Jene Bramel
Footballguy
As requested, here is a relatively deep look at the percentage of team solo tackles made by cornerbacks in 2007. You can find the spreadsheet listing the percentages of ~75 players attached below.
Percentage of Team Solo Tackles Made by Cornerback 20071 Antoine Winfield 10.51%2 Fred Bennett 10.12% (7 games as starter)3 Cortland Finnegan 9.52%4 Ike Taylor 9.35%5 Cedric Griffin 9.29%6 Marcus Trufant 9.06%7 Eric Wright 9.05%8 Champ Bailey 9.03%9 Richard Marshall 8.83%10 Nick Harper 8.81%And, for frame of reference, the top 15 finishers (min 10 games) over the past five seasons.
Some assorted thoughts and musings:1. If you thought Zach Thomas’ finishes on this list were amazing, check out the venerable Antoine Winfield. Mr. Winfield, at a stout 5’9”, 180, has finished in the top 15 in each of the past five seasons and holds four of the top five spots on the list. His five year run spans two teams and at least three different defensive schemes. Ronde Barber, who holds three of the top fifteen spots has been widely considered the best run-supporting corner in the league. But, while Winfield’s numbers probably get a small boost from his relatively poor coverage skill, this metric probably shows that Winfield remains at least as effective against the run as Barber was in his prime.
2. I’ve argued for years that the Cover-2 scheme by playbook and stat trends provides significant opportunity for an all-around corner. This metric strongly supports the argument. At least seven of the top fifteen corners on the five year list played the majority of their snaps in a scheme that utilized a lot of Cover-2. I’d argue that Darrent Williams could rightly be put in that category, maybe DeWayne Washington as well.
3. Not too many surprises in the 2007 top ten. With the exception of Eric Wright and Fred Bennett, who we’ll discuss in the next bullet, every name on the list is a willing tackler and plays the run about as well as the pass. I continually bang on Nick Harper as an inconsistent cover guy, but I admit that I’ve underrated him as an all-around player. The results of this study haven’t changed my mind that you need to be targeting not only corners with opportunity, but those that will take advantage of it.
4. Eric Wright and Fred Bennett. I adjusted Bennett’s numbers, as I did with Jon Beason and David Harris, to include only those games where he was a starter. Admittedly, that introduces all kinds of sampling error, but I still think it’s worth considering the result. While the rookie corner rule didn’t place as many players in the top ten of the yearly lists as its proponents would have you believe, I still think it’s a valid strategy. The more important question for me is what happens to these players following their rookie seasons. There’s no clear consensus in the data, unfortunately. I think both Wright and Bennett have good IDP futures. Given the high tackle opportunity that Wright was provided in 2007 and my concerns that he’s not likely to have much impact in run support, I think Bennett is probably the safer bet.
5. Regular readers of our content and listeners to our podcast already know how we feel about Richard Marshall as a talent. This will be your last and final warning. Marshall has finished in the top ten on this list in each of his first two seasons – essentially as a nickel corner. If you don’t get him rostered soon, he may become as untouchable in CB leagues as LaDainian Tomlinson by mid-2008.
PCT_TEAM_TACKLE_BY_CB.xls
Percentage of Team Solo Tackles Made by Cornerback 20071 Antoine Winfield 10.51%2 Fred Bennett 10.12% (7 games as starter)3 Cortland Finnegan 9.52%4 Ike Taylor 9.35%5 Cedric Griffin 9.29%6 Marcus Trufant 9.06%7 Eric Wright 9.05%8 Champ Bailey 9.03%9 Richard Marshall 8.83%10 Nick Harper 8.81%And, for frame of reference, the top 15 finishers (min 10 games) over the past five seasons.
Code:
Percentage of Team Solo Tackles Made by Cornerback 2003-20071 Antoine Winfield 2003 11.14%2 Antoine Winfield 2006 10.77%3 Nick Harper 2003 10.67%4 Antoine Winfield 2007 10.51%5 Antoine Winfield 2005 10.39%6 Charles Tillman 2005 10.29%7 Dewayne Washington 2004 10.22%8 Ronde Barber 2005 10.13%9 Ronde Barber 2003 9.64%10 Eric Warfield 2005 9.59%11 Ronde Barber 2006 9.57%12 Cortland Finnegan 2007 9.52%13 Nate Clements 2005 9.50%14 Antoine Winfield 2004 9.43%15 Darrent Williams 2006 9.36%2. I’ve argued for years that the Cover-2 scheme by playbook and stat trends provides significant opportunity for an all-around corner. This metric strongly supports the argument. At least seven of the top fifteen corners on the five year list played the majority of their snaps in a scheme that utilized a lot of Cover-2. I’d argue that Darrent Williams could rightly be put in that category, maybe DeWayne Washington as well.
3. Not too many surprises in the 2007 top ten. With the exception of Eric Wright and Fred Bennett, who we’ll discuss in the next bullet, every name on the list is a willing tackler and plays the run about as well as the pass. I continually bang on Nick Harper as an inconsistent cover guy, but I admit that I’ve underrated him as an all-around player. The results of this study haven’t changed my mind that you need to be targeting not only corners with opportunity, but those that will take advantage of it.
4. Eric Wright and Fred Bennett. I adjusted Bennett’s numbers, as I did with Jon Beason and David Harris, to include only those games where he was a starter. Admittedly, that introduces all kinds of sampling error, but I still think it’s worth considering the result. While the rookie corner rule didn’t place as many players in the top ten of the yearly lists as its proponents would have you believe, I still think it’s a valid strategy. The more important question for me is what happens to these players following their rookie seasons. There’s no clear consensus in the data, unfortunately. I think both Wright and Bennett have good IDP futures. Given the high tackle opportunity that Wright was provided in 2007 and my concerns that he’s not likely to have much impact in run support, I think Bennett is probably the safer bet.
5. Regular readers of our content and listeners to our podcast already know how we feel about Richard Marshall as a talent. This will be your last and final warning. Marshall has finished in the top ten on this list in each of his first two seasons – essentially as a nickel corner. If you don’t get him rostered soon, he may become as untouchable in CB leagues as LaDainian Tomlinson by mid-2008.
PCT_TEAM_TACKLE_BY_CB.xls
