The top cornerbacks for 2022 are all established stars who are all playing some of the best football of their careers. Henderson. he 2021 NFL regular season is over. 2021 NFL Defensive Secondary Rankings, by Unit 32. The Raiders defensive backs rank seventh for aggregate coverage, rating 10% better than the average. The Rams may have lost key pieces in the secondary in the form of safety John Johnson and cornerback Troy Hill but, even with the departure of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, moving the ball on Los Angeles through the air will be an imposing challenge in 2021. The cornerback room was more in the middle of the pack, ranking 16th in PFF WAR generated. 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. 11. Rankings&Projections |WR/CB Matchup Chart |NFL & NCAA Betting Dashboards | NFL Player Props Tool | NFL & NCAA Power Rankings While it wasn't easy putting together this list, here is our ranking of the NFL's 10 best cornerbacks in 2022. Carlton Davis III was less impressive, giving up a burn on exactly half of his 92 targets, though the fact he conceded a big play on 25% of his targets (the average was 26 among all corners) leaves room for encouragement. In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. 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 worst 2021 cornerback 2021. worst 2021 cornerback 2021. Cross died in 2021. No cornerback in the league has been more productive on passes 20 or more yards downfield over that span. 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. via Seth Galina. 6 and . 1. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. Reed and Tre . He ranks top 10 in both slot and outside coverage grade. 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. 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. Its too early to say Gilmore cant get back to that level, though. Jackson was one of the five highest-graded outside cornerbacks in the NFL and allowed the second-fewest yards per coverage snap at the position. Humphrey impacts the games in all the ways you want him to. 17. Its unfortunate hes not more widely regarded as a ballhawk, but many cant look past the paltry INT numbers to his. Whitney Mercilus has always benefited from the presence of J.J. Watt. Arnettes average of 11.69 suggests he has further to go, and he may face competition with Hayward for the starting role across from Mullen. And he only got better as the season progressed. Yet, between Mullens progress, the arrival of Hayward and the selection of free safety Trevon Moehrig in the second round of this years draft, the Raiders secondary is one that looks primed to establish itself as one of the better groups in the NFL. Best Bets Tool. 1 cornerbacks in the NFC South are tasked with. 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. Its challenging to rank these guys with the multitude of schematic differences and responsibilities. Holland was the highest-graded safety since Week 9 by over four grading points. TreDavious Whites continuing success is a reason for that, as the two-time Pro Bowler first among all cornerbacks in adjusted open percentage allowed (16.20%) in 2020. 4) New England Patriots: Stephon Gilmore & J.C. Jackson. He plays so he is targeted, which leads to his interceptions. Led by, Ward and Newsome, in particular, produced top-10 coverage grades when in single coverage. TreDavious White has been one of the top cornerbacks in the league since the minute he stepped on an NFL field. Congratulations, Arizona. Yet, with Quandre Diggs coming off a year in which he conceded a disappointing 13.82 burn yards per target, this is a group with more questions than answers. The position as a whole combined for the third-fewest WAR among the 32 groups. Copyright 2019-2023. He also had 81 tackles, three sacks and seven tackles for loss. Griffin has earned overall grades of 50.7, 78.0 and 64.6 in the past three seasons. 1. . 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. New York Jets In a pass-heavy league, the cornerback position has grown into one of the most important positions on the football field. Those missed opportunities only make the 77.5 passer rating allowed over that span (13th in the NFL) more impressive. Another of those factors was health, as Darby played over 600 defensive snaps in 2020 for the first time in four seasons. 12. We rank all 32 teams in 10 different position groups, plus we offer an overall roster outlook. Giants: 6-10. 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. Greg Newsome, Cleveland Browns, 26. 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 Player Grades. Even with the big plays allowed early in the season, quarterbacks have just a 68.1 rating when targeting Lattimore this season. Heck, he played more snaps in the slot in 2020 than he did on the outside. T.J. Green has played because of . That pairing will be joined by arguably the premier corner from this years draft class, Patrick Surtain II, who makes the step up to the league after a stellar college career with Alabama, which he ended by helping the Crimson Tide to a National Championship and allowing 0.93 burn yards per snap. A strong work out at LSU's pro day on April 6th could help to turn around his draft stock. Moehrig allowed a big play on 20.3% of his targets in 2020, giving them up at the sixth-fewest rate of all Power 5 safeties with at least 25 targets. Rookie Eric Stokes stepped up and grew into his role as the season wore on. The Eagles aren't the best NFC East team on paper. Asante Samuel Jr. showed some positive play at times this season, with seven pass breakups and two interceptions, but he still finished with a triple-digit passer rating allowed en route to being the 11th-most valuable rookie corner. 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. Galina: The shortcomings of the Kellen Moore-Dak Prescott connection for the Dallas Cowboys 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. His 84.6 PFF grade finished as the third-best at the position. Who looks to be a top-10 cornerback in the NFL right now? 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. T. Washington: 7-9. And Peters ranks tied for fifth at the position in pass breakups (52) over that same time frame. There is a massive amount of talent currently at the position. Slay came in at No. In 2021, the two 25-year-olds each missed several games but allowed under 700 yards in coverage combined. As the passing game has furthered its position as the dominant and most critical aspect of NFL attacks, the need for a secondary with the talent to regularly withstand aerial assaults led by a deep crop of quarterbacks has become an increasingly pressing one. 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. 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. However, with a full offseason under their belt to coalesce further, the arrow is pointing up for a young and clearly talented secondary that will again be playing behind one of the best front sevens in football after the Bucs kept the band together for another run in 2021. Only two cornerbacks gave up a big play in coverage more regularly than Okudah, who did so on 43.9% of his targets. Most tackles since 2015:1. With that said, here are my cornerback rankings for the 2022 NFL draft: 1. 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. Top Nine Defenses. 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. After trading Matthew Stafford in 2021 and T.J. Hockenson at the trade deadline last year, the Lions have five picks in the top 81 selections of this year's NFL Draft, including picks No. Rhodes went from allowing a league-high 84.3% of the passes into his coverage to be completed in 2019 to just 50.7% in 2020 with Indianapolis. Cowboys: 6-10. 1 cornerback in the league heading into the 2020 season, fresh off a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019. Christian D'Andrea. Here is the fourth version of our Vikings 2023 Mock Draft Tracker, which features 16 recent predictions from around the world of . Will Harris at least had an admirable 2020 at strong safety, finishing third among all safeties in burn yards per target (7). 2022 NFL Cornerback Rankings. He finished with the lowest slot coverage grade in the NFL. Published: Oct 20, 2022 at 03:19 PM . As I said in last week's Schein Nine, NFL offenses are more creative and dynamic than ever before. Things got off to a rough start when the Lions lost 2020 No. Nik Needham was an underrated player among the group by producing a top-10 slot coverage grade in the NFL. The final four rounds will conclude this year's draft on April 29. 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. Howard is one of the best playmaking cornerbacks that the NFL has to offer. Safeties Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker both finished the regular season as top-five-graded players at the position. A cause for concern may come across from White after a mediocre year for Levi Wallace, whose adjusted open percentage (30.85) was close to double that of White, but the Bills have to be impressed by the progress of nickel Taron Johnson, who allowed a big play on only 14 of his 74 targets at inside corner last year. 11. Minnesotas defensive backs rank 10th in aggregate coverage rating, performing 5% better than average. However, Miamis cornerback really blossomed in 2020, intercepting a league-high 10 passes. Lattimore possesses everything you could want in a cornerback. For the most part, the Buffalo Bills invest wisely in the right people and positions. 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. The ability to limit production like Ramsey did against top-flight talent is invaluable for the Los Angeles Rams defense. Blake Martinez 6575. He led the position in interceptions (11), yards allowed (1,026) and penalties (11) this regular season. 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. 1 cornerback who will allow them to play more man coverage if they desire. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. The position should be an area of emphasis this offseason. 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. Despite that, the Buccaneers outside cornerbacks still combined for the highest unit coverage grade in the NFL. Design by Matt Sisneros. Hes slimmer, and with that lack of cumbersome muscle, hes more efficiently able to transition and stick. However, he was overly aggressive at times and susceptible to giving up the big play. Hes a unicorn playing cornerback in a world of 511, 190-pound movers, and we dont acknowledge that enough. However, if White can keep up his torrent pace in 2021, he could easily elevate into the same conversation for CB1. Their team slot coverage grade ended up multiple grading points higher than any other NFL franchise. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. 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. 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. (Gary Cosby Jr./. 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. 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. 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. 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. worst 2021 cornerback. Dean expanded his role in the Buccaneers defense from fewer than 400 snaps in 2019 to 935 defensive snaps this past season. According to PFF WAR, the veteran corner was the sixth-most valuable cornerback in the league over the 2015, 2017 and 2018 seasons. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. Last season, he allowed 46 slot catches on 72 targets for 392 yards, 167 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no . By continuing and using the site, including by remaining on the landing . 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. NFL defenses will ask very different things of their cornerbacks, depending on the scheme they run. The Bengals spent over $12.7 million on their cornerbacks against the cap in 2022, which was 6.02% of their total . Not a single one of Dallas' top eight defensive backs by snaps earned a coverage grade in poor territory below 60.0. Much of the Raiders presence in the top 10 is tied to the astute acquisition of veteran corner Casey Hayward, whose adjusted open percentage of 17.3 was the fifth-best in the NFL among players at all defensive positions, though a less impressive burn yards per target average of 11.20 reflects how often he was left on an island for the Los Angeles Chargers last year. Jackson burst onto the scene with a 90.4 coverage grade in his first season of action back in 2017. Jones matched his interception total across the first five seasons of his career last year with Miami, but it was his worst season from a production allowed standpoint since making the switch to cornerback in 2018. 25. Reader, yet neither made an impact last season due to injury. Over the past few weeks, PFF has unveiled its positional rankings and unit rankings for the 2021 NFL season. name season tm gp tkl ast comb sck scky int int yds int td ff fr fr td; jahleel addae: 2021 15. 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. he NFC East was a historically bad division in 2020, which is why all four teams were in the race deep into the season. Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, McKinney ranked in the top 10 in coverage grade among safeties. Adoree Jackson, New York Giants NFL quarterback rankings 2021. 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