Here's something new on grading CBs from PFF. So, by way of our game analysis process, we’re bringing you something that will push things a step further. A simple enough premise, we’ll look at how often a cornerback is thrown at and how many receptions he allows compared to how many snaps he has spent in coverage. Up first, we’re checking out the percentage of plays in coverage that corners were thrown at. For this study we looked at all cornerbacks who were in coverage for at least 300 snaps (playoffs included), and it’s no surprise who has been targeted least often: Nnamdi Asomugha. When it comes to having a reputation that QBs fear, there isn’t another player like the soon to be free agent. He was targeted on just 6.58% of the 441 plays he was in coverage. Perhaps more of a surprise is that Miami’s Sean Smith winds up in second place. There are some mitigating circumstances as Smith spent time in the safety spot in their third down nickel defense. Still, it’s reflective of the ability Smith has shown, though his inability to turn break-ups into picks impacts the common view on him. Others in the Top 5 you would expect to see include Asante Samuel and Darrelle Revis. With Samuel, you worry about throwing the ball to him because he’s the kind of playmaker who can turn a game around in one play. Revis, on the other hand, allows so little that it’s not so much a risk to throw in his direction as it’s a pointless exercise. After 2009, where he was thrown at on a staggering 18.27% of plays he was in coverage, teams seemed to realize that was a foolish strategy and the number dropped to 10.32% in 2010 (even with him playing hurt part of that time). Top 20 Cornerbacks, Times Thrown At per Coverage Snaps Rank Player Team Cover Snaps Thrown At TA/COV 1 Nnamdi Asomugha OAK 441 29 6.58% 2 Sean Smith MIA 448 44 9.82% 3 Asante Samuel PHI 446 46 10.31% 4 Darrelle Revis NYJ 592 67 11.32% 5 Rashean Mathis JAX 567 66 11.64% 6 Shawntae Spencer SF 622 77 12.38% 7 Chris Gamble CAR 377 47 12.47% 8 Kelly Jennings SEA 625 78 12.48% 9 Sam Shields GB 543 68 12.52% 10 Vontae Davis MIA 566 72 12.72% 11 Joselio Hanson PHI 450 58 12.89% 12 Leon Hall CIN 563 74 13.14% 13 Ike Taylor PIT 763 102 13.37% 14 Champ Bailey DEN 489 66 13.50% 15 Quentin Jammer SD 576 78 13.54% 16 Bradley Fletcher SL 601 82 13.64% 17 Ronde Barber TB 515 71 13.79% 18 Charles Woodson GB 658 91 13.83% 19 Corey Webster NYG 576 81 14.06% 20 Kyle Arrington NE 533 75 14.07%
Nice, do you happen to have the stats for Nolan Carroll at Cb? I have yet to see how he did from a stats perspective.
I'd be very interested too, though I doubt he met the 300 snap qualifier for the study. But, the only time I can really recall him getting beat was on the pass that Santonio Holmes dropped in the endzone when he was wide open. Unfortunately, I remember Carroll more for the "Trip Gate" incident and dropping that pick-6 against the Browns than anything else, but I think he's a solid prospect to be a #3 CB.
He's not much better than Davis. As a complete player, Davis is above Smith. He's stronger, plays the run better, and is more willing to make contact with the player. Smith outplayed him or a good part last season in coverage, but he doesn't have the run support that Davis has making Davis more complete in my opinion.
Regardless of who's better between Davis and Smith (personally I think Davis played worlds better for a stretch of time while Smith played better over the course of the entire season), I'm glad they're BOTH on the Miami Dolphins.
I wouldn't put much store in that. Other areas of the defense were begging to be thrown on more than they were, you're not going to come up with a stat after the fact that suggests the two were "shut down" guys when I think we all know and saw that they're not. They're good, but they're not where they need to be yet. We'll see if the 3rd year is the charm. Seems to be that way for wide receivers, so maybe it's the same for corners. Sean needs to catch all those balls he gets his hands on and Vontae needs to be a lot more consistent. They could really go either way this third year, down or up.
I feel that if Smith comes down with half of the balls he dropped last year he would have been in the Pro Bowl. If he can continue to get better as well as catch the ball he will be a very good corner. Davis' problem is consistancy IMO, but I think he's the better all around corner. He's one of the better tackling corners in the NFL and has very good cover skills as well. He just needs to keep it up on a play by play basis. He's a very young player though (he was drafted at age 20) so you would kind of expect some of that from a player his age. Hopefully he can also continue to get better as well as staying consistant. There's no doubt though that both of these guys have big time ability and if they can make the most of it, will be an excellent tandem for a long time.
Carroll was in for only 79 snaps, starting from week #12. He was in coverage for 63 snaps, thrown at 8 times, giving up 3 complete for 30 yds, long was 15 yds, 1 pick, 1 PD. He played 4 snaps each vs Oak and Det with no stats. Cleve- TA- 3, C- 1, Jets- TA- 4, C- 1, Buff- TA- 1, C-1. PFF ranked him #41 overall, #35 in coverage. One missed tackle brought him down, with so few plays, from a higher PFF rank. NFL gave him a 9.4 (lower better) which would make him the #1 CB in the league, other than those with a 0 on a few plays, by a big margin. The worst CBs got a 150.
Agree to a degree. Although we did have much weaker links in coverage, Smith & Davis were almost always matched up with the opposing team's best two WRs. I believe that the rankings do say something good and valid in their play. I also think that having Nolan's new system, in their second year, held them back some. Can't wait to see them this year.
I think between Allen and Carroll we are in really good shape at the #3 Cb position, Carroll was known as a solid cover corner type coming out of Maryland.
Davis is better in run support. I was disappointed that he missed 13 tackles last year (4th worst) while only missing 6 the year before.
I noticed that also. It seemed like he was doing a lot of ankle grabbing. Hopefully he learned from it.
I think Davis & Smith had some trouble with the new system. Learning in their first year was difficult. The second year had to be tougher. Not only do you have to learn Nolan's new one but, you have to unlearn the old one. Makes you think more/react less. Also, we had a lot of new guys playing in the secondary, J Allen, Sapp, Carroll, Clemons, and Jones. Even Nolan said his guys were playing mostly on physical ability last season.
I also think part of the Vontae Davis tackling problem was the injury(ies) he dealt with last year. He wasn't healthy all year and it seemed like after his chest injury, he started to form into a defensive Ted Ginn. Could be wrong... I think we are on our way to building one of the top secondaries in the league. Vontae/Smith are sure locks right now as 1 and 2 and Nolan Carroll looks like he has a ton of promise. That top 3 could be scary...Carroll is the oldest at 24 also. Hopefully Will Allen can be a stop gap until we bring in a #4 guy that can hold his own when needed and maybe Jimmy Wilson can turn out to be a solid 4 or 5 for us. I just hope Benny Sapp and Nate Ness are gone this off season. Clemons needs to improve his coverage skills as well.
I wouldn't say much better, but i do have a preference for Smith's skill set. IMO they are both good and potentially very good/elite. I think Davis is better in run support and Smith has better ball skills despite all the drops last year. I think that Smith is better in coverage and would get burnt less often and that his length will present a problem for a wider range of receivers. I also think that Smith improved his run support to the point where he made the tackles consistently. He'll never have all the big hits that Davis has and fans get excited by that so he'll always have a following. But I think the odds are better that Smith will become an INT leader for the team than Davis will. I value coverage and INTs more than run support in a CB. I want both of course, but in a passing league, stopping the pass is more important.
lol...I swear he could of had at least 6 int's if he had hands like that dude in the ''tiny hands'' burger king commercial..never seen anything like it..
I think we are on our way to building one of the top secondaries in the league. Vontae/Smith are sure locks right now as 1 and 2 and Nolan Carroll looks like he has a ton of promise. That top 3 could be scary...Carroll is the oldest at 24 also. Any idea when Davis was hurt? He had a bad stretch from game 5 through game 9. Smith had the same in the first 5 games, but both finished strong in the last third of the season.
Bottom 10 Cornerbacks, Tackle Attempts per Missed Tackle Name Team QB Sk Tks *** MT Att/MT Brandon McDonald DET 0 10 1 5 3.20 Asante Samuel PHI 0 24 2 10 3.60 Nathan Vasher DET 0 14 3 6 3.83 Shawntae Spencer SF 0 43 2 14 4.21 Malcolm Jenkins NO 0 12 2 4 4.50 Kyle Wilson NYJ 0 17 2 5 4.80 Nnamdi Asomugha OAK 0 18 1 5 4.80 D. Rodgers-Cromartie ARZ 0 45 2 12 4.92 Vontae Davis MIA 0 45 7 13 5.00 Donald Strickland SD 1 12 3 4 5.00
Glad somebody made that point. Smith's tackling and overall physicality was much improved this year. I'm still wondering if we are going to see him in more non-traditional roles as a safety and lined up against particularly threatening TEs. He tweeted something well before the lockout about having met with Sparano and Nolan and being excited for his role this season. I can't remember the exact language, but it just came across as if he had been informed of a specific game plan for him that was more than simply #2 cornerback. If I were to pick two guys that I think will take big steps next year, Smith would be one and Reshad Jones would be the other.
Smith's missed tackles dropped from 8 to 3. In addition to Davis, Clemons and Bell had problems as well. Clemons missed 10, and Bell had 11, after leading the league with only 1 in 09. No one else on the D had trouble..
I don't think 2011 teams should be fearful or panic this duo. Not if they are proactive and prepare their WR anus in advance.
