Cornerbacks

Golden Age for Cornerbacks

 One of the toughest positions to play in the National Football League: cornerback. You can have two interceptions in a game, but if you get scored on in the game’s pivotal moment you are viewed as a goat. It is hard to consistently be great at this position because at some point a corner will lose his step. Today, we take a look at the NFL’s top cornerbacks. It is hard to rank these guys because they play in different defensive schemes.

 Richard Sherman

Sherman is a feisty corner that will smother an opponent’s top receiver and let them know how great he is. He is the biggest corner on this list as he is 6’3. His long arms allow him to poke the ball out of receiver’s hands as they attempt to catch it. Although he does not possess the speed needed at corner, he is fundamentally sound and physical enough to irritate wide receivers. Sherman is the heart of that Seattle defense and the voice of that locker room.

Brandon Carr 

Carr is very fluid in his approach at corner and is good enough to play man or zone. He is easily forgotten because he is on the same unit with Sean Lee and Demarcus Ware. He does not get the recognition as some of these guys on this list because of the Cowboys suspect defense. With a good pass rush, Carr is an All-Pro caliber corner.

 Aqib Talib

 

Talib never quite lived up to the expectations set for him in Tampa Bay especially with the off the field incidents he faced. However, he has revived his career in New England as he has shown the ability to shut down top receivers and tight ends. He has always flown under the radar back to his days as a Jayhawk at Kansas as well as the injuries he constantly experiences. He is not the flashiest guy on this list, but he will make sure opposing receivers have career low numbers.

 Joe Haden

Joe who? Haden. Haden is probably the least physical corner on this list, but his speed allows him to be the shadow of pass catchers. He is quietly one of the top corners because he plays for the Cleveland Browns. When teams play against the “Dawg Pound”, Haden tends to make quarterbacks throw the other way. Otherwise, Haden is high stepping into your favorite team’s end zone.

Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings

Tillman and Jennings is quite the combo at cornerback. Tillman is physical and the enforcer of the Bears secondary, while Jennings seems to have an interception every game. Tillman is like the Tim Duncan of cornerbacks because he is so fundamentally sound. He might have extended his career with the skills he has such as: making tackles, forcing fumbles, and intercepting passes. Did I mention Tillman was 32? Jennings is barely 5’8, but he is as quick as a cat. When offenses play Chicago, they have to pick their poison with these guys waiting in the wings.  

Deangelo Hall 

 

Hall still possesses the flat line speed he had when he first came into the league out of Virginia Tech. He still strikes fear into quarterbacks because of his ability to intercept a pass and change a game.  Hall bounced from Atlanta, to Oakland, and is now in Washington with that same IMO. He is not a lockdown corner, but he can occasionally blanket top receivers.      

 

Darrelle Revis 

 Revis is not 100% healthy coming off an ACL injury in 2012. He is still one of the top corners in the game. He has never been an interception artist because offensive coordinators would rather not design plays to throw at Revis. He is everything a coach could want in a cornerback, as he possesses size, speed, the ability to come up and defend the run, instincts, etc. Revis makes teammates on defense and the defensive coordinator’s job a lot easier. On the contrary, he disrupts the flow of opposing teams. When healthy, he is the closest cornerback to Deion Sanders. Basically, Revis has a spot in Canton, Ohio waiting for his face to be enshrined.

Patrick Peterson 

Peterson is often compared to Revis and Sanders because of how smooth he is at corner. He looks forward to playing man on man coverage every Sunday. It does not matter if he is facing Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, or some rookie because he loves to compete. He has all the qualities Revis possesses and should be a future hall of famer as well.