With the regular season in the books, we are counting down the highest-graded cornerbacks this season in the NFL. With every throw and catch attributed to someone in coverage this season, here’s who played the best.
[Editor’s Note: The list below purely runs off our Player Grades, which are made available to all of our EDGE and ELITE subscribers.]
1. STEPHON GILMORE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
It was a career year for Gilmore whom Bill Belichick has taken to employing as a weapon in the secondary. New England shadowed receivers more than any other team in the NFL this season, and it was often Gilmore’s job to take away the other team’s top receiving threat. He tracked receivers in 13 games this year yet still only allowed 42 catches on 90 targets for 466 yards all year.
2. DESMOND KING II, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
The league’s preeminent slot cornerback at the moment, King simply doesn’t allow many first downs. On his 78 targets this past season, only 22 went for first downs. 81 cornerbacks allowed more first downs in their coverage this season.
3. CHRIS HARRIS JR., DENVER BRONCOS
Harris was at the top of his game before ending up on the IR. He may have only played 12 games, but he allowed a passer rating of only 63.6 when healthy. The Broncos corner was back to his stingy ways in the red zone once again, allowing only one touchdown on the year.
4. KAREEM JACKSON, HOUSTON TEXANS
It was a rough Wild Card weekend for Jackson, but during the regular season, he was the Swiss Army Knife for the Texans. Alternating between safety and corner, Jackson had a career revival this past season. He didn’t allow a touchdown all season long.
5. BYRON JONES, DALLAS COWBOYS
One of PFF’s top-10 breakout players from 2018, Jones season at corner was so dominant it makes you wonder why he ever was stuck at safety in the first place. PFF’s first-team All-Pro corner allowed a 53.6 percent catch rate and had 10 pass breakups.
6. JASON MCCOURTY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Yet another Patriots corner who had a career year. McCourty allowed a completion percentage of only 58.9 on the season, his lowest for a single season in his career. Arguably his most impressive stat on the year, though, was that McCourty committed one penalty all season long.
7. KYLE FULLER, CHICAGO BEARS
Fuller may not have been the stingiest cornerback in coverage this season, allowing 745 yards, but few had his playmaking ability. Fuller’s seven interceptions led the NFL while his 12 pass breakups were second at the position.
8. PATRICK PETERSON, ARIZONA CARDINALS
While the rest of the Arizona defense crumbled around him, Peterson continued his elite play. He allowed 30 catches all season long. That’s fewer than two per game. His 0.63 yards allowed per coverage snap was the lowest in the league.
9. BRYCE CALLAHAN, CHICAGO BEARS
Callahan made himself some money with his play for Chicago this season in the slot. His 0.72 yards per coverage snap was the fifth-lowest at the position in the NFL, and he only allowed a passer rating of 80.5 in his coverage.
10. JOHNATHAN JOSEPH, HOUSTON TEXANS
At 34 years old, Joseph had a bounce-back year in a big way. After allowing the highest passer rating in almost a decade last season, Joseph only allowed a passer rating of 76.0 this season.
11. PRINCE AMUKAMARA, CHICAGO BEARS
While Amukamara’s career has been plagued by injury, he’s been one of the most consistent corners in the NFL when healthy. That was finally the case again in 2018, and he earned a career-high grade because of it. Amukamara allowed a passer rating of 82.9 this past season.
12. DENZEL WARD, CLEVELAND BROWNS
The highest-graded rookie cornerback on this list, Ward lived up to his top-five billing. He allowed a catch rate of 53.7 and passer rating of 70.7 to immediately transform the Browns secondary. We’ll be seeing his name on this list for years to come.
13. MARLON HUMPHREY, BALTIMORE RAVENS
After a solid rookie season, Humphrey quite comfortably established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this year. His 52.5 catch rate allowed was the seventh-best in the league this season and his 22.5 percent forced incompletion rate was third-best.
14. CASEY HAYWARD JR., LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
It wasn’t quite the production we saw from Hayward in 2017, but some of that wasn’t his fault. Quarterbacks simply stopped targeting Hayward as much this season. He was the third-least targeted cornerback per coverage snap. The Chargers corner allowed only 32 catches all season.
15. PIERRE DESIR, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
While Desir had a career year in coverage, his ability against the run was key in the Colts’ cover-2 heavy defense. He finished the season with the second-best run defense grade of all corners.
16. XAVIEN HOWARD, MIAMI DOLPHINS
Howard had a very boom-or-bust season. His 50.9 percent catch rate was third-best in the NFL, but at the same time, his 16.2 yards per catch allowed was the second-worst among corners. Still, seven picks in only 12 games is pretty absurd production for the Dolphins corner.
17. A.J. BOUYE, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Bouye wasn’t near the level we saw over the last two seasons, but it’s difficult to complain about still being the 17th-best corner in the NFL. Bouye only allowed 417 yards on the season, but his 67.2 percent catch rate allowed was nearly 20 percentage points higher than a season ago.
18. DARIUS SLAY, DETROIT LIONS
The interceptions might not have been there this season, but targeting Slay still wasn’t beneficial for opposing quarterbacks this season. He had the sixth-best forced incompletion rate at 19.8 and was third in the NFL was 12 pass breakups.
19. TRUMAINE JOHNSON, NEW YORK JETS
After a down 2017, Johnson was once again at the top of his game when healthy. He played in only 10 games this season but still managed to nab four interceptions.
20. MARSHON LATTIMORE, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
It wasn’t the year Lattimore had hoped for after a dominant rookie season, but he had one of the toughest draws of any corner this season. Lattimore tracked Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Crabtree, Alshon Jeffery, Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper, Mike Evans and Antonio Brown this year.
21. STEVEN NELSON, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
He may have allowed the second-most yards of any cornerback in the NFL (825), but it’s only because he was targeted eight times more than any corner in the league. His 53.1 percent catch rate and 76.8 passer rating allowed show how good Nelson really was this year.
22. WILLIAM JACKSON III, CINCINNATI BENGALS
While the Bengals’ pass defense was atrocious, Jackson more than held his own. He allowed only 38 catches all season long and had 10 pass breakups on the year.
23. ADOREE’ JACKSON, TENNESSEE TITANS
Jackson was picked on ruthlessly in the Titans’ defense, getting 105 passes thrown his way this season. He continued his high-level of play, though, allowing a catch rate of 62.9 and had seven pass breakups.
24. JALEN RAMSEY, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
While Bouye took a small step back from 2017, Ramsey took an even bigger one. He allowed 163 more yards this season and had four fewer combined pass breakups and interceptions.
25. JAIRE ALEXANDER, GREEN BAY PACKERS
It was a rocky first year at times for Alexander, who also battled through injury, but the high-level play from him was as good as anyone in the NFL. His five pass breakup game against the Rams was one of the best from any corner this year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
Being targeted a lot isn’t a matter of bad luck. Teams went after Nelson and it worked plenty enough to be worth it.
Not really; his rate stats compared favorably to the best CBs in the league. They weren't successful with any great frequency against him but teams had to score a lot against us and play a fair amount of catchup so they attacked through the air a ton.
I mean c'mon - a 53% completion percentage and 77 QB rating is ass. That's worse than Blake Bortles and that's how QBs did when throwing at Nelson.
The hate Nelson gets here is laughable - that guy had a good year and is a solid NFL starting quarterback. The market is gonna reward him handsomely for it and while he may never be that solid again, it's silly to say he wasn't a good player for the Chiefs this season.
Originally Posted by Mecca:
This list is ass...you think Nelson is better than Ramsey?
"With the regular season in the books, we are counting down the highest-graded cornerbacks this season in the NFL. With every throw and catch attributed to someone in coverage this season, here’s who played the best.
[Editor’s Note: The list below purely runs off our Player Grades, which are made available to all of our EDGE and ELITE subscribers.]" [Reply]
Originally Posted by T-post Tom: "With the regular season in the books, we are counting down the highest-graded cornerbacks this season in the NFL. With every throw and catch attributed to someone in coverage this season, here’s who played the best.
[Editor’s Note: The list below purely runs off our Player Grades, which are made available to all of our EDGE and ELITE subscribers.]"
You need to have that subscription for a year before you realize how biased those figures are. I had one about 4 years back and noted back then that you can watch a game that you're completely disinterested in and see where those graders are just wrong. The year I noticed it was probably 2013 when Chandler Jones was outstanding and Ninkovich was also very good. PFF had Jones grading negatively on the year and Ninkovich, who in my eyes was good but not quite as good as Jones, was grading out as elite.
The PFF grader just flat !@#$ing didn't like Chandler Jones and really like Ninkovich. It was weird but you could go through it week after week and it just jumped out at you.
Worse, the sample size, though seemingly large given that it's an entire year, is still pretty damn small. One bad game can torch a guys entire season.
PFF is a tool but it's not an answer. But here it doesn't really need to be - there were other measures that Nelson performed well in also. And ultimately PFF does a nice job of establishing general tiers - if you're 'ranked' 20th by PFF, I don't have a problem saying you're somewhere in the firmly above average to good range. I won't concede that you were the 20th best CB, but even with some fudge factor it's fair to say you're probably in the 30-40 range at worst.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Not really; his rate stats compared favorably to the best CBs in the league. They weren't successful with any great frequency against him but teams had to score a lot against us and play a fair amount of catchup so they attacked through the air a ton.
I mean c'mon - a 53% completion percentage and 77 QB rating is ass. That's worse than Blake Bortles and that's how QBs did when throwing at Nelson.
The hate Nelson gets here is laughable - that guy had a good year and is a solid NFL starting quarterback. The market is gonna reward him handsomely for it and while he may never be that solid again, it's silly to say he wasn't a good player for the Chiefs this season.
He was. Not great, but good.
Why the fuck are you allowed to say this completely reasonable shit but when I do it’s the prime example of me being a huge homer?
Originally Posted by staylor26:
Why the fuck are you allowed to say this completely reasonable shit but when I do it’s the prime example of me being a huge homer?
Originally Posted by Mecca:
I honestly question their player grades at times.
Totally fair and extremely easy to do when you have the full access (which I cancelled when they took half their shit behind a paywall and stuck it into an even higher tier that you could either pay 3 times as much for on an annual basis or pay something like 40% of the previous annual prescription fee per month to get).
It was a ridiculous gouge so I told them to fuck off, especially after I saw so many questionable ratings on a week to week basis.
Those guys are no less prone to confirmation bias than anyone. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Not really; his rate stats compared favorably to the best CBs in the league. They weren't successful with any great frequency against him but teams had to score a lot against us and play a fair amount of catchup so they attacked through the air a ton.
I mean c'mon - a 53% completion percentage and 77 QB rating is ass. That's worse than Blake Bortles and that's how QBs did when throwing at Nelson.
The hate Nelson gets here is laughable - that guy had a good year and is a solid NFL starting quarterback. The market is gonna reward him handsomely for it and while he may never be that solid again, it's silly to say he wasn't a good player for the Chiefs this season.
He was. Not great, but good.
I never felt comfortable with Nelson going against good receivers or big receivers. I was always expecting him to get beat deep at least once a game and to have at least one big penalty.
I just go with my gut and eyes with this deal. I’ve rarely ever watched Chiefs games with Nelson in them and thought, damn, that’s a really solid CB. He just gives up too many big plays either via catch or flag, especially in big moments. He rarely ever played well in big games, and his ball skills are far below average. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Not really; his rate stats compared favorably to the best CBs in the league. They weren't successful with any great frequency against him but teams had to score a lot against us and play a fair amount of catchup so they attacked through the air a ton.
I mean c'mon - a 53% completion percentage and 77 QB rating is ass. That's worse than Blake Bortles and that's how QBs did when throwing at Nelson.
The hate Nelson gets here is laughable - that guy had a good year and is a solid NFL starting quarterback. The market is gonna reward him handsomely for it and while he may never be that solid again, it's silly to say he wasn't a good player for the Chiefs this season.
He was. Not great, but good.
That's true ... up to a point, Mr. DJ's left nut.
On the other hand, a defense WANTS to force the enemy to be one-dimensional. Whether it's run or pass, you want to know what's coming ... so you can be better prepared. It's an age-old football motif. It gives the defense a significant advantage. (Of course, I'm not telling you anything you don't know.)
But given that basic fact, in a world where we KNOW the enemy is going to pass, it's reasonable to expect that we should have been far more effective defending the air game. Heck, it's one of the reasons the pass rush stats were good for the Chiefs this year.
Recognizing that the opponent is often playing "catch-up" doesn't let the d-backfield off the hook. Considering that we could expect that the majority of snaps are going to be pass-oriented (combined with the fact that our pass rush was reasonably effective), I question why we gave up so many crucial, big plays at critical times. The circumstances and conditions should have favored our DBs. I can't say they did.
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19: I never felt comfortable with Nelson going against good receivers or big receivers. I was always expecting him to get beat deep at least once a game and to have at least one big penalty.
You shouldn't have. He's not an elite DB and the rules are tilted towards the offense, notably the passing game. And?
I never felt comfortable with Flowers against premier receivers or large receivers either - but he was still solid. And again, I know what you expect and why, but the numbers simply don't bear it out. So you can cling to your expectations and preconceived notions if you want, but it's not exactly fair to do so and then call it a rational argument - it ain't.
When it comes to a position like CB, especially in a passing league, everything is relative. Relative to his peers, Nelson was solid to good.
Originally Posted by FAX:
That's true ... up to a point, Mr. DJ's left nut.
.....
But given that basic fact, in a world where we KNOW the enemy is going to pass, it's reasonable to expect that we should have been far more effective defending the air game. Heck, it's one of the reasons the pass rush stats were good for the Chiefs this year.
Recognizing that the opponent is often playing "catch-up" doesn't let the d-backfield off the hook. Considering that we could expect that the majority of snaps are going to be pass-oriented (combined with the fact that our pass rush was reasonably effective), I question why we gave up so many crucial, big plays at critical times. The circumstances and conditions should have favored our DBs. I can't say they did.
FAX
They do and they don't.
Let's also recognize that yes, there is an advantage of knowing what's coming...and a disadvantage of not reaaaaaly caring all that much. because you saw how Sutton aligned those DBs out there, didn't you? He had those guys screaming backwards at the snap way too damn often. When Sutton had them going backwards in that bend but don't break stuff, a man corner has little to no chance to just lock someone down. He's gonna give up yards.
Moreover, when you say that the Chiefs defensive backfield gave up a ton of big plays - those would've been reflected in his overall numbers and they simply weren't. On a rate basis, he simply wasn't beaten all that often. It's DAMN hard to just disregard a 53% completion percentage against and yet many are trying to do that.
I'm not trying to oversell Nelson here and say he's an elite CB - but I think he's been given awfully short shrift because A) many didn't like the pick to begin with (myself loudly included), B) he was trash in 2017 and C) Well...he's kind of a shithead.
But that doesn't mean that he wasn't solid last year - he was. And when he was out there keeping half the throws in his general direction from being completed and allowed few enough deep completions against him to hold QBs throwing at him to a rating lower than Blake Bortles...well damn, just how bad could he have been?
We just forget the times he did his job well because he's easy to dislike. He's an undersized, mouthy, physical corner who seems to get a kick out of antagonizing fans and needs that chip on his shoulder to get up to play. That's easy to root against. But he still didn't suck last year as a general rule. [Reply]
