As someone who focuses his work on the quarterback position, I have long argued that playing QB is one of the toughest jobs in all of sports. After all, you are trying to make reads and decisions in the blink of an eye while large people are trying to put you in the hospital.
Not for the faint of heart.
But if there is an equally tough position on the defensive side of the football, it is cornerback. After all, not only do you have to battle with some of the sport’s best athletes, you are doing so with one arm figuratively tied behind your back. With how the modern rules tilt the playing field in favor of the passing game, cornerbacks are facing a tougher and tougher challenge each week.
Which makes what these 11 athletes — and really all of the cornerbacks in the game today — do on a weekly basis that more impressive.
Here are the NFL’s top 11 outside cornerbacks.