The NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks

Boundary cornerbacks who can erase an opponent’s best receiver are more important than ever. Here are the NFL’s 11 best.

5. Quinton Dunbar, Seattle Seahawks

(Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

The good news for the Seahawks, who traded a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Washington NFL Team for Dunbar in March, is that Dunbar is one of the league’s best cornerbacks, and was one of just three players to make my list of the best at his position in both man and zone coverage. Dunbar shared that with the two top players on this list, and based on stats and tape, there’s little doubt that he’s one of the NFL’s best. If he’s able to bring his athleticism and acumen to the field in Seattle, he’ll do a lot to bring the Seahawks’ defense back after a few years of worrying regression in the Emerald City. Not too much to ask for a guy who allowed 29 catches on 52 targets last season for 344 yards, 145 yards after catch, two touchdowns, four interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 56.9 in a defense where he was the only credible cornerback.

The bad news for the Seahawks? Dunbar’s legal situation gets weirder and weirder, and there’s no way of knowing how it will turn out.