The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year isn’t one of the best players at his position in 2020, according to Pro Football Focus, a digital scouting service. It’s a small sample size of just three weeks, but New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore isn’t among the top 10 corners in the NFL, per PFF.
Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson, meanwhile, is featured on that list. This is a bit of a tricky situation, because comparing Gilmore and Jackson is like comparing apples and oranges. Gilmore plays just about every defensive snap and takes the No. 1 receiver, while Jackson takes the No. 2 wideout and is often with a limited snap count. But it is noteworthy to see Jackson on the list. Here’s what PFF wrote:
Jackson kicked off his 2020 season with an exceptional game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1. He allowed only two catches for 18 yards while intercepting one and breaking up another, paving the way to an 82.4 coverage grade for the game. Jackson gets tasked with playing single coverage quite a bit in Bill Belichick’s scheme, and he has held his own these three games on those reps, allowing just 46 yards in total in single coverage in 2020.
So far in 2020, Gilmore has allowed 10 catches on 15 targets for 168 yards, with one touchdown, one interception and two defensive pass interference penalties, according to PFF. It’s not pretty.
It certainly hasn’t been a year where he’s deserving of the DPOY award. That said, if Jackson got the same workload and the same assignment as Gilmore, Jackson’s grade would probably suffer significantly. Gilmore probably deserves more credit because the Patriots are exposing him to greater challenges than Jackson, who has the benefit of the Patriots masking some of his weaknesses with scheme and substitutions.
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