Best NFL Cornerbacks of the 2018-2019 Season

The Top Ten
1 Jalen Ramsey Jalen Lattrel Ramsey is an American football cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Jaguars fifth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Jalen Ramsey was good right off the bat, finishing his rookie season on fire with nine pass breakups in his final five games. In Year 2, Ramsey had five interceptions and 10 pass breakups over the year, with eight games where he surrendered 25 or fewer receiving yards. Ramsey is still just two years into his NFL career and could get even better in Year 3, especially since he is surrounded by one of the game's best defenses.

Ramsey is possibly the only corner in the NFL that can do everything you ask of him.

2 Darius Slay Darius Demetrius Slay, nicknamed "Big Play Slay", is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.

Another player who is very good, but perhaps not quite great enough to be seen as the best cornerback in the game, Darius Slay led the league in interceptions last season with eight (tied with Kevin Byard) and had 13 pass breakups. However, he also surrendered three touchdowns and over 700 yards to receivers over the course of the season. He'll need to clean up the coverage much better and look more like the shutdown corner in 2018, even if the rest of the defense ends up fumbling on a misconnection.

Shut down cornerback who is underrated and overlooked because of the team he is on.

3 Marshon Lattimore

The impact Marshon Lattimore had on the New Orleans defense was dramatic, and he was the single biggest driver of that unit's transformation in 2017. He didn't surrender a touchdown all season long and allowed a passer rating of only 51.3 when targeted, including the playoffs.

Lattimore was so good that he drew 1-on-1 assignments against Julio Jones twice during the season, and while Jones did get the better of him at times, it was a back-and-forth battle in which the rookie did not look out of his depth. When covering receivers not named Julio Jones, the passer rating he allowed was just 42.9, only marginally higher than if the quarterback had just thrown the ball away every play instead.

4 Marcus Peters

Peters has been a boom-or-bust player thus far in his career, with an absurd 21 interceptions and 34 pass breakups over his first three seasons, but with 15 touchdowns to offset some of those big plays.

Peters is a corner always looking to make plays, showing up on the field in areas that he has no business being from the play call on the chalkboard. If he can iron out the bad plays in his game, he could easily be a contender for this crown, but until then, he is too high-variance to overhaul some of these other players.

5 Patrick Peterson Patrick Peterson is an American football cornerback and return specialist for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

Patrick Peterson may have the hardest assignment in football when it comes to the cornerback position. He draws the Revis role of shadowing No. 1 receivers and has tracked them into the slot, something few corners have ever been asked to do - even ones that track receivers across the field.

Peterson is good enough, and the difference between him and the rest of the Arizona secondary has usually been significant enough, that he has ranked among the four least-targeted corners in the game four out of the past five years.

Only Jackson allowed a reception less often than Peterson in 2017, and Jackson wasn't starting, let alone tracking No. 1 receivers the way Peterson was. At his best, Peterson definitely has the quality to be the best corner in the game, but he surrendered four touchdowns in 2017 and can be beaten more than his supporters like to admit.

6 Stephon Gilmore

He was the highest-graded cornerback against top receivers such as Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, both of whom had great seasons.

He had the best season of his entire NFL career and an amazing season overall.

Great lockdown cornerback with J.C. and Jason. The best cornerback this season.

7 A.J. Bouye
8 Casey Hayward

He won't be the first name on most people's lips, but Casey Hayward may have the best case of any cornerback to be known as the top in the game. Last season, his overall PFF grade wasn't just the highest in the league. It was the second-highest overall grade we've ever seen from a cornerback, trailing only that otherworldly Revis season of 2009.

9 Xavier Rhodes Xavier Rhodes is an American football cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.

The most obvious name that people will expect to see in this debate that won't feature for PFF beyond explaining why he isn't in the discussion is Minnesota's Xavier Rhodes. There is no doubt that Rhodes is a good corner, and he has begun to track No. 1 receivers now, but he is just beaten too often for a player who doesn't offset that with as many big plays in coverage as some others.

Rhodes surrendered 553 yards in coverage last season, three touchdowns, and had significant yardage hidden in the form of penalties, with his nine penalties ranking inside the top 10 among corners - eight more than somebody like Hayward. Yeah, Rhodes fell due to the fact he did give up a good chunk of yards last year, at times covering even No. 2 receivers like Marvin Jones.

10 Xavien Howard

Lowest completion percentage of any corner in football last year, led the league in picks despite missing four games, and has 11 picks in his last 17 games.

Very good coverage skills, gets interceptions, and is a talented player.

The Contenders
11 Tre'Davious White
12 Marlon Humphrey

Extremely underrated. Great corner with great size and instincts.

Very good first year, even better second year. His star is on the rise.

13 Kyle Fuller Kyle Brandon Fuller is an American football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.

How is he not top 5? Seven picks, locked up every number one receiver, and was on the best defense.

14 Bryon Jones
15 Jaire Alexander
16 Richard Sherman Richard Kevin Sherman is an American football cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League.

After Revis, there was Richard Sherman in his prime. While Sherman is just 30 years old right now, he is coming off an Achilles injury and is now plying his trade in a new city, albeit running a similar defensive scheme.

After Sherman's rookie season, he was either first or second for five straight years in coverage snaps per reception allowed before that Achilles injury ended his 2017 campaign. Simply put, there was no cornerback harder to complete a pass on than Sherman, and that, after all, is the primary function of the position. Sherman has also always been an aggressive and physical run defender and has shown the ball skills to punish quarterbacks that do decide to test him in coverage.

At his best, he definitely belongs in this conversation and may be the only player on this list that has actually sat on that throne. But heading into the 2018 season, the question is: what player are we going to see post-injury?

17 Denzel Ward

Has the highest potential at the position.

18 Tyreek Hill
19 Joe Haden Joseph Walter Haden III is an American football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.
20 Chris Harris Jr. Christopher Harris Jr. is an American football cornerback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League.

This list is not accurate. 2018's best cornerbacks were Gilmore, Fuller, and Harris. Chris Harris Jr. is a very underrated player and a leader of the defense. No one works harder. He has very sound techniques and is a strong tackler against the run. A true throwback and one of the best slot coverage players in the game. He was an undrafted free agent and plays with a chip on his shoulder.

21 Byron Jones
22 William Jackson III

In my opinion, one of the best cover corners out there.

23 Gareon Conley
24 Janoris Jenkins
25 Jimmy Smith
8Load More
PSearch List