Who are the top 5 Cornerbacks ?

[fantasizing]

Rank the top five in the NFL. I mean the absolute shutdown corners.....those that might make you sit your WR because he is up against them.............

[LynahFaithful]

Champ Bailey is the only true shutdown corner in the game today, and has been for the last five years. Ty Law was pretty close to a shutdown corner a few years ago.

Champ Bailey went two full seasons on the Redskins without allowing a TD pass against him. He isn't quite as quick now... but his reputation precedes him and usually doesn't even get balls thrown at him anymore (ala Deion in his prime). He has some of the best hands in the NFL as well, the only reason you don't see him leading the league in picks is because QBs are afraid to throw at him.

High INTs for a QB do NOT always mean they are a good corner... you will see plenty of guys get 8+ INTs on the year, that will usually only happen if QBs throw at them a LOT, like Anthony Henry of the Browns a few years ago (not a good corner).

[Popcynical]

Nnamdi Asomugha > every other corner in the league. I'll be surprised if he gets 20 passes thrown his way by the end of the season. He's so good QBs rarely throw at the guy he's covering.

[ckl81]

He's not flashy, but Quentin Jammer is up there for sure. Antonio Cromartie might get all the hoopla on the Chargers, but he's also the one seeing most of the targets from opposing QBs, and with the 10-pick year he had last season, that says a lot about Jammer's coverage. Plus, Jammer is one of the best tackling corners in football--in the past 2 seasons, he has single-handedly saved two touchdowns from happening with his solid tackling. Right now, I'd put Jammer in the top 5.

[killiansjmd]

He's not Top 5 yet but watch out for Darrell Revis. He's done a great job so far this year.

[fezzik]

Nnamdi Asomugha > every other corner in the league. I'll be surprised if he gets 20 passes thrown his way by the end of the season. He's so good QBs rarely throw at the guy he's covering.

I agree with this. He is incredible. Bailey seems to have lost a step IMO...either that or he gets a bit complacent a times...it's hard to tell.

[Cooner]

Nnamdi Asomugha > every other corner in the league. I'll be surprised if he gets 20 passes thrown his way by the end of the season. He's so good QBs rarely throw at the guy he's covering.

Hard to argue with this after watching him absolutely shut down Cotchery this week. I likely won't be starting #1 WRs against him for the rest of the season, especially if that team has other options. There's no way teams will throw his way when the run defense isn't that good and many teams will be playing from ahead against Oakland.

[FFisLife]

Nnamdi Asomugha > every other corner in the league. I'll be surprised if he gets 20 passes thrown his way by the end of the season. He's so good QBs rarely throw at the guy he's covering.

Hard to argue with this after watching him absolutely shut down Cotchery this week. I likely won't be starting #1 WRs against him for the rest of the season, especially if that team has other options. There's no way teams will throw his way when the run defense isn't that good and many teams will be playing from ahead against Oakland.

I third that... Asomugha is scary good. I had Cotchery playing against him last week. Living out west and seeing all the Raiders games I knew what I was up against, but I decided to take a chance and went against my better judgment and started Cotch. Didn't turn out so well. This guy is by far the best with Bailey a few steps behind in Denver. He's so good, you rarely hear his name mentioned during the games because teams just won't throw his way.

[dream_017]

More cornerback talk

[CineMamet]

How come no one ranked the top 5, but merely listed the best?

Baseball seems to always induce better talks like these. Part of it is the heavy reliance on stats in baseball, making it easier to rank players. How do you rank cornerbacks without popular statistics? You can look at things like passes thrown to, interceptions, tips, performances against certain receivers, but it's less black and white because people don't care about cornerbacks which makes it tougher to find these stats. It requires you actually having to watch the games, and let's face it -- with only 16 games a season, there are probably guys like Nate Clements you've only seen play twice (or at least paid attention to him). It's not like Evan Longoria, where you can watch him go up to bat 20 times a year, or do a side to side comparison of his stats vs. other 3rd basemen. Cornerbacks are not stars anymore, so the casual fan doesn't know who is good and who is not since there is no hype talk or marketing that steers them. Take David Otiz. Even if you weren't a huge baseball fan, you know that he is good based on his publicity and all-star appearances. Who the hell knows how good Rashard Mathis or Nathan Vasher are? Sportscenter doesn't talk about them. Sometimes you'll hear about them if they suck and give up big plays (casual fans in L.A./Oakland now know DeAngelo Hall for giving up big plays).

Discussion question: Is there such things as a shutdown corner anymore? Is Champ, and perhaps, Asomugha really the only ones left? With the rules regarding pass interference now favoring receivers, defenders aren't allowed to touch as much as they did in Deion's day. Also, with different defensive schemes, such as the Tampa Cover 2, one-on-one battles aren't situated as much. More zone and less man coverage makes it more interesting, albeit subjective, on who is the "best." What about big plays given up? Or things that can't be numbered like their tackling ability?

That said, I'll spark some more players that weren't mentioned and offer up a top 10. I don't have any analysis to back it up, but maybe this will stir the pot a bit.

1. Champ
2. Asomugha
3. Mathis
4. Jammer
5. Cromartie
6. Al Harris
7. Mcallister
8. Newman
9. Clements
10. Barber
Honorable mention: Will Allen. Asante Samuel.
Dishonorable: DeAngelo Hall.

Interesting link: http://www.sportsgamer.com/forums/nfl-c ... r-use.html