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. 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. Lavonte David 6943. He has graded considerably better in zone coverage than man coverage throughout his career, which could lead to an interesting fit if first-year defensive coordinator Joe Cullen brings over the man-heavy system that Baltimore employed. NFL teams most likely to unravel in 2021. Those struggles wouldnt last, though. Should Malcolm Butler and Robert Alford earn starting roles, they will provide veteran presences at outside corner, yet their recent play should not inspire much confidence. 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. The Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, who became the first Black man to work full-time as a sports analyst on national television, is the latest football player diagnosed with CTE. which is used by all 32 NFL teams we'll rank all 32 NFL secondaries from the 2021 regular season. Whether it was injuries or age starting to show in one of the man-heaviest defenses in the NFL, he was not the same player in 2020. Whitney Mercilus has always benefited from the presence of J.J. Watt. Safety Jayron Kearse was the highest-graded defensive back on the roster, due in large part to his strong tackling. Age: 28 (29 on 8/4/23) Playing time: 16 games, 316 special teams snaps (77.07% of team total), 63 defensive snaps (5.99% of team total) Key statistics: 19 tackles, 1 quarterback hit, 4 pass . 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. Above-average press man cornerback with NFL bloodlines and a well-rounded but not spectacular all-around game. The Seahawks appear to be banking on Ahkello Witherspoon making a leap he never managed with the San Francisco 49ers. Darious Williams, Los Angeles Rams Terrell locked up his opponents on a weekly basis, allowing no more than 32 yards in a single game this year. Should the Giants opt to move on from the 27-year-old cornerback, they would clear $8.6 million . He returns to the field in 2022, a huge boost . 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. His addition, along with the signing of Joe Haden, helped stabilize a turbulent cornerback position in Pittsburgh over these last two seasons. The three highest PFF grades of Fuller's career came with Fangio as the defensive coordinator in Chicago from 2015 to 2018. Cleveland also received some sneaky high-quality play from 2020 undrafted free agent A.J. But Las Vegas can afford to have confidence in the secondary going into 2021. Consequently, defenses are more stressed than ever before. The 2021 second-round pick is a valuable piece to this secondary moving forward, but the other cornerback spots need some work. We rank all 32 teams in 10 different position groups, plus we offer an overall roster outlook. Personally, I want a guy who travels up and down the field on an assignment basis against the opposing teams best receivers. Outside corner J.C. Jackson was also one of the best at his respective position, earning a top-five PFF grade in the regular season. Meanwhile, Bashaud Breeland, another free agency signing, was tied fifth in open percentage (52.7) among corners to have played at least 200 coverage snaps. . His 17.3% forced incompletion rate ranks second among cornerbacks who have seen at least 100 targets over those two years. They made a league-leading 23 plays on the ball from the slot en route to allowing the lowest passer rating (71.1). White does a fantastic job of toeing the line between aggressive and reckless. And yet, the Bills still 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. Now the question is, are they able to maintain that if they undergo another coaching change? The Bengals handed out two big contracts on the defensive side of the ball last offseason. 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. The lack of talent and experience was apparent, especially without safety Marcus Maye, who ruptured his Achilles midway through the season. 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. No team, this season than Baltimore. 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. Jackson is fluid and explosive with great natural feet to play a sticky brand of man coverage. 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. 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. In truth, he could be there already. Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. However, I prefer to look at this exercise as a nod of respect toward the top cornerbacks in the NFL for the 2021 season. 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. 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. 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. 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. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports) Listen . He plays so he. Howards 2020 performance put that playmaking ability on full display, with double-digit pass breakups and interceptions to go along with an 89.6 coverage grade. Questions remain at cornerback, however, after Avonte Maddox struggled while playing outside corner last year and Darius Slay underperformed. 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. Aug 3, 2021. . 4) Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos. For the most part, the Buffalo Bills invest wisely in the right people and positions. He gets his hands on passes left and right without getting himself so out of position that hes unable to recover. 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. We started to see signs of the Louisville product's playmaking ability in 2019, as his 16 forced incompletions ranked second at the position. After a few poorly graded games in the first quarter of the season, the first-round pick stepped up and was a legitimate CB1 for Denver. Here is PFF's 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. NFC West teams gained even more firepower at the quarterback position in a dramatic offseason, magnifying the issues for a Seattle secondary that is a long way from the Legion of Boom. 10. 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 . 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. Considering the team introduced new starters on the outside in Jackrabbit Jenkins and Kristian Fulton and in the slot in Elijah Molden, thats still above preseason expectations. However, if White can keep up his torrent pace in 2021, he could easily elevate into the same conversation for CB1. Marshon Lattimore struggled a bit relative to expectations in 2020, but hes back with a vengeance in 2021. The 2021 first-round pick was the lone Falcons defensive back to play 200 snaps and earn a PFF grade north of 60.0. Hes picked off nine passes over the past three seasons, and that total should be even higher, as Hadens nine dropped interceptions since 2018 are tied for the most at the position. Led by, Ward and Newsome, in particular, produced top-10 coverage grades when in single coverage. 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. Free-agent signing William Jackson III was an up-and-down performer. Reed and Tre . Reader, yet neither made an impact last season due to injury. Shaquill Griffin, Jacksonville Jaguars 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. 247Sports Composite. Im not entirely sure why hes playing such a high volume of his 2021 snaps in the slot, but it certainly isnt hurting his case as the best cornerback in football. 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. 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. Jaire Alexander is responsible for my favorite troll of all time on a football field. Rankings&Projections |WR/CB Matchup Chart |NFL & NCAA Betting Dashboards | NFL Player Props Tool | NFL & NCAA Power Rankings Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. After a broken-up pass against Wake Forest in 2016, he pranced behind the unsuspecting receiver in a manner Ive never witnessed. Patrick Surtain II, Alabama. > 2021 NFL > Advanced Stats. Wards dominance in single coverage (96th percentile grade since 2018) has been particularly noteworthy. The perception of Rhodes is much different this offseason than it was at this time a year ago following a bounceback season for the Colts in 2020. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. 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. Top Nine Defenses. 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. And he only got better as the season progressed. They made a league-leading 23 plays on the ball from the slot en route to allowing the lowest passer rating (71.1). Ive already written my story on Trevon Diggs. Those missed opportunities only make the 77.5 passer rating allowed over that span (13th in the NFL) more impressive. It shouldnt come as a shock if he wins that starting job and rebounds from a down 2020 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. Things got off to a rough start when the Lions lost 2020 No. Adoree Jackson, New York Giants They were forced to play Robert Alford who hadnt played a down since Week 17 of 2018 2021 fourth-round pick Marco Wilson, slot corner Byron Murphy Jr. and NFL journeyman Antonio Hamilton at outside corner this season. Chidobe Awuzie, Cincinnati Bengals One was to Waynes, and the other was to interior defensive lineman D.J. Overall, New York allowed more EPA per pass than any other defense in the regular season. The Packers signed veteran Rasul Douglas midseason, and he far surpassed expectations with a 76.5 coverage grade. Howard is one of the best playmaking cornerbacks that the NFL has to offer. Ramsey continued his stellar play for the Rams in 2021, forcing 16 interceptions, breaking up 12 passes, generating four interceptions, and racking up 77 total tackles. 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. Safety Jimmie Ward was the teams highest-graded defensive back in coverage (73.7). 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. Williams is Denver's long-term answer at running back . This season, the division is up for grabs yet again. 1 cornerbacks in the NFC South are tasked with. The top 2021 Cornerback prospects available for the 2021 NFL Draft. NFL quarterback rankings 2021. . We use our own and third-party cookies to improve your experience and our services. While Surtain will go early in the 2021 NFL Draft, he is not as good of a prospect as Jalen Ramsey or C.J. 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). 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. Not a single one of Dallas' top eight defensive backs by snaps earned a coverage grade in poor territory below 60.0. No group of cornerbacks played more man coverage than the Miami Dolphins. Sign up and be the first to receive exclusive stats, news, and updates from the Analyst. The Patriots did what the Patriots always do they traded (or cut) a player thats still near the top of his game, but is beginning to walk down the hill. So, which secondaries were a boon and which were a hindrance this season? His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. Houstons fielded the lowest-graded secondary in the NFL by a whopping eight grading points. Discover Next Gen Stats News, Charts, and Statistics. Here is the fourth version of our Vikings 2023 Mock Draft Tracker, which features 16 recent predictions from around the world of . 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. 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. None of their cornerbacks had a quality campaign, but. Green, who posted a 90.3 coverage grade across his 116 coverage snaps. That all came to a halt with the Chargers in 2020, as Hayward earned a PFF grade of just 59.5 while allowing nearly 17 yards per reception into his coverage. We considered putting Humphrey atop the list of the best slot cornerbacks in the NFL, given that he has spent the majority of his snaps lined up in the slot over the past two seasons filling the void left by an injured Tavon Young. 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. . Ramsey produced the highest coverage grade and most PFF WAR among all cornerbacks in the regular season. 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. Up his torrent pace in 2021 manner Ive never witnessed he gets his hands on passes left and without... 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