Tag: cornerbacks

Ranking the top free-agent cornerbacks for the Steelers

The Steelers could dive into free agency for a starting cornerback after the season.

One huge area of need for the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason is going to be upgrading the cornerback position. The Patrick Peterson experiment didn’t work as planned but we have to think Pittsburgh will go back to free agency this offseason to find a player to start opposite Joey Porter Jr. Here are our top free-agent cornerbacks for the Steelers to consider.

Alabama has the two highest-graded CBs in college football at the Power Five level

The stats back it up, Alabama has the strong CB unit in all of college football

Alabama has had an interesting season in 2023. Once ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation, the Tide fell all the way down to No. 13. As the final game of the 2023 regular season arrives, the team is in the thick of the College Football Playoff race. The defense is a big reason why.

In his first season back with the program, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has put together a quality defense that has exceeded expectations.

Though the Crimson Tide offense took some time to get going, the defense has consistently played at an elite level with the secondary being the star of the show.

According to Pro Football Focus, cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry are the two highest-graded cornerbacks among all Power Five cornerbacks.

McKinstry has a grade of 86.3 and Arnold has a current grade of 84.8.

Alabama’s playoff push will rely heavily on the defense, especially McKinstry and Arnold as two leaders of the team.

The final game of the regular season will be against Auburn on the Plains and then the Tide will travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia in the SEC championship. After that, Alabama’s postseason fate will rest in the hands of the College Football Playoff Committee.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the regular season comes to a close.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Ranking the AFC West defenses

We ranked AFC West defenses from top to bottom. The results may (not) surprise you.

We have gone through and ranked each team at each position group on the defense. So, now we put them all together to come up with a complete ranking of the overall defenses in the AFC West.

How will Packers handle playing time in crowded CB room?

It’s a good conundrum for the Green Bay Packers to have-figuring out how to divide up playing time within their top-heavy cornerback room. But nonetheless, it’s a question that will have to be answered upon Eric Stokes’ return from injury. With …

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It’s a good conundrum for the Green Bay Packers to have–figuring out how to divide up playing time within their top-heavy cornerback room. But nonetheless, it’s a question that will have to be answered upon Eric Stokes’ return from injury.

With Stokes still sidelined through the offseason programs with a foot injury, the Packers are going to have Rasul Douglas and Jaire Alexander lined up on the boundary with Keisean Nixon in the slot. How Stokes fits into that equation remains to be seen.

What complicates things is that, outside of Nixon, the other three cornerbacks may be better suited playing on the boundary, or at least playing both inside and out. Green Bay experimented with Douglas lining in the nickel last season, but he was far more impactful once back outside. Alexander is just too good of a cornerback to only be playing from the slot–instead, he should be wherever the opponent’s top receiver is or eliminating explosive plays on the perimeter. Stokes, meanwhile, has registered only 13 slot snaps in the NFL.

Nixon brings a physical presence to the nickel as a capable tackler and willing run defender, two important aspects of playing inside. He was also able to limit pass-catchers to just over 10 yards per catch, despite being targeted heavily last season.

There are a few potential options that the Packers have. One is that Nixon takes on a much smaller role, with Alexander, Douglas, and Stokes being the primary cornerbacks. However, unlike last year where Douglas primarily played inside, the Packers should instead determine the slot cornerback by what the matchup dictates and be flexible enough to change from series to series or even snap to snap. If the opponent’s top receiver is inside, then Alexander should be in the slot. If Green Bay is matched up against a speedy slot receiver, then give Stokes those snaps. And if they are facing a big-bodied slot target, then Douglas is the nickel.

Another option could be to have Nixon continue taking the majority of the slot snaps, except for when Alexander is needed inside, of course, with Stokes and Douglas’ playing time on the boundary dictated by the matchup. The obvious issue with this, however, is that for a defense that lacked playmaking at times, this could put Douglas, who has nine interceptions over the last two seasons, on the sidelines.

The last two alternatives include moving Douglas to safety, where the Packers have major question marks. This is also something that Brian Gutekunst discussed this offseason and could be a good fit for Douglas, given his skill set. Or, perhaps Stokes takes on more of a defined role as a rotational cornerback, utilized in specific situations. The problem here is that after spending a first-round pick on Stokes in 2021, where he had a very good initial season, his snap count would already be limited in Year 3, which isn’t ideal for development. Although prior to his injury, 2022 was a down year for Stokes, some of the underlying numbers show a player who was very sticky in both man and zone coverages and third among all cornerbacks in snaps per target, hopefully illustrating that a bounce-back season is about to ensue.

The good news for the Packers is that the reason that they have to make this decision is because they have several talented players at this position group. Ultimately, the timeline for Stokes’ return, along with how the cornerback group and defense as a whole are playing at that point will be other factors in this equation and may also uncover an alternative that wasn’t discussed above. But for now, it seems to be a wait-and-see approach.

Packers training camp roster battle preview: 5 or 6 cornerbacks?

Breaking down how many cornerbacks the Packers will keep on the 53-man roster.

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We know what the top end of the Green Bay Packers depth chart at cornerback is going to look like, but during training camp, a battle may take place on the back end for the one or two roster spots that are up for grabs.

What we can say with certainty right now is that Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Keisean Nixon will be on the initial 53-man roster. If Eric Stokes is healthy come Week 1, he, of course, will be as well. However, if Stokes begins the season on the PUP list still recovering from a foot injury, he will have to miss the first four games of the season.

For some context, during the Matt LaFleur era in Green Bay, the Packers have rostered seven cornerbacks in 2019, six cornerbacks in 2020 and 2021, and five cornerbacks in 2022. Competing for the final roster spot or two will be Corey Ballentine, Carrington Valentine, Shemar Jean-Charles, Tyrell Ford, William Hooper, and Kiondre Thomas.

Based on what I saw during OTAs and minicamp, I believe that once Stokes is healthy, the Packers will have six cornerbacks on the roster, with Ballentine and Valentine earning those final roster spots, with both being able to carve out roles.

During the voluntary OTA practices, the Packers were without Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas. This meant that in the first open practice, the “starting” boundary cornerbacks were Ballentine and Jean-Charles, with Nixon in the slot. However, by the end of minicamp, it was Valentine lined across from Ballentine. LaFleur would specifically mention Valentine following one of the practices, saying that he had done an “unbelievable job.” Ballentine, meanwhile, had two near interceptions off Jordan Love.

Barring any injuries, Ballentine, Valentine, and Jean-Charles aren’t going to be seeing any defensive snaps this season, meaning that special teams contributions will play an important role when deciding who is going to make the team. Jean-Charles began the 2022 season as a member of the special teams unit, but after being sidelined with an injury, he was unable to regain that playing time upon his return. In fact, for a number of games down the stretch, he was a healthy scratch on Sundays.

Ballentine didn’t take his first special teams snaps until Week 10 of last season but became a core member of that unit. Despite ranking 18th on the team in total special teams snaps, he finished the season sixth in solo tackles. Valentine comes to the NFL with nearly 300 special teams snaps from his time at Kentucky, and possesses elite athleticism, good length, and is comfortable playing on an island. He is also a draft pick, which is important to note because the Packers have often favored keeping their own draft selections when it comes to those final roster spots that may be up for grabs.

Depending on Stokes’ availability at the start of the season, the Packers may roster just five cornerbacks on the initial 53-man roster, but I expect them to ultimately be at six once he returns. Ballentine made an impact on special teams in 2022 and was the clear fourth option at cornerback – behind Alexander, Douglas, and Nixon with Stokes sidelined – during the offseason programs. Valentine is a draft pick, has special teams experience, and ended up ahead of Jean-Charles on the defensive depth chart during the open practices while catching the eye of LaFleur. If this is how things play out, then Jean-Charles, Ford, Hooper, and Thomas will be left off the 53-man roster.

Packers cornerbacks limited separation when in man coverage in 2022

Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes were sticky in man coverage for the Packers’ zone-dominant defense in 2022.

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The Green Bay Packers defense primarily uses zone coverage under Joe Barry, but the team’s top three cornerbacks, Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Eric Stokes, all allowed little separation when in man coverage.

A recent chart put together by Judah Fortgang of PFF helped illustrate which cornerbacks (who played at least 200 snaps in 2022) were better in man coverage in terms of separation allowed and which were better in zone coverage. All three of Alexander, Douglas, and Stokes had negative separation grades when in man coverage, which is a good thing in this case and shows that they were in tight coverage.

Believe it or not, between Douglas, Stokes, and Alexander, Stokes was the one who actually performed the best by this metric. This hopefully points to 2023 being a bounce-back season for Stokes once he’s healthy after a very inconsistent 2022 season prior to his injury. Despite being close in coverage, Stokes still allowed five completions on seven targets at 11.8 yards per catch, with only one forced incompletion when in man.

However, as I alluded to already, the Packers do not use a lot of man coverage. One of the primary principles of Barry’s defensive scheme is to take away the big play, which leads to a heavy usage of zone coverage. According to PFF, Alexander was in man coverage on just 20% of his total snaps in 2022, Douglas 20.5%, and Stokes 26.2%.

As a coach, it’s always a balance between sticking to the system and molding it to fit with what your players are good at. Stokes was primarily used as a cover corner while at Georgia, and Alexander is one of the best cover cornerbacks in the game. Douglas has shown to be a playmaker under just about any circumstance, and while it’s a small sample size from last season, Kiesean Nixon, who will be starting in the slot at least until Stokes returns, was able to limit pass catchers when in man. It’s also worth noting that while rookie Carrington Valentine likely won’t see much, if any, playing time this season, the Packers did spend another draft pick on a player who thrived as a man cover corner in college.

Now, it’s not as if Barry was completely rigid and didn’t make any adjustments either. Although man coverage was never a staple for this defense last season, we did see Alexander with the opportunity to travel more with the opponent’s top receiver towards the end of the year. Not to mention that, as Daire Carragher of Packer Report would write, during the defense’s best stretch of football in those final few weeks, the Packers saw a huge increase in their usage of Cover-2 and Cover-6. Those are still primarily zone coverages, but adjustments, nonetheless.

It’s also not as if Stokes, Douglas, and Alexander graded out poorly as zone defenders, either. That same chart from PFF that I highlighted above shows them maintaining good zone coverage separation grades–although in Alexander’s case, at least by this metric, he was much better in man. A number of the issues that the Packers ran into last season either came from being too soft with the zone coverage alignments or coverage breakdowns, which included the passing off of pass catchers from one zone to the next or just being in the wrong spot, and on many occasions, led to big plays for the offense.

For the coaching staff, the offseason is a time to reevaluate what went right, what went wrong, and to put a plan in place for the upcoming season. I certainly don’t expect to see the Packers all of a sudden become a heavy man coverage team; again, that’s not the M.O. of this defensive system. But after an inconsistent 2022 season defensively, could we see more of it, with man coverage being a clear strength of this cornerback room? It’s now or never for Barry and his defense.

Bengals’ Cam Taylor-Britt has made big improvements

Cam Taylor-Britt just keeps getting better for the Bengals.

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The Cincinnati Bengals lost a few big players out of their secondary from last year, but in his second year, Cam Taylor-Britt is making some big improvements.

Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com talked with Taylor-Britt after his rookie season and he feels that he has made some big improvements since he was drafted.

Taylor-Britt said he believes that he is much more mature on the field and off the field than he was last season.

He made some major improvements throughout the season last year, getting matched up with Stefon Diggs in the playoffs and holding him to only two catches and 11 yards.

Hobson also talked to Mike Hilton, and he said he believes Taylor-Britt could be one of the best cornerbacks in the game.

“You can see how athletic he is and he’s not afraid to tackle. He’s a guy that can really be around a long time,” Hilton said.

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Packers 2023 draft preview: Could cornerback be a sneaky need?

Previewing the cornerback position for the Packers entering the 2023 draft.

The Green Bay Packers will go into the 2023 NFL draft with 10 draft picks, but it’s a different kind of year in Green Bay. After winning 13 games during three straight regular seasons, the Packers finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs in 2022, and now a transition is beginning at the game’s most important position.

Instead of gearing up for another run at the Super Bowl, the Packers are likely entering a rebuild phase. And the 2023 draft is an important piece of the early rebuilding puzzle.

Packers Wire’s position-by-position draft preview continues at cornerback:

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Cornerback prospects for Chiefs in each round of the 2023 NFL draft

Here’s a look at some of the cornerbacks the #Chiefs could consider adding in each round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Cornerback might seem low on the list of needs for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 NFL draft.

The Chiefs invested heavily in the position in the 2022 NFL draft, with Trent McDuffie (Round 1), Joshua Williams (Round 4) and Jaylen Watson (Round 7). Given the depth of this draft class, it’s possible that Kansas City could continue investing in the position. We’re only a year away from a decision on CB L’Jarius Sneed, and no matter the decision there, you can never have enough corners in today’s pass-happy NFL.

Here’s a look at some of the prospects the Chiefs could consider adding in each round of the 2023 NFL draft:

Top 5 Cornerback fits for Raiders in 2023 NFL Draft

Top 5 Cornerback fits for Raiders in 2023 NFL Draft

Perhaps no position for the Raiders is a bigger need for the Raiders than cornerback. For that reason, they would be smart to go after the position early, perhaps even at seven overall.

It’s not a question of *if* so much as *when* they will take a cornerback in this draft. But it should be high. At least in their top three picks.

When exactly they take a cornerback could depend largely on who is on the board. That means at several positions, not just cornerback. That’s because they have several needs, including quarterback.