Breaking Down the Top Performing Cornerbacks During the 2021 NFL Season

During the 2021-2022 NFL season, we saw a lot of cornerbacks play at an extremely high level. Guys like J.C. Jackson and Trevon Diggs put up gaudy stats and received some impressive accolades, while young players such as A.J. Terrell and Patrick Surtain had underrated seasons that deserved a lot more attention than they received.

I am personally very interested in how some of the top cornerbacks in the NFL played last season and I want to analyze how well the biggest names at the position performed. Here is a statistical deep dive into the performance of seven of the best cornerbacks in the NFL during the 2021-2022 season.

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Here are seven cornerbacks who had at least 75 targets and allowed a passer rating of 75 or less when targeted. 18 total cornerbacks accomplished this feat last season, but I didn’t want to break down nearly 20 players because this article would be way too long. I decided to break down these seven corners because they were very good and they’re some of the biggest names at the position.

This table includes a multitude of metrics that I’ll use when breaking down each player. If you’re a stat nerd like I am, you’re probably familiar with a lot of these stats. Don’t worry if you’re not, though, because I will break them down later on. Without further ado, let’s start analyzing these cornerbacks.

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J.C. Jackson, New England Patriots

J.C. Jackson was absolutely incredible last year, as put up elite production and efficiency despite having a high load of targets. He was one of 10 defenders to have 100+ targets in 2022 and of this group he was the only one to allow a passer rating less than 50 when targeted. That efficiency on that kind of target share is insane.

His productivity as a ball hawk was incredible as well. He led the NFL in passes defended with a mark of 23 and he ranked second in interceptions with a mark of 8. Of the eight cornerbacks included in this breakdown, Jackson ranked first in passes defended market share and third in interceptions market share.

This means he had the highest percentage of his team’s total passes defended and the third highest percentage of his team’s total interceptions. This is a great way to look at players’ production because each team has a different scheme and a team’s scheme impacts how often they will record interceptions and passes defended.

For example, the Cowboys had 26 interceptions in 2021 while the Broncos had just 13. This means that any Broncos player was bound to have less interceptions than a Cowboys player simply because they had less opportunities to record them. Recording four interceptions on the Broncos would’ve been more impressive than recording four interceptions on the Cowboys and these stats adjust for that.

The fact that Jackson ranked so high in these metrics shows that his production wasn’t just the result of his team’s scheme.

Here’s some more crazy stats. Jackson allowed a completion percentage less than 50% and he allowed a touchdown on just 2.83% of his targets. To put all this into perspective, he had an average depth of target of 11.2, meaning he had to cover deeper throws therefore his job was more difficult than the average corner.

J.C. Jackson wasn’t elite in terms of yards allowed per target and yards allowed per completion, but that’s nothing to worry about because he had a plethora of targets. When you’re targeted as much as he was, you’re bound to give up more yards than other corners who aren’t targeted as much.

Trevon Diggs, Dallas Cowboys

Hey, it’s Trevon Diggs! I’m sure everyone appreciated his production this season and no one had any problems with his statistical profile.

If only that were true…

Trevon Diggs was the butt of many jokes last season because he gave up a ton of yards. While it’s true that he had a tendency to get beat, I’m here to defend him because he still had a phenomenal season.

Diggs led the league in interceptions with a mark of 11 and he ranked second in passes defended with a mark of 21. Of the eight corners included in this breakdown, he ranked first in interception market share and second in passes defended market share. His production as a ball hawk was insane.

The issue with him is he gives up a ton of yards. In 2021, he allowed 16.8 yards per completion, 8.8 yards per target, and he allowed a touchdown on 3.88% of his targets. That’s pretty horrific for this group of stars. Although he was inefficient in terms of his ability to limit big plays, he still allowed a passer rating of just 55.8, which ranked second among corners with at least 100 targets.

His ability to force turnovers was so good last season that he still provided a lot of value despite giving up yards and touchdowns at a high rate. If he can’t rack up interceptions at this rate moving forward, his value will decrease, but he played extremely well in 2021.

AJ Terrell, Atlanta Falcons

AJ Terrell had a breakout sophomore season last year in which he recorded 16 passes defended and allowed a passer rating of just 61. He ranked sixth in passes defended and third in passer rating among cornerbacks with at least 75 targets.

He wasn’t a super productive ball hawk, sporting an interception market share of just 25%, but he was elite in terms of his ability to limit yards. He allowed just 9.7 yards per completion and 4.8 yards per target. That is incredible, especially considering he had 86 targets all year.

I will say, the difficulty of his role doesn’t match up to other stars at the position. His total targets were a bit low in 2021 and he had an average depth of target of just 9.6. These numbers aren’t bad, but they’re a little low for the group of cornerbacks included in this breakdown.

Terrell wasn’t as productive as Diggs and Jackson, but he was still amazing and he did a great job forcing incompletions and limiting big plays.

Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos

Patrick Surtain II had a fantastic rookie season, recording 4 interceptions and 14 passes defended as a member of one of the best defenses in the entire league. Although his interception total was a little low, he had an interception market share of 30.77%, which was the fourth-best mark in this entire group.

Despite being a rookie, he had a fairly difficult load on his plate, as he had 96 total targets and an average depth of target of 11.4. His ADOT was the best of the seven corners included in this breakdown. That is a crazy big role for a rookie cornerback.

Surtain was extremely efficient in 2021, allowing a completion percentage of just 51%, just 5.7 yards per target, and a passer rating of just 61.3. His touchdown rate allowed was impressive as well.

The only real issue with his profile is his passes defended market share, which is a bit low for this cornerback group. He also wasn’t quite elite, though that’s just nitpicking. He’ll need to improve his passes defended market share to remain a star-level player in the case that his interceptions fluctuate throughout his career, but he is off to a great start so far.

Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams

Jalen Ramsey was good in 2021, but not quite elite. He received a ton of targets, 98 to be exact, and he was pretty productive in terms of his passes defended market share, but his efficiency was just good, not elite.

He allowed a completion percentage of 59.2% and a passer rating of 71.1. Both numbers rank in the bottom three of this cornerback group. To make matters worse, his average depth of target was just 8.4. This makes his touchdown rate allowed of 3.06% look a lot less impressive.

He was one of the better cornerbacks in the league in 2021, but his numbers fell short of being among the elite at the position.

Xavien Howard, Miami Dolphins

Xavien Howard was top ten in both interceptions and passes defended in 2021, but his statistical profile was far from elite. Sure, he allowed a completion percentage of just 52.7% and a passer rating of 72.6, which is pretty solid considering he had 93 targets, but the rest of his profile is not good, relative to the rest of this cornerback group.

His interception market share was very good, but his passes defended market share was not. He also allowed a touchdown rate of 6.45%, which is unbelievably high. The rest of his profile is just average to below average at best.

Howard was great at racking up interceptions and forcing incompletions in 2021, which made him fairly efficient for his load of targets, but he wasn’t good enough in other areas to be an elite cornerback.

Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles

Darius Slay had a solid season in 2021, recording 3 interceptions, 9 passes defended, and allowing a passer rating of 74.4. His efficiency per target was fairly good as well, as he allowed just 6.3 yards per target.

However, he wasn’t super productive as a ball hawk. His passes defended market share and interception market share were at the bottom of this group and this lack of production makes his good but not great efficiency less valuable.

I know he had a worse passer rating allowed than Xavien Howard, but I think he was more efficient. He allowed less yards per target and his touchdown rate allowed was a lot lower. The only problem is his completion percentage allowed was 6.1% higher. Passer rating gives a ton of weight to completion percentage so that’s why Slay’s is higher than Howard’s.

What makes his efficiency really impressive is the fact that he had an average depth of target of 10.3. The fact that he was decently efficient when his role was that difficult is great to see.