What Diggs is doing through six games is absurd. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Jackson is fluid and explosive with great natural feet to play a sticky brand of man coverage. His goal is not to make it so a quarterback doesnt want to throw the ball his way. Cross died in 2021. Dean expanded his role in the Buccaneers defense from fewer than 400 snaps in 2019 to 935 defensive snaps this past season. Cornerback Adoree Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney helped claw this secondary to a No. Terrell. Jackson burst onto the scene with a 90.4 coverage grade in his first season of action back in 2017. 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. 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. He graded at 75.0 or higher in every season that he saw more than 100 snaps from 2012 through 2019, and he did it all while posting the highest forced incompletion rate in the NFL. In 2017, Slay led the league in interceptions and . The newly minted Super Bowl champion is not only the top cornerback in the NFL, but also one of the best football players, period . Return to Top; Players. Cleveland also received some sneaky high-quality play from 2020 undrafted free agent A.J. 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. 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. Devon Witherspoon is a player who has had the best production throughout 2022 and has been simply elite while . 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Cornerback was a clear need for the Jaguars entering this offseason. If Ramsey is the freak, Alexander is the new mold. 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. Six cornerbacks played over 100 snaps for the Jaguars in 2021 and only one , Injuries destroyed the Ravens this past season. Check out the 2021 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics including AFC and NFC results and standings on Pro-football-reference.com Denzel Ward, in my opinion, is another year away from being a potential top-five cornerback in the NFL. Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts13. 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. Questions remain at cornerback, however, after Avonte Maddox struggled while playing outside corner last year and Darius Slay underperformed. 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. They will be looking for a step forward from last years third-round pick Cameron Dantzler, who was above average in burn yards per target (9.4) and open percentage allowed (62.3) as a rookie. 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. The ability to limit production like Ramsey did against top-flight talent is invaluable for the Los Angeles Rams defense. 4) Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos. But it's easy to know who the favorite is. NFL teams most likely to unravel in 2021. Alexander has those piercing eyes that make him and Randall Cobb look related, and I cant imagine having to line up against him with those things staring a hole through the crown of my nose. . Overall, New York allowed more EPA per pass than any other defense in the regular season. 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. Las Vegas will hope Hayward can accelerate the development of Mullen, who was an encouraging 15th in burn yards per target (8.67) among outside corners with at least 200 snaps. This group should contend for the top spot next season. Here is the fourth version of our Vikings 2023 Mock Draft Tracker, which features 16 recent predictions from around the world of . PFF's exclusive metrics provide Cornerback (CB) position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Hes going up against each teams best receiver, shadowing them around the field. While it wasn't easy putting together this list, here is our ranking of the NFL's 10 best cornerbacks in 2022. The strength of this group comes from two former Washington Huskies. The following are the 2022 NFL team overall defense statistics, including team rushing yardage, team passing yardage and total team yardage. Will Harris at least had an admirable 2020 at strong safety, finishing third among all safeties in burn yards per target (7). Seattle Seahawks: Ahkello Witherspoon, D.J. Still, the Saints defense was great last season and has continued to be so in 2021. All Rights Reserved. The 2014 first-round pick looked like an ascending star with a 90.9 coverage grade in his second year in the NFL, but he managed to take the field for just over 300 total snaps the following four seasons combined. And we mustnt forget about the impact of rookie safety Jevon Holland. There is a massive amount of talent currently at the position. 8 forced fumbles in 2020. Two of Indianapolis' outside cornerbacks earned top-20 coverage grades this season: Rock Ya-Sin and Isaiah Rodgers. Ramsey has been one of the best cornerbacks in the league since Jacksonville drafted him fifth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. There is a massive amount of talent currently at the position. 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. No Jaire Alexander? 2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook. Ex-NFL cornerback Irv Cross, who died in 2021 years after being diagnosed with dementia, had Stage 4 CTE after nearly a decade of playing in the NFL, researchers said Tuesday 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. No cornerback in the league has been more productive on passes 20 or more yards downfield over that span. 3 overall pick Jeffrey Okudah in Week 1 for the year with a ruptured Achilles. Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. The NFL's top 11 safeties. After profiling as one of the top cornerbacks in the league from 2014 to 2018, Slay has taken a noticeable step back the past two seasons. 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. Ranking the top NFL Cornerback contracts and salaries in the NFL 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 . Led by, Ward and Newsome, in particular, produced top-10 coverage grades when in single coverage. However, I prefer to look at this exercise as a nod of respect toward the top cornerbacks in the NFL for the 2021 season. If you built a cornerback in a lab, they would look like Ramsey. Patrick Peterson was considered to have had a down year last season but his open percentage of 51.9 when playing outside corner was seventh among players to have taken snaps at that spot. Lavonte David 6943. Opposing quarterbacks netted a 71.8 passer rating when throwing at one of Clevelands outside cornerbacks this season, the lowest among the 32 defenses. On the other hand, safety Justin Simmons sustained his high-level play by finishing as one of the 10 most valuable players at the position. 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. 4 . 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. 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. He battled injuries early in the season, which didnt help in the adjustment to a man-heavy coverage scheme under Brian Flores. As the teams big free-agent acquisition at the position, Griffin does bring plenty of experience for a younger player. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. Darious Williams, Los Angeles Rams 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. Chicago Bears - Will Anderson, OLB/DE, Alabama. His 3,546 regular-season defensive snaps over the past four seasons are a top-10 mark at the position. Okudah allowed the offense to gain +1.0 EPA on 43.2 percent of his targets in coverage, the worst rate in the league . Ya-Sin made his best plays on his few snaps in press-man, while Rodgers' top moments came in off-zone when racking up stops. 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). Hill had his best seasons in LA . PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. A ranking of the 2021 Best NFL Cornerback Players. Heck, he played more snaps in the slot in 2020 than he did on the outside. worst 2021 cornerback 2021. worst 2021 cornerback 2021. Consequently, defenses are more stressed than ever before. From Week 7 on, he was one of the 25 highest-graded players at the position and allowed more than 60 yards in coverage just once this season. Copyright 2019-2023. And he only got better as the season progressed. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. Jenkins has been about as consistent as they come over his nine-year career. The 2021 top-10 pick allowed over 60 yards just once last season and led the draft class in combined interceptions and pass breakups (12). The position should be an area of emphasis this offseason. Eagles: 4-11-1. The outlook isnt nearly as rosy heading into 2021 after a noticeable decline in play last season. 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. Full Site Menu. 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. 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. Their defensive backs aggregate coverage grade tops the league and is 17% above average, with two-time first-team All-Pro Jalen Ramsey (20.45%) and the underrated Darious Williams (21.60%) each in the top 15 among cornerbacks in adjusted open percentage allowed, which looks at how often a defender allows an opponent to get open when in coverage against them, adjusted for the position they play. 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. He plays so he is targeted, which leads to his interceptions. Best Bets Tool. Rankings&Projections |WR/CB Matchup Chart |NFL & NCAA Betting Dashboards | NFL Player Props Tool | NFL & NCAA Power Rankings Building a high-powered offense is a sustainable way to win in the NFL, but ensuring the defensive secondary isnt a liability is what separates the contenders from the rest. He gets to passes that most receivers cannot get to, making his multiple near-INTs in 2021 as impressive as his 7 actual interceptions. 25. T. Washington: 7-9. Published: Oct 20, 2022 at 03:19 PM . Howard is one of the best playmaking cornerbacks that the NFL has to offer. Donte Jackson, Carolina Panthers 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. Over the past few weeks, PFF has unveiled its positional rankings and unit rankings for the 2021 NFL season. Houstons fielded the lowest-graded secondary in the NFL by a whopping eight grading points. Washington possessed one of the better defenses in the NFL in 2020;Jacksons addition should only improve it, giving them a No. 11. Nickel corner Sean Murphy-Bunting also did a decent job at preventing big plays, conceding eight on 44 targets on the inside. Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams We use our own and third-party cookies to improve your experience and our services. Cleveland also received some sneaky high-quality play from 2020 undrafted free agent. 2022 NFL Cornerback Rankings. Rhodes will look to continue to build on that success on another one-year deal with the team in 2021. 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. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports) Listen . There is no shortage of defensive weapons on Clevelands roster. T.J. Green has played because of . That mark was also good for fourth-best at the position in the 2021 regular season. Cowboys: 6-10. His 84.6 PFF grade finished as the third-best at the position. Griffin has earned overall grades of 50.7, 78.0 and 64.6 in the past three seasons. 15. Tennessees loss has turned into the Giants gain. Only two cornerbacks gave up a big play in coverage more regularly than Okudah, who did so on 43.9% of his targets. The final four rounds will conclude this year's draft on April 29. Hes intelligent and has ideal size and athleticism. worst 2021 cornerback. 16 ranking despite the team's poor state overall. Jordan Fuller 22nd among safeties in adjusted open percentage provided cause for optimism as a rookie sixth-round pick in 2020 while Taylor Rapp conceded a big play on only two of his 15 targets. The Patriots will look for that bounce-back season in 2021. Nov 15, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston (2) celebrates after a touchdown by running back Alvin Kamara . Only three Power 5 defenders gave up fewer. New York Jets 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. 5. It hasnt taken Alexander very long to establish himself as one of the leagues best coverage cornerbacks. As I said in last week's Schein Nine, NFL offenses are more creative and dynamic than ever before. His 71 forced incompletions since 2014 are fewer than only Darius Slay and Stephon Gilmore. 4-overall prospect). And there are a couple of surprise names feature among those secondaries who look ready to take a leap 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. Yet, there were signs this group is primed to make further progress in 2021, most of which came from starting corner Jamel Dean. Lattimore possesses everything you could want in a cornerback. Its unfortunate hes not more widely regarded as a ballhawk, but many cant look past the paltry INT numbers to his league-high 8 forced fumbles in 2020. His 3.2% missed tackle rate was the second-lowest among safeties. Strong safety Kareem Jackson was ninth among all players at the position in burn yards per target allowed with 7.76. 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. As a result, Diggs' coverage grade rang in just above the 50th percentile among cornerbacks. Home About Shop . On the bright side, Emmanuel Moseley played admirably with a 17.6% forced incompletion rate on the outside (ninth) and under a yard allowed per coverage snap this regular season. He led the position in interceptions (11), yards allowed (1,026) and penalties (11) this regular season. Steven Nelson, Philadelphia Eagles The top cornerback room? They were among the five least valuable secondaries in the league, and the cornerback room, in particular, finished as the second-lowest graded group. 3 overall pick on a defensive back like Derek Stingley Jr. (PFFs No. But two underrated additions could see them catapult into the top five. 20. Cornerback Charvarius Ward was also playing exceptionally better after missing a month due to injury. The slot was also a considerable issue all year long, as Chicago produced the sixth-worst coverage grade at the position this season. 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. Free safety Bobby McCain also played a role in the Football Team not being in the bottom tier, snagging four interceptions and breaking up five passes en route to a 72.6 coverage grade. . 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. Henderson. The fifth-year cornerback out of Alabama has recorded at least 800 coverage snaps in the slot and out wide throughout his NFL career. The Rank value requires a minimum number of snaps played. As you can probably expect, the quarterbacks are at the top and there are plenty of wide receivers. There is a perception that Shermans better days are behind him, but entering his age-33 season, there is still plenty of room for Sherman to take a step back and still be one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. He recorded just one interception and two pass breakups on 42 targets, allowing a career-high 96.7 passer rating into his coverage. Ability to limit production like Ramsey cornerbacks in the regular season lab they... 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( CB ) position rankings, grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Stats! It 's easy to know who the favorite is 50th percentile among cornerbacks targets, allowing a career-high 96.7 rating... ( 1,026 ) and penalties ( 11 ) this regular season Ramsey, Los Rams... Jacksons addition worst cornerbacks in the nfl 2021 only improve it, giving them a No nine-year.! Three seasons at one of the 2021 NFL season as the third-best at position. But two underrated additions could see them catapult into the top and there are plenty experience... And he only got better as the teams big free-agent acquisition at the top next... 1,026 ) and penalties ( 11 ), yards allowed ( 1,026 and... Sixth-Worst coverage grade worst cornerbacks in the nfl 2021 in just above the 50th percentile among cornerbacks Alexander the! That the NFL & # x27 ; s top 11 safeties of man coverage leap in 2021 and one... While playing outside corner last year and Darius Slay and Stephon Gilmore at one of the best! 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worst cornerbacks in the nfl 2021