Hes slimmer, and with that lack of cumbersome muscle, hes more efficiently able to transition and stick. Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts13. The Bengals', pass coverage finished the regular season as the seventh-most improved group year over year in terms of EPA allowed per pass. No team covered the slot better in the 2021 regular season than the Patriots. Jenkins was part of the facelift at the cornerback position for Tennessee this offseason, replacing Malcolm Butler and Adoree Jackson with Jenkins and first-round pick Caleb Farley. This season, the division is up for grabs yet again. Butler allowed the 10th-most burn yards per snap among corners with at least 200 coverage snaps (2.42) while Alford has not played since the 2018 season. If you built a cornerback in a lab, they would look like Ramsey. Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. He has featured in a versatile role this season, with over 300 snaps each in the slot and on the outside. That's when deals are officially negotiated and reported signings fly across . Copyright 2019-2023. he NFC East was a historically bad division in 2020, which is why all four teams were in the race deep into the season. Buffalos offense carried the load last season as the Bills progressed to the AFC Championship Game, though the talent in the secondary is such that they can afford to have confidence in putting more of the burden on their pass coverage in 2021. 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. Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati . Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles Heck, he played more snaps in the slot in 2020 than he did on the outside. Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. Cleveland also received some sneaky high-quality play from 2020 undrafted free agent. 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. His 84.6 PFF grade finished as the third-best at the position. Dean expanded his role in the Buccaneers defense from fewer than 400 snaps in 2019 to 935 defensive snaps this past season. Witherspoon allowed a burn on half of his 28 targets last season. Las Vegas Raiders . 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. While it wasn't easy putting together this list, here is our ranking of the NFL's 10 best cornerbacks in 2022. But with Horn getting shut down after a Week 3 injury and Henderson struggling to get acclimated after getting traded to the team a month into the season, it was a subpar year for the secondary. 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, who was 81 when he died Feb. 28, 2021, suffered from stage 4 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Boston University researchers said Tuesday. 4-overall prospect). The NFL's top 11 safeties. The top cornerbacks for 2022 are all established stars who are all playing some of the best football of their careers. He is expected to compete with 2020 first-round pick Damon Arnette for one of the starting jobs in Las Vegas, reuniting with defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. Only three Power 5 defenders gave up fewer. The amount of top-level play from NFL cornerbacks is astonishing. The defense endured blows at multiple position groups, including in the secondary with, Detroits secondary has been problematic over the past few years, and it didnt get any better in Year 1 under Dan Campbell. The fifth-year cornerback out of Alabama has recorded at least 800 coverage snaps in the slot and out wide throughout his NFL career. Rookie Tyson Campbell was a reason for optimism, as he notched a couple of elite game grades above 90.0 in his last couple of months of action, but his inconsistent play was too severe for him to add considerable value to the secondary. However, he was overly aggressive at times and susceptible to giving up the big play. Reed Jr. and safety Quandre Diggs were two of Seattle's bright spots. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. 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. The Tuscaloosa News via AP) Height: 6'2" (95th percentile) Weight: 208 (94th) 40-Yard Dash: 4.42 seconds (85th) Bench Press: 18 reps (33rd) Vertical Jump: 39 inches (84th) Broad Jump: 131 inches (91st) 3-Cone Drill: N/A 20-Yard Shuttle: N/A Bio: In what will be a theme for this list of players . Green allowed only six receptions for 70 yards on 22 targets while breaking up five and picking off one. The yards on Diggs ledger are largely hollow. T.J. Green has played because of . 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. Rashad Fenton also saw his playing time increase after the first month of the season and closed out the regular season with an 81.1 coverage grade. 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. Which teams have the best -- and worst -- running back units? Fuller allowed just 53% of the passes into his coverage to be completed with four interceptions and nine pass breakups. The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. 3 overall pick on a defensive back like Derek Stingley Jr. (PFFs No. With the defense surrounding the young CB, he could easily be higher on the list heading into next season. The league's inaugural 17-game season . Veteran. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. Changing that and successfully developing Okudah and Melifonwu will be crucial to this secondary climbing out of the cellar. Nickel corner Sean Murphy-Bunting also did a decent job at preventing big plays, conceding eight on 44 targets on the inside. 2021 NFL Defensive Secondary Rankings, by Unit 32. 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. There is no shortage of defensive weapons on Clevelands roster. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports) While Humphrey is also a top-tier outside cornerback, it's as a slot defender that he's really stood out in his NFL career. 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide Cornerback (CB) position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Reader, yet neither made an impact last season due to injury. Not a single one of Dallas' top eight defensive backs by snaps earned a coverage grade in poor territory below 60.0. 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. Still, they held up well, ranking sixth in coverage grade and second in EPA per pass play allowed on such plays. The Packers signed veteran Rasul Douglas midseason, and he far surpassed expectations with a 76.5 coverage grade. Jaire Alexander is responsible for my favorite troll of all time on a football field. This week, were evaluating defensive backs. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. 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. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. > 2021 NFL > Advanced Stats. Minnesotas defensive backs rank 10th in aggregate coverage rating, performing 5% better than average. What do you want out of your elite cornerback? With more than 20 pending free agents, the front office will have a lot of work to do. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. 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. 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. 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. Slay came in at No. If he can replicate that impact as a rookie, the Raiders should be in extremely good shape in the defensive backfield. He was 10th in the NFL at his position in adjusted open percentage (21.58). 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 . 22. 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. Safeties Harrison Smith (13.13) and Xavier Woods (16.33 at free safety) also struggled in that metric in 2020 but the pressure will be taken off that pair should their top three corners live up to expectations. He plays so he. Buffalos secondary endured a crushing blow in Week 12 when CB1. He does the razzle dazzle better than any quarterback, but he . The cornerback room was more in the middle of the pack, ranking 16th in PFF WAR generated. For the most part, the Buffalo Bills invest wisely in the right people and positions. In the last six years, Darius Slay Jr. has made it to the Pro Bowl five times, a remarkable stretch of dominance. 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. He should once again be put in a position to succeed under Fangio next season. Safety Jimmie Ward was the teams highest-graded defensive back in coverage (73.7). Consequently, defenses are more stressed than ever before. . At his advancing age, two underwhelming seasons in a row would be a strong signal to sell him in these cornerback rankings moving forward. 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