Top 5 Cornerbacks of 2019-2020

Top 5 Cornerbacks of 2019-2020

Defense is key in any sport you play, and in football you can't have a good defense without having good cornerbacks. Today we are going to look at the best cornerbacks in the league supporting those defenses. We are looking strictly at the 2019-2020 season so meaning no matter how big your name is, if the player did not perform this year then they will not be on the list. The stat breakdown will be explained throughout the rankings so let's get right into it. 

5.Richard Sherman (San Francisco 49ers)

Richard Sherman showed no signs that his age would affect his play at this point in his career. Sherman was consistent all season long showing why he has been a top 5 corner for most of his career. He was targeted 69 times which was the least on the list but only 43 of them were completed which was the best on the list. Those numbers however gave him a combined 62.3% completion percentage which was the worst on the list. Sherman also had 3 interceptions on the year taking one of them back for a touchdown. He also gave up the least amount of yards allowing 387 of them against him. He also had 61 combined tackles with 48 of them being solo. He had the third best pass rating against him at 64.1 and defended 11 passes on the season while allowing 1 touchdown on the season. I came to the conclusion that Sherman was not targeted as much as the other players on the list which gave him the best yardage against him but the percentages showed that while he was still very good he just did not measure up to the other four on the list.

4.Marcus Peters (Baltimore Ravens)

Coming in at number 4 we have Marcus Peters who played 6 games for the Rams and 10 games for the Ravens. Even playing for two different teams he kept playing good consistent defense. Peters had 53 combined tackles with 5 interceptions. Peters was targeted 90 times and 50 passes were completed against him for a 55.6% completion percentage against him. Peters also had 14 passes defended on the season. He also took 3 of his 5 interceptions back for a touchdown which was the most in the league. The thing that knocked him back on this list is the fact that he allowed 5 touchdowns on him which was tied for the most on the list. He also had the worst pass rating when targeted on the list sitting at 71.4. What put him above Sherman was his ability to take the ball away and defend the ball slightly better than him percentage wise.

3.Joe Haden (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Joe Haden had one of his best seasons of his career showing why he got that nice new contract. Haden was targeted 82 times and 44 of them were completed against him for a 53.7% completion percentage against him. Haden only allowed 487 yards on the season which was the second least on the list. That translated to 11.1 yards per completion and 5.9 yards per target. Haden was also able to add 1 forced fumble on the season. Haden also had the most tackles on the list with 65 of them, 59 were solo tackles. Haden also had 17 passes defended tied for second most on the list. Like Peters, Haden was hindered on this list because he gave up 5 touchdowns and had the second worst pass rating when targeted with s 66.5. Haden was better than Peters in most of the categories so that is why he got the edge for me. 

2.Tre’Davious White (Buffalo Bills)

Tre’Davious White had a very good season which helped the Bills succeed this year. White was targeted 90 times and only 45 of them were completed giving him a 50% completion percentage which was the best on the list. He also was tied for the most interceptions at 6 on the season and added 2 forced fumbles to go with them. He also had 58 tackles with 48 of them being solo. White also had a 45 pass rating against him not allowing a single touchdown on the season. He also tied Haden with 17 passes defended. The thing that knocked him back the most in this list is the fact that he gave up 626 yards which was the most on the list and he also had a missed tackle percentage of 13.4 which was also the worst. Other than that White had a very good season just not as good as the best shutdown corner in the league. 

1.Stephon Gilmore (New England Patriots)

The defensive player of the year Stephon Gilmore was the main force on the best defense in the league last year. They were able to force turnovers and score off of those turnovers that they forced. Gilmore was targeted 101 times but only 51 of them were completed for a completion percentage of 50.5%. He only allowed 5.9 yards per target and took the ball away 6 times which was tied for the most in the league, taking it back for a touchdown 2 times. He also had 53 combined tackles with 44 of them being solo. He only missed 6 tackles for a missed tackle percentage of 10.2%. To top it all off he had the most passes defended with 20 of them and had the best passing rating against him at 44.1 allowing 0 touchdowns on the season. He shut down his opponents consistently and helped create turnovers for his team making him the best in the league.