Tag: D.J. Reed

The NFL’s 11 best cornerbacks

Touchdown Wire’s positional lists continue with Doug Farrar’s 11 best cornerbacks heading into the 2023 NFL season.

If you want to know how variable cornerback performance can be from year to year, consider the case of Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell. In 2021, Terrell was one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks, allowing 29 catches on 66 targets for 200 yards, 93 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three interceptions, 13 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 47.5. One season later, Terrell gave up 39 catches on 68 targets for 430 yards, 142 yards after the catch, a league-high nine touchdowns, no interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 115.8.

Or consider the case of J.C. Jackson. The former Patriots star never allowed an opponent passer rating lower than 62.7 over four seasons in New England. Then, he signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Chargers, and between schematic issues and injuries, Jackson allowed 198 catches on 27 targets for 370 yards, 72 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 152.4 — in just five games.

Why are CBs J.C. Jackson, William Jackson III, A.J. Terrell, and Amani Oruwariye struggling in 2022?

From year to year, cornerback performance can be as volatile as you can possibly imagine, for all kinds of reasons. The same cornerback on the same team in a system supposedly set up to help him succeed can see his performance fluctuate wildly from season to season.

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For those cornerbacks who made this year’s list — Patrick Surtain II, Marlon Humphrey, Darius Slay, Jaire Alexander, and Jalen Ramsey — it’s a case of beating the odds. This means that there are seven new players on this year’s list, which is about par for the course.

The criteria for inclusion on this year’s list were…

  • A majority of snaps at outside cornerback. If you’re primarily a slot defender, we have a separate list for you!
  • A good balance between man and zone coverage performance. If you’re off-balance to one side, it’ll affect things here, just as it does on the field.
  • Similarly, a good balance between the abilities in press and off coverage will serve you well here, as it does in the National Football League.
  • If you are prone to following top receivers across the formation, as opposed to playing one side of the field no matter what, that’ll help your case a bit.
  • Splash plays are great, but there are cornerbacks who get a lot of interceptions and give up even more big plays. Today’s NFL is about creating and preventing explosive plays, so how good are you at the latter?

This is the second in our positional rankings series, which concludes with our list of the 101 best players in the NFL today.

The NFL’s 11 best safeties

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated). 

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Building the perfect secondary

In this week’s Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar, the guys look to build the perfect secondary with ideal traits for every position.

If you were to create the ideal secondary for the modern NFL, most likely that secondary would have at least five pass defenders in its base coverages. Adding that slot defender, whether it’s a cornerback or a safety in “big nickel” (three-safety) packages, is a must against today’s 3×1 receiver sets. You’d also want outside cornerbacks who can play press-man coverage against an opponent’s top receivers, and safeties who don’t live by the old free and strong designations.

In this week’s edition of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (of Touchdown Wire) endeavor to build the perfect modern secondary, starting with the ideal traits for every position.

Let’s break that down, from cornerback to slot defender to safety.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen to the Xs and Os podcast on Spotify:

…or on Apple podcasts.

Player awards for Jets at the quarter-pole of the season

Quarter-mark awards for the Jets

The NFL season is already four weeks old, so one-quarter of the season is already in the books. So now feels like a good time to dish out some early-season awards at this stage of the season. We’ll dish out awards for MVP, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Quarter, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Quarter. Let’s dive in, shall we? Be sure to share your winners as well.

D.J. Reed says Garrett Wilson has ‘Justin Jefferson vibes’

D.J. Reed sees Justin Jefferson in Garrett Wilson

Jets rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson needed just two games to prove why the Jets selected him with the No. 10 overall pick of the 2022 draft, and he hardly played in the first game.

Wilson was a major piece to New York’s improbable 31-30 win over the Cleveland Browns, catching eight passes (on 14 targets) for 102 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 22 seconds left.

Wilson is showing flashes of becoming one of the top wide receivers in the league at some point. But if you ask cornerback D.J. Reed, he’ll tell you he is already putting Wilson up there among the best, specifically naming one receiver in particular.

“He has that Justin Jefferson vibe,” Reed said after the game. “Dudes don’t want to cover him man to man.”

That is quite the comparison as there are some that already believe Jefferson is the best receiver in the NFL today, with his performance in Week 1 (9 catches, 184 yards, 2 touchdowns) only furthering that argument. So that is a lot of praise from Reed on Wilson. But more games like this and Wilson will quickly elevate himself into the conversation among the best in the business.

We’ll get a chance to see Wilson and Jefferson on the same field when the Jets travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings on December 4.

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Secret Superstars for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar features Week 1’s great underrated players on his Secret Superstars team.

There are all kinds of reasons that NFL players are underrated.

Perhaps they’re in systems that don’t best show their skills. Maybe they’re buried on a depth chart. Or, they’re in somebody’s doghouse, and their coaches can’t see their potential. Sometimes, young players haven’t quite put it all together, but there are enough flashes to make you sit up and take notice, and when it does work, it’s all good.

Week 1 of the 2022 regular season features players at every position who showed up and showed out despite their underrated statuses, and here at Touchdown Wire, it’s our job to point them out.

Here are the Secret Superstars for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season.

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Jets CB D.J. Reed had a heartbreaking reason for celebrating his INT late in blowout loss to the Ravens

D.J. Reed played with an extremely heavy heart Sunday.

The New York Jets opened their season on Sunday with a blowout loss at home to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

The Jets, of course, were without second-year QB Zach Wilson and had to go with veteran Joe Flacco, who was unable to get a win against his former team.

Late in the fourth quarter while trailing 24-3, Jets CB D.J. Reed had a pretty sweet interception and he celebrated it by dropping to his knees at midfield, looking up to the sky and extending his arms.

Some fans wondered why he would celebrate such a play near the end of an ugly loss but after the game Reed explained why – his dad died before the game and Reed dedicated that play to him.

His postgame interview was heartbreaking:

Reed tweeted this after the game:

It must have been so hard for Reed to play in Sunday’s game. But what a special moment that INT was for he and his family. We wish them the best.

Fans on Twitter offered their support.

Seahawks: 4 positions where they got weaker this offseason

Here are four positions where the Seahawks are weaker than last season.

The Seahawks are probably going to get worse before they get better. That’s just the unfortunate facts heading into the 2022 season. While there is a legitimate youth movement building for this roster, it will likely take at least another year for the transformation to be complete and they’re ready to compete in the NFC again.

Here are four positions where this team is weaker than they were last season.

D.J. Reed sees a ‘lockdown cornerback’ in Ahmad Gardner

Jets CB D.J. Reed is excited to play with Ahmad Gardner in 2022.

The Jets added two new starting cornerbacks this offseason in veteran D.J. Reed and fourth overall pick Ahmad Gardner.

Even before hitting the field with his new teammate, Reed believes the Jets drafted a true shutdown defensive back in Gardner. The vet is excited to play with the rookie this season.

“I love it, man. Sauce – I watched his tape and he’s everything that the media is saying he is, he’s a lockdown cornerback,” Reed told team reporter Caroline Hendershot. “He did it in college, and he can do it in the NFL, I believe.”

Gardner famously never allowed a touchdown reception during his three years at Cincinnati. He also recorded nine interceptions when opposing quarterbacks were foolish enough to throw his way.

Now the Jets are hoping Gardner’s ball-hawking abilities will translate to the next level. Reed has no doubt.

“He’s prototypical, he has elite characteristics, and he plays good coverage with great eye discipline. And he can catch,” Reed said. “He makes great plays on the ball and it’s just an overall complete cornerback, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to getting to meet bro and just balling with him.”

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Jets unveil Ahmad Gardner’s official jersey number

The Jets revealed Ahmad Gardner’s official jersey number on Tuesday.

Ahmad Gardner staked his claim to his desired jersey number shortly after he was picked by the Jets in the 2022 NFL draft. Now, New York’s top pick has his digit.

The Jets ended any mystery surrounding which numeral Gardner will wear as a rookie on Tuesday, announcing that he will wear No. 1.

Gardner, who wore No. 20 during rookie minicamp, playfully fought for the jersey number with fellow rookie Breece Hall on Twitter last month. It originally seemed like neither would receive No. 1, though, as the Jets tweeted out a D.J. Reed jersey graphic with the number.

Based on Reed’s Twitter feed, it looks like Gardner made a deal with the fellow corner for the number. Reed also teased that he is switching to No. 4 after wearing No. 2 — his number at Kansas State — with the Seahawks in 2021.

Gardner celebrated receiving No. 1 with an edited graphic that he posted on social media.

Had Gardner been drafted just a couple of years ago, he would not have been able to wear a single-digit number. The NFL introduced new jersey number rules based on position last season, allowing players across the league to transition to the single-digit number they wore in college.

Gardner wore No. 1 as one of the best cornerbacks in college football at Cincinnati.

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The best bargains of the NFL’s 2022 free agency class (so far)

With most of the 2022 NFL free-agent class signed, here are the best player bargains so far.

Two reasons for the Cincinnati Bengals’ ascent from 4-11-1 in 2020 to AFC champs and near-Super Bowl LVI winners in 2021 were the wise free-agent signings of former Saints pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson and ex-Cowboys cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. In replacing Carl Lawson and William Jackson III, Hendrickson and Awuzie became immediate force multipliers on a defense that rose from 27th in DVOA in 2020 to 19th in 2021. Both Hendrickson and Awuzie defined their positions in that defense all the way through.

When going into free agency every season, every NFL team is looking for those types of bargains — Hendrickson on a four-year, $60 million deal with $16 million guaranteed, and Awuzie on a three-year, $21.75 million contract with $7.5 million guaranteed.

Here are the best potential bargains in the 2022 free agency slate so far — potential impact players who signed deals that may not reflect their value on the field, but certainly provide optimal value to their teams.