-32, Jaire Alexander is responsible for my favorite troll of all time on a football field. 6 on the list, as his 86.2 coverage . He had spent the vast majority of his time in the slot across the first four years of his NFL career, even dabbling at safety with the Chiefs in 2019. 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. 9: 10: 5: 15: 0.0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: . 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. He also ranks in at least the 87th percentile in coverage grades at both alignments. Figures indicate statistics each team allowed to their opponents. Full Site Menu. Ranking top 10 cornerbacks in NFL for 2021: Jalen Ramsey leads pack that includes talented newcomers . After a broken-up pass against Wake Forest in 2016, he, . 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. The Buccaneers game in Week 5 was the culmination of bad luck early in the season, and it resulted in Howard allowing a season-high 89 yards in coverage. The steady veteran presence that he should bring will be important for a secondary that will likely start two cornerbacks under the age of 24 alongside him. Published: Oct 20, 2022 at 03:19 PM . And he only got better as the season progressed. Griffin has earned overall grades of 50.7, 78.0 and 64.6 in the past three seasons. Lattimore possesses everything you could want in a cornerback. It hasnt taken Alexander very long to establish himself as one of the leagues best coverage cornerbacks. 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. In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. The Patriots will look for that bounce-back season in 2021. Chicago Bears - Will Anderson, OLB/DE, Alabama. By continuing and using the site, including by remaining on the landing . But two underrated additions could see them catapult into the top five. The top cornerback room? Congratulations, Arizona. 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. He still showcases lockdown man-coverage ability at times, but it has been less consistent of late. White is right there with Howard as one of the best playmaking cornerbacks in the league. While Surtain will go early in the 2021 NFL Draft, he is not as good of a prospect as Jalen Ramsey or C.J. Fuller was back in Washington for the 2020 season following a two-year stint in Kansas City. Rookie Eric Stokes stepped up and grew into his role as the season wore on. 1 cornerback in the league heading into the 2020 season, fresh off a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019. And even he had a volatile season with a 60.5 coverage grade. 32. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. The former Samford Bulldog put up one of the better performances of any cornerback in the league against Allen Robinson II, allowing just one reception on six targets with three pass breakups and an interception in that Week 2 matchup. Dean expanded his role in the Buccaneers defense from fewer than 400 snaps in 2019 to 935 defensive snaps this past season. As you can probably expect, the quarterbacks are at the top and there are plenty of wide receivers. 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. To look exclusively at the secondary, the results for defenders who spend their playing time almost exclusively in the box have been filtered out. It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 season. Who will be back: Jackson, despite a $19-million cap hit, will likely be back for one more season. Nickel corner Sean Murphy-Bunting also did a decent job at preventing big plays, conceding eight on 44 targets on the inside. 2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook. 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. Jackson has allowed just five of 48 targets at that depth to be completed, tallying 11 interceptions in the process. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. 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. 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. 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. It eventually got so bad that they had to move Will Harris from safety to outside corner and were forced to play 2021 undrafted cornerbacks AJ Parker and Jerry Jacobs for more than 300 coverage snaps. Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. Butler had arguably his best season in coverage since his New England days last year with Tennessee. Wards dominance in single coverage (96th percentile grade since 2018) has been particularly noteworthy. And star cornerback Jalen Ramsey is a huge reason why. 20. From Week 7 on, Ward allowed more than 50 yards in coverage just once. 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. Kendall Fuller, Washington Football Team 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. So, which secondaries were a boon and which were a hindrance this season? Ramsey produced the highest coverage grade and most PFF WAR among all cornerbacks in the regular season. Will Harris at least had an admirable 2020 at strong safety, finishing third among all safeties in burn yards per target (7). Rhodes will look to continue to build on that success on another one-year deal with the team in 2021. Data modeling by Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads. But it's easy to know who the favorite is. who passed away in February 2021 at age 81, played cornerback for the Eagles from 1961 to 1965, earning two Pro Bowl nods, and . Jackson is fluid and explosive with great natural feet to play a sticky brand of man coverage. Bobby Wagner 8452. The amount of top-level play from NFL cornerbacks is astonishing. 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. Ive already written my story on Trevon Diggs. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. The real stars of this group are Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, who rank second and third, respectively, in coverage grade among safeties. 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 Packers signed veteran Rasul Douglas midseason, and he far surpassed expectations with a 76.5 coverage grade. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. His value is easy to see. All 259 picks have been made and the 2021 NFL Draft is officially in the books for all 32 franchises. 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. 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. increasing that usage from 21 percent in 2021 (29th in NFL . After a broken-up pass against Wake Forest in 2016, he pranced behind the unsuspecting receiver in a manner Ive never witnessed. As I said in last week's Schein Nine, NFL offenses are more creative and dynamic than ever before. which is used by all 32 NFL teams we'll rank all 32 NFL secondaries from the 2021 regular season. 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. Terrell has flashed the ability to become one of the truly . KEY: Gms = Games Played, Tot Pts = Total Points Scored, Pts/G = Points Per Game, RushYds = Rushing Yards, RYds/G = Rushing Yards Per Game . They made a league-leading 23 plays on the ball from the slot en route to allowing the lowest passer rating (71.1). Lattimores PFF grade has fallen from 86.1 as a rookie to 77.5 (2018), 65.6 (2019) and 59.1 (2020) in the three years since 2017. Hes 61, 210 pounds, and his spider chart might as well have been colored in by a nine-year-old. 1. Giants: 6-10. They made a league-leading 23 plays on the ball from the slot en route to allowing the lowest passer rating (71.1). The results are very favorable for one NFC West team, though two franchises from that division are at the wrong end of the rankings. This group should contend for the top spot next season. 17. 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 Panthers' outside coverage, in particular, was the weakest link. See trending; Company. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. Its unfortunate hes not more widely regarded as a ballhawk, but many cant look past the paltry INT numbers to his. His aggression will burn him on occasion, but you cant say that Peters doesnt make up for it with the positives he brings to the table. In 2020, Howard led the league in interceptions (10) and pass breakups (20) for his first All-Pro nod. With the defense surrounding the young CB, he could easily be higher on the list heading into next season. Two free-agent signings, in particular Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton have helped them get there. If he can do this for 17 games, even if the interceptions evade him, itll be tough to argue theres a better cornerback in the league. Xavien Howard has always been an outstanding blend of consistency and aggression. 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. The only outside cornerbacks to allow fewer yards per coverage snap than Dean (0.8) on at least 600 coverage snaps since the start of the 2019 season are Richard Sherman (0.4) and Jalen Ramsey (0.8). Since 2017, he has forced more incompletions on passes 20-plus yards downfield (18) than he has receptions allowed (14). 2022 NFL season's top 10 shutdown cornerbacks: Eagles duo leads group; Sauce Gardner cracks list. 11. Reader, yet neither made an impact last season due to injury. He gets to passes that most receivers cannot get to, making his multiple near-INTs in 2021 as impressive as his 7 actual interceptions. 2021 NFL Defensive Secondary Rankings, by Unit 32. Humphreys seamless inside-outside versatility is a big reason why he ranks so highly here. I simply wont acknowledge any Jalen Ramsey disrespect in this dojo. Six cornerbacks played over 100 snaps for the Jaguars in 2021 and only one , Injuries destroyed the Ravens this past season. Ward and Newsome, in particular, produced top-10 coverage grades when in single coverage. He plays so he. From Week 12 to the end of the regular season, he was one of the 10 highest-graded cornerbacks in the NFL. 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. Patrick Surtain II, Alabama. He grew up in . The Pro Bowl free safety will have an exciting mix of experience and youth alongside him. . Still, hes a gifted tactician at the position and will get back on his feet this season. They were among the five least valuable secondaries in the league, and the cornerback room, in particular, finished as the second-lowest graded group. Slay came in at No. He should once again be put in a position to succeed under Fangio next season. 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. The position should be an area of emphasis this offseason. 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. But certain units . The newly minted Super Bowl champion is not only the top cornerback in the NFL, but also one of the best football players, period . For 2021: Jalen Ramsey leads pack that includes talented newcomers still showcases lockdown man-coverage ability at,. In NFL I simply wont acknowledge any Jalen Ramsey disrespect in this dojo apparent, especially without Marcus. We 'll rank all 32 franchises ; s top 10 shutdown cornerbacks: Eagles duo leads group ; Sauce cracks! 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