http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/pos...fl-cornerbacks
ESPN.com’s NFL writers rank the top 10 cornerbacks in the league today. Next week: Top 10 quarterbacks.
Positional power rankings have produced some wild variations in voting. But none has had so many players mentioned as cornerbacks.
Previously, multiple votes had yielded 17 names. Our polling for the top 10 cornerbacks in the NFL touched on 23, a record that might be hard to break.
Ranking the Cornerbacks
1. Darrelle Revis, New York Jets
2. Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland Raiders
3. Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers
4. Asante Samuel, Philadelphia Eagles
5. Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos
6. Antoine Winfield, Minnesota Vikings
7. Tramon Williams, Green Bay Packers
8. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots
9. DeAngelo Hall, Washington Redskins
10. Cortland Finnegan, Tennessee Titans
In another close finish, the Jets' Darrelle Revis edged the Raiders' Nnamdi Asomugha. The two collected all the first- and second-place votes, but Revis outscored Asomugha 77-75 thanks to five first-place votes.
Overall, veterans ruled the day, with the top five outpointing the rest of the field by a good deal. Revis and Asomugha were followed by three players with a collective 33 seasons of NFL cornerbacking experience: Green Bay’s Charles Woodson, Philadelphia’s Asante Samuel and Denver’s Champ Bailey.
Woodson finished with 58 points, Samuel with 54 and Bailey with 53.
Of the votes for that trio, only two fell outside of the top five. NFC North maestro Kevin Seifert had Woodson sixth, just behind his teammate Tramon Williams. And AFC East maven Tim Graham placed Bailey seventh, with New England’s Devin McCourty (fifth) and Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield above him.
I had presumed Bailey started to slip in his 12th season in 2010. Then he shut down a red-hot Dwayne Bowe and got my attention in a way I remembered when I put him third on my ballot.
Ranking the Cornerbacks: How They Voted
Rk Cornerbacks
Tot
JC TG PK MS KS JW BW PY
1 Darrelle Revis 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 77
2 Nnamdi Asomugha 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 75
3 Charles Woodson 4 3 4 4 6 3 3 3 58
4 Asante Samuel 3 4 5 5 3 4 5 5 54
5 Champ Bailey 5 7 3 3 4 5 4 4 53
6 Antoine Winfield -- 6 6 6 7 6 6 -- 29
7 Tramon Williams 7 -- -- 7 5 -- 7 -- 18
8 Devin McCourty 10 5 9 8 10 9 9 -- 17
9 DeAngelo Hall -- 8 -- -- 8 7 -- -- 10
10 Cortland Finnegan -- -- -- -- -- 8 -- 6 8
Others Receiving Votes
11 Stanford Routt 6 -- -- 10 -- -- -- -- 6
12 Johnathan Joseph -- -- 7 -- -- 10 -- -- 5
12 Antonio Cromartie 8 -- -- -- 9 -- -- -- 5
12 Brent Grimes -- 9 8 -- -- -- -- -- 5
15 Jabari Greer -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 7 4
16 Brandon Flowers
10 -- 9 -- -- -- -- 3
16 D. Rodgers-Cromartie -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3
16 Charles Tillman -- -- -- -- -- -- 8 -- 3
19 Leon Hall 9 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2
19 Dunta Robinson -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 9 2
21 Ron Bartell -- -- 10 -- -- -- -- -- 1
21 Corey Webster -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 10 1
21 Quentin Jammer -- -- -- -- -- -- 10 -- 1
Key: JC=John Clayton; MS=Mike Sando; KS=Kevin Seifert; PY=Pat Yasinskas; TG=Tim Graham;
BW=Bill Williamson; JW=James Walker; PK=Paul Kuharsky
Rank: 1=10 points, 2=9 points, 3=8 points, 4=7 points, 5=6 points, etc.
Graham’s thinking was quite different.
“We're in the offseason, so I've taken into account not only last season's performances, but also how the player projects into 2011 when compiling my positional Power Rankings ballots,” he said. “Bailey is going to be 33 years old before the start of next season and is on the downside. He's still great, but for how long?
“Power Rankings shouldn't be career-achievement awards. Devin McCourty was second-team Associated Press All-Pro, a first-team Sporting News All-Pro, voted a Pro Bowl starter by the fans, coaches and players and tied for second in interceptions. He deserved to be ranked ahead of Bailey, who wasn't mentioned for All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement.”
Related Coverage
• NFL Nation: Bloggers' reaction
• Power Rankings: Wide Receivers
• Power Rankings: Running Backs
• Power Rankings: Pass-Rushers
• Power Rankings: Tight Ends
• Power Rankings: Head Coaches
• Power Rankings: Linebackers
Though Graham had him fifth, McCourty got bottom-of-the-list votes from most of us, who seemed to respect his inaugural campaign but did not want to overscore a player who has been through the league only once. NFC South cruise director Pat Yasinskas left McCourty off his ballot entirely.
“One great season does not make a great career,” Yasinskas said. “Let's see him do it again. I'm not saying he's got to do it for 10 or 15 years. I've got a guy in my own back yard, Ronde Barber, and a lot of people say he's already put up Hall of Fame numbers. I didn't even put him on the list because I think he's not much more than a very nice player in the system. But you have to be consistently at the top for at least a few years before you get on a top 10 list.”
Winfield finished sixth (29 points), Williams seventh (18), McCourty eighth (17), Washington’s DeAngelo Hall ninth (10) and Tennessee’s Cortland Finnegan 10th (eight).
Williams was the lone player to make the top 10 while not being looked at as his team’s No. 1 guy. As much as I liked him, that prevented him from getting one of my votes. Same for Oakland’s Stanford Routt.
Rank 'Em: Top NFL cornerbacks
How do the best cornerbacks in the NFL stack up? ESPN.com's stable of NFL bloggers weighed in with its rankings and we've tabulated the results.
• Rank the candidates
Although Williams and Routt played very well in 2010, their jobs can be made a lot easier by playing with Woodson and Asomugha rather than being asked to be their team’s version of those players. The toughest receiver on the opposition isn’t usually a factor for Williams or Routt.
John Clayton had Routt sixth and NFC West chart-master Mike Sando had him 10th, which left Routt in 11th place. Clayton set me straight on why Routt was, in fact, deserving.
“Nnamdi has years of not being thrown on,” Clayton said. “He’s had years in which only 14 or 15 passes were caught against him in a season.
“Routt had a phenomenal year in 2010, which led to his big contract,” Clayton said. “The percentage of passes against him that were completed was among the lowest in the league. His job is tougher because he has more passes thrown on him because of Nnamdi.”
I will gladly drop out of med-school to become an analyst at ESPN since they always agree with me. :)
Click to expand...