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. 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. Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. 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. No team covered the slot better in the 2021 regular season than the Patriots. Terrells breakout to elite status, Atlanta would be threatening to place last on this list. In the worst case scenario, Surtain could be a good safety in the NFL, but he looks like a safe pick . If that happens and J.C. Jackson progresses, they could solidify themselves with a gold medal there. 2020 Yards-Allowed Rank: No. 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. Kansas City took Daniel Sorensen off the field while bringing back Juan Thornhill and increasing its rate of dime coverage. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports) Listen . Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts13. 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. 27. Overall, Philadelphia's cornerback room finished second in coverage grade this season. Xavien Howard has always been an outstanding blend of consistency and aggression. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. 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. His 45.3 coverage grade was the fourth-lowest among qualifying cornerbacks. When Diggs is targeted, the opponents quarterback rating is 45. It was only natural that the prototype for cornerback shifted as well. 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. The Eagles aren't the best NFC East team on paper. Eventually, Washington took it. 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. A few coverage lapses have led to big plays this year, but that happens in a scheme that relies on communication both pre- and post-snap. His on-field and sideline hijinx make it look like he legitimately loves every second of playing football. 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. Subscribe to Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs. This is the worst front seven in the NFL. He was one of the league's worst corners by nearly every metric, which led to the new regime cutting him outright. To further my point, Matthew Staffords EPA is 39, and hes an MVP candidate at quarterback. Despite a productive three-year run with the Atlanta Falcons, Poole's one-year, $3.5 million free-agent deal with the New York Jets last offseason was met with little fanfare. He gets his hands on passes left and right without getting himself so out of position that hes unable to recover. 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. 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. 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. 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. Quarterback Josh Allen, cornerback Tre'Davious White, wide receiver . Minnesotas defensive backs rank 10th in aggregate coverage rating, performing 5% better than average. He ranks top 10 in both slot and outside coverage grade. That's when deals are officially negotiated and reported signings fly across . This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Cornerback Adoree Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney helped claw this secondary to a No. He allowed a mere 0.46 yards per coverage snap and 3.1 yards per target in that span, both of which ranked second among cornerbacks. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. 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. And star cornerback, Cincinnatis passing offense wasnt the team's only unit to take a major leap in 2021. Henderson. Verrett exceeded all expectations in his return from a string of injuries last season for San Francisco. 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. 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. Aug 3, 2021. 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. As I said in last week's Schein Nine, NFL offenses are more creative and dynamic than ever before. He had one of the highest forced incompletion rates in the league this past year with Washington one of several contributing factors to the multi-year deal that Denver offered him. 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. 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. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Cross died in 2021. Full Site Menu. 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. Pair that with three top-25-graded safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. (second), Jordan Whitehead (18th) and Mike Edwards (22nd) and you have yourself one of the best secondaries in the NFL ready to help the franchise compete for another Super Bowl. Subscribe to PFF+ to unlock . Howard has struggled so far in 2021, but the same can be said for the entire Dolphins defense. Most tackles since 2015:1. Bradberry put up solid performances against a difficult slate of NFC South cornerbacks across the first four seasons of his career with the Carolina Panthers, but he took a clear step forward in his first year with the Giants last season. But Las Vegas can afford to have confidence in the secondary going into 2021. He recorded just one interception and two pass breakups on 42 targets, allowing a career-high 96.7 passer rating into his coverage. Theyre simply on a tier of their own for the time being. 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. The ability to limit production like Ramsey did against top-flight talent is invaluable for the Los Angeles Rams defense. Terrell has flashed the ability to become one of the truly . Holland was the highest-graded safety since Week 9 by over four grading points. The Pro Bowl free safety will have an exciting mix of experience and youth alongside him. Veteran. Buffalos secondary endured a crushing blow in Week 12 when CB1 TreDavious White went down with a season-ending torn ACL. 11. The Cardinals are under pressure to produce a playoff campaign in the third year of Kliff Kingsbury as head coach and Kyler Murray as quarterback and a look at their depth chart in the secondary indicates the offense may have to carry this team to a first postseason appearance since the 2015 campaign. Despite being drafted in the top five back in 2018 and playing on a team generating plenty of buzz heading into the 2021 season, Ward is often overlooked as one of the NFLs top cornerbacks. This group should contend for the top spot next season. It doesnt hurt that Washington can feel comfortable playing him at multiple positions in their secondary, either. Pro Football Network strives to passionately deliver purposeful, captivating, and exceptional football content. 15. After being charged with eight receptions allowed in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys, Ramsey proceeded to allow just 24 receptions over the remainder of the regular season, giving upfewer than 25 receiving yards in 11 games. The veteran had a career year, earning the highest coverage grade (83.9) of his nine years in the NFL ranks. The top cornerback room? 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. 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. 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). Terrell. If it werent for A.J. Two free-agent signings, in particular , The Raiders entered 2021 on a streak of arguably the worst defensive back play in the entire NFL. 8 forced fumbles in 2020. White is right there with Howard as one of the best playmaking cornerbacks in the league. Reed, provided some grounds for optimism as his burn yards . The Bills defensive backs rank 15 points above the average in aggregate coverage grading. Haden may be on the downward slope of his career, but he has provided Pittsburgh with steady play at cornerback since joining the team in 2018 and should continue to do so in 2021. Detroits secondary has been problematic over the past few years, and it didnt get any better in Year 1 under Dan Campbell. Marshon Lattimore struggled a bit relative to expectations in 2020, but hes back with a vengeance in 2021. Jun 5, 2021 5:19 PM EDT. Cornerback Trevon Diggs has been possibly the biggest boom-or-bust cornerback of the PFF era. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. Free-agent signing William Jackson III was an up-and-down performer. But from the slot, the Seahawks' coverage unit was a bit of a nightmare. He plays so he. That is how much top-end cornerback play there is in the NFL. His PFF grade dropped from 90.0 from 2014 to 2018 in Detroit to just 59.5 across the last two years. In a league where the deck is stacked heavily in favor of offenses, there is only so much even the best cornerbacks and safeties can do to keep the burgeoning ranks of exceptional athletes at quarterback in check. Pittsburgh also went from second to 29th in passer rating allowed on deep targets year over year. Xavien Howard picked an opportune time to hold out for a new contract.. Receivers started getting smaller and more shifty. 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. 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. 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. Data modeling by Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads. Houston Texans: Whitney Mercilus, OLB. All Rights Reserved. Adoree Jackson, New York Giants Gilmore was comfortably the No. Dean expanded his role in the Buccaneers defense from fewer than 400 snaps in 2019 to 935 defensive snaps this past season. Similar to the receiver spot, college is pumping out NFL-ready cornerbacks every draft season, although last year's group failed to meet the hype, particularly the first rounders. His -37.2 EPA when targeted is twice as productive as any other defender in the league. With the help of PFFs advanced database which is used by all 32 NFL teams we'll rank all 32 NFL secondaries from the 2021 regular season. With some personnel tweaks, the Chiefs secondary revived itself. After recording three straight coverage grades of at least 85.0 in New Englands defense, Gilmore put up just a 58.5 coverage grade in 2020. CORNERBACK PROSPECT RANKING 2023 NFL DRAFT. 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. He has featured in a versatile role this season, with over 300 snaps each in the slot and on the outside. Houstons fielded the lowest-graded secondary in the NFL by a whopping eight grading points. 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 . While Surtain will go early in the 2021 NFL Draft, he is not as good of a prospect as Jalen Ramsey or C.J. Ranking the 11 worst plays of the 2021 NFL regular season. Awuzie was the second-highest graded cornerback of the regular season, while Hilton was the seventh-highest graded slot corner in coverage. 90-81. Wards dominance in single coverage (96th percentile grade since 2018) has been particularly noteworthy. Ive already written my story on Trevon Diggs. 20. 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. 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. The Bengals', pass coverage finished the regular season as the seventh-most improved group year over year in terms of EPA allowed per pass. The Vikings invested heavily in the secondary in recent years and the numbers suggest that decision could pay dividends in the coming season. 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