[jwplayer XA3qOHpO]
Pro Football Focus is looked at as the Bible when it comes to grading players and developing a true evaluation of just how good a group of players is. Sometimes analytics don’t fully tell the story in any evaluation and in their latest cornerback grades, the ball was dropped completely.
During an evaluation of cornerbacks who graded on their prowess in man-to-man coverage, Slay was excluded from the list altogether.
1. STEPHON GILMORE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Man-coverage grade: 84.1
2. MARCUS PETERS, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Man-coverage grade: 79.6
3. TRE’DAVIOUS WHITE, BUFFALO BILLS
Man-coverage grade: 74.5
4. MARLON HUMPHREY, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Man-coverage grade: 74.4
5. PRINCE AMUKAMARA, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
Man-coverage grade: 74.0
6. STEVEN NELSON, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Man-coverage grade: 73.4
7. J.C. JACKSON, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Man-coverage grade: 73.2
8. BRADLEY ROBY, HOUSTON TEXANS
Man-coverage grade: 72.2
9. ADOREE’ JACKSON, TENNESSEE TITANS
Man-coverage grade: 71.2
10. JALEN RAMSEY, LOS ANGELES RAMS
Man-coverage grade: 68.7
With a bulk of NFL teams in the NFL playing zone coverage, Slay is one of the few players in the NFL that were asked to play bump and run on the majority of their snaps.
Take this tidbit from Packers star DeVante Adams on Slay and the Lions defense last season.
In his breakdown with @BaldyNFL, Davante Adams said the #Lions never disguise coverage. Adams watched 200 clips and Darius Slay never followed WRs if it was zone but always did in man.
Said he even told Slay he knew that 😂
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) July 1, 2020
Pro Football Focus’ list highlighted the highest-graded man-coverage cornerbacks in the NFL among 67 players with at least 150 man-coverage snaps in 2019. Even if the numbers somehow speak for themselves, you can’t Prince Amukamara, Adoree’ Jackson, or Steven Nelson on any list ahead of Darius Slay.
Last season Only Stephon Gilmore and Marlon Humphrey matched Slay’s 10 forced incompletions in man coverage last season.
There continues to b continued and growing confusion about Slay’s value despitePFF ranking the Eagles star as one of the most valuable cornerbacks in the league over the past six seasons.
Slay has been the fourth-most valuable cornerback in the NFL since 2014 per PFF WAR (wins above replacement), and his 74 forced incompletions over that stretch were the most in the NFL, better than Gilmore.
Slay was impressive last year despite some down statistics on a bad team and yet his performance against some of the NFL’s best would be highlight-reel performances for some other cornerbacks.
Darius Slay shadows in 2019 pic.twitter.com/hJpzo0NWvo
— Jeff Ratcliffe (@JeffRatcliffe) March 19, 2020
Slay’s 85 forced incompletions since 2014 are the most in the NFL over that span as well.
The grading becomes even more confusing when you take into account that last season while playing for Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions, Slay logged 347 snaps in man coverage, the most of any defense in the NFL, which likely caused his 56.9 overall grade in coverage.
With only Slay as a viable option at cornerback, the Lions allowed 229 combined first downs and touchdowns, the second-largest total in the NFL while ranking 28th in passer rating as a team.
Slay for his part, only gave up three of those 33 touchdown passes allowed and he allowed 1.40 yards per coverage snap, which was his worst single-season average since his rookie year, but far better than most of the cornerbacks in the NFL.
It is a grading system we might not understand but Eagles fans should definitely be thankful because it’s just more ammunition for a guy looking to put on a show in 2020.
[vertical-gallery id=636768]
[lawrence-related id=637548,637557,637549,637533]