The NFL’s 13 best outside cornerbacks
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar ranks the top 13 outside cornerbacks in the NFL going into 2024.
Tag: cornerback rankings
ESPN ranks cornerback units for all 32 teams after the 2024 NFL draft
All together, this is a relatively strong group heading into the 2024 season. Let’s see how they rank compared to the rest.
Cornerbacks in the NFL have the hardest job in team sports, requiring a special combination of athleticism, football IQ and grit – and even the very best in the world rarely have three good years in a row at this level. If that’s not enough, the rules are also against them. Geared towards offensive production, today’s game allows wide receivers to get away with all kinds of shenanigans without getting flagged and also gives opposing quarterbacks an absurd advantage on under-thrown passes that wind up as horrible DPI calls.
That unmatched level of difficulty just makes it even more important to have multiple quality options on your roster. It’s not enough to have one or even two reliable starters anymore. The quality and depth of the entire unit matters. The Seahawks seem to know this, as they and the rest of the handful of teams that typically draft better than the field all made significant investments at this spot.
While the Seahawks didn’t use an early pick on a top corner prospect, they did add two more promising backups to pair with solid veterans Artie Burns and Mike Jackson in Nehemiah Pritchett and D.J. James. There’s also Riq Woolen, a maybe-could-be-star-some-day who oozes potential, even if he doesn’t always live up to it. The crown jewel of this unit is the lanky and tenacious Devon Witherspoon, who sews destruction everywhere he lines up but raises the most hell from the slot. Witherspoon has All-Pro potential and might even be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate some day down the line if he improves his tackling.
All together, this is a relatively strong group heading into the 2024 season. Let’s see how they rank compared to the rest. Here’s how Mike Clay at ESPN ranked each team’s cornerback unit after the draft.
Tariq Woolen makes the cut for this list of the NFL’s top 11 cornerbacks
The Seahawks have put together their best secondary by far since the breakup of the Legion of Boom.
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The Seahawks have put together their best secondary by far since the breakup of the Legion of Boom. The centerpiece is second-year cornerback Tariq Woolen, who had a supremely promising rookie season in the NFL.
Heading into Year 2, Woolen has been ranked among the best players at his position. Today Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire has ranked the league’s top 11 cornerbacks and Woolen came in at No. 8 on his list.
“In his rookie season, Woolen took his ungodly athleticism to the next level, becoming more and more of a complete cornerback. Overall, he allowed 42 completions on 76 targets for 637 yards, 233 yards after the catch, five touchdowns, six interceptions, 10 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 72.1.”
It’s about time that somebody recognized Woolen is a top-10 talent at his position. For example, Pro Football Focus had him graded out at 69.1 overall, good for No. 34 among cornerbacks.
Even if his game is still a bit raw compared to Sauce Gardner (No. 2 on Farrar’s list), Woolen’s ceiling is as high as any DB in the sport. If he takes that second-year leap he should be in the top five on this list next year, perhaps even top-two-not-two. Then again, Richard Sherman didn’t surpass Darrelle Revis as the NFL’s best corner until his third year in the league and Woolen deserves more time to develop before we put those kind of expectations on him. In any case, the future is blindingly bright for No. 27.
Another guy we expect to see on this list in the coming years is Devon Witherspoon, Seattle’s No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 draft. The Seahawks are also comically loaded at safety – and Farrar has Quandre Diggs ranked No. 2 at his position. A healthy Jamal Adams might also make the cut next year – and Julian Love might even have a shot, too.
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