Colts’ Xavier Rhodes was a menace in coverage in 2020

Rhodes had the best CROE in 2020.

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes was hoping to bounce back from a down year when he joined his new team in 2020. He did that and more in the secondary for the Colts.

Rhodes looked more like himself while leading the way in the secondary on the boundary for the Colts, and he proved to be a menace at the catch point, recording the best catch rate over expected (CROE) among cornerbacks, per Next Gen Stats.

CROE is defined as “The difference between a defender’s actual completion percentage allowed and expected completion percentage when the defender is targeted as the nearest defender.”

Rhodes was a big reason the Colts defense was able to do what it did in 2020. With questions about the depth behind him and Kenny Moore, it’s encouraging to see that they will have at least two of their starters ready to go for 2021.

This is after the Colts re-signed Rhodes to a one-year deal in free agency this offseason.

Though he did give up five touchdown passes, he only allowed a completion rate of 51.9% in coverage, giving up just 42 completions on 81 targets. He also allowed just a 78.3 passer rating, per Pro Football Focus.

There are a lot of question marks with the depth in the cornerback room, but they should have some stability when it comes to the top of the depth chart as Rhodes looks to continue his strong play on the boundary.

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