In the 2020 NFL season, per Sports Info Solutions, defenses played more dime (six defensive backs) than “base” (four defensive backs). Nickel is the new base, as teams played with five defensive backs on the field 65.7% of the time (11,813 snaps), and the positionless player revolution, and the need for defensive coordinators to adjust to passing concepts that are ever more diverse and potentially explosive, have those coaches putting more and more defenders in the slot to defend all kinds of concepts. On a total of 17,969 pass defense snaps in 2020, teams lined up with six defensive backs 3,695 times (20.6% of the time), and with four defensive backs just 3,063 times (17.0%).
So, if you’re of the old-school opinion that the modern slot defender is an afterthought, now is a good time to catch up. Because in the NFL of today, if you don’t have at least one top-notch slot guy who can do everything from defending the run to the outside to working pressure with blitzes to covering slot receivers and tight ends up the seam to covering curl/flat, your defense is going to be at least one step behind.
The slot defender is more important than ever, and here are the 11 best in the NFL today.