

Even at 5-10, 188 pounds, Verrett can hold up against bigger receivers, too. Verrett has top-end speed and the kind of agility you’ll find in a comic book hero. Man coverage is where he really shines, though. The Chargers play a good mix of zone and man coverage, and Verrett holds up just fine no matter the assignment. That’s a problem, but not one we’ll concern ourselves with for this list, which is based solely on skill set. The 24-year-old has missed 12 games over the first two seasons of his career. Of the four games I studied for Verrett, he failed to finish two of them due to injury. Off the field, his weakness is clear: He can’t seem to stay healthy. On the field, it’s difficult to find a weakness. Verrett may not be a recognizable name for casual fans, but that has nothing to do with his game. Shutting down a specific receiver? That’s not his game. Ask Sherman to lock down an area of the field, and he’ll come through every time. 2 on our list because he doesn’t have the athleticism to hold up in man coverage for 60 minutes. After a rough start - Brown abused Sherman with some quick releases in the first quarter - Sherman grew more comfortable, played more physically and all but shut Brown out of the game ( with the help of his teammates, of course). His game against Antonio Brown - the most difficult cover in the NFL - was one of the more impressive performances by a corner in 2015. Granted, this wasn’t a full-time assignment - Sherman still spent a majority of his snaps playing on the left - but it gave the braggadocios corner a chance to show he was effective outside of Seattle’s Cover 3 zone. Without a reliable option on the other side, first-year defensive coordinator Kris Richard pried Sherman away from his left side and had him move around with opposing team’s top receivers.
#Nfl top 20 games of 2016 free#
That changed in 2015, when free agent Cary Williams struggled in Seattle’s zone-based scheme and was eventually released mid-season. 2 corner playing opposite of Sherman, whether it was Brandon Browner or Byron Maxwell. Statistically, Sherman’s 2015 season wasn’t the best of his career, but it may have been his most impressive. Peterson isn’t nearly as effective in zone coverage (he’s improving though) but if you want a cornerback who can take a top receiver out of a game, he’s your best bet.

He’s still at his best when in press man coverage, where his physical gifts can take over. Losing weight hasn’t affected Peterson’s physicality at the line of scrimmage. There are still times when he loses balance trying to stay attached to quicker wideouts, but those moments were rare in 2016. Peterson’s footwork has been refined, which allows him to stick with receivers with elite change of direction ability. Last year, his technique finally caught up. Peterson is the most athletically-gifted corner in the league. The Cardinals are still blitzing, but not having to track superstar receivers for entire games has allowed the 25-year-old to conserve energy throughout games. He was often left on an island thanks to an aggressive, blitz-heavy scheme. Arizona put too much on Peterson’s plate in prior seasons.
#Nfl top 20 games of 2016 full#
1 receivers for full 60-minute games instead, he typically played his normal role in the first half and then started shadowing the top receiver in the second half. After a disappointing 2014, a slimmed-down Peterson bounced back and produced a career season. Peterson is the closest thing you’ll find to a shutdown corner in today’s NFL. Statistics and reputation played a very small role.) (Note: These rankings are based solely on film study from the 2015 season. Here’s our ranking of the top-10 players at the position… While a cornerback’s job has never been more difficult, there are still plenty of cover guys around the league wreaking havoc on opposing passing games. The offense-friendly rule changes over the last decade haven’t made it any easier, either. But the way the game is played today, along with the strategies offensive play-callers have devised (stack alignments, pick routes, bunch sets, etc), has made it nearly impossible for corners to not only travel with top receivers but also, as the title implies, shut them down. You can find young, talented corners across the league. That’s not to say there’s a lack of talent at the cornerback position. They are Sanders, Champ Bailey and Darrelle Revis during his first stint with the Jets. There have been three true shutdown corners in the modern history of the NFL. 1 receivers completely out of games, is used quite frequently in today’s NFL, to the point where the mantle has lost its value. The term, which originated in the ‘90s with Deion Sanders taking No.
