{"id":256367,"date":"2022-12-17T11:00:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T16:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/?p=256367"},"modified":"2022-12-17T11:09:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-17T16:09:42","slug":"top-32-nfl-cornerbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/top-32-nfl-cornerbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Cornerbacks in the NFL 2022: Rookie Sauce Gardner Battles Veteran Stephon Gilmore for Top Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dominance of the modern passing game in the NFL<\/a> forces teams to invest in cornerbacks and for fans to more closely pay attention to the back seven, making the question of who the best cornerbacks are in the NFL even more relevant than it has been in the past.<\/p>\n

Cornerbacks drive modern NFL defenses, and without an elite one, it\u2019s impossible to lay claim to a high-level defense. Let\u2019s look at who the top cornerback in the NFL is and where the top NFL cornerbacks fall on the list after that.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s the Best Cornerback in the NFL?<\/h2>\n

The New York Jet\u2019s Sauce Gardner is the best cornerback in the NFL today.<\/strong> It\u2019s difficult to think of many times a rookie cornerback entered the league and immediately became the best player at their position, but Gardner has managed it. Some of this has to do with the dearth of shutdown cornerbacks across the league, but Gardner is playing at an elite level.<\/p>\n

His physical talent stands out immediately; it\u2019s not just that players that large should not be able to move with that speed or agility it\u2019s also that he does it with such fluidity and ease that it looks effortless. He\u2019s been sticky in coverage and has been able to take on receivers of every stripe, playing quick players tightly and breaking up passes for contested catch mavens.<\/p>\n

Gardner has shown he can win in man coverage, zone coverage, and mixed coverages. He has deep downfield speed, patience at the line of scrimmage, and plays physically without incurring flags. It\u2019s a remarkable skill set.<\/p>\n

Rest of Top 10 Cornerbacks Ranked<\/h2>\n

2) Stephon Gilmore, Indianapolis Colts<\/h3>\n

The one advantage that Stephon Gilmore has over Gardner is that he shadows players like an old-school shutdown corner. And in that spirit, he\u2019s shutting down his opponents. Gardner may be doing more with his incredible physical skills, but that doesn\u2019t take away from Gilmore\u2019s strength, speed, and savvy. He\u2019s not playing at the level of his DPOY season, but it\u2019s close.<\/p>\n

3) Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams<\/h3>\n

Lost in how the Rams’ season has fallen apart is how well their stars are actually playing. Like Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey continues to play at an elite level. He\u2019s a fantastic run defender for his position and has been sticky in coverage. While not as consistent as Gilmore or Gardner, he\u2019s still one of the toughest cornerbacks in the NFL to get open against.<\/p>\n

4) Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos<\/h3>\n

Patrick Surtain II has been quite literally living up to his name as an elite cornerback and has helped the Denver Broncos<\/a> maintain their position as a top-tier defense even after trading away their star edge rusher. Teams are afraid to throw at Surtain, and he has one of the lowest target totals among cornerbacks in the NFL right now. When he is targeted, it often goes badly for quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

5) Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles<\/h3>\n

Only allowing one touchdown all year, Slay has been a nightmare for opposing passers, with one of the highest rates of pass breakups in the NFL when targeted. Slay\u2019s length and speed have truly stood out this season in the Eagles\u2019 scheme, and passing windows are tighter than ever.<\/p>\n

6) Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers<\/h3>\n

A little more inconsistent than the other cornerbacks on this list, Jaire Alexander\u2019s best is still among the elites. His ability to come up in big moments propels him further up the board than other, more consistent, players. His athletic skill set allows him to play all three cornerback spots and his instincts give him great opportunities to close down on his opponents. The Packers’ defense isn\u2019t playing up to its potential, but Alexander is not the reason why.<\/p>\n

7) Trevon Diggs, Dallas Cowboys<\/h3>\n

Trevon Diggs is playing better at cornerback than he was last year when he earned All-Pro consideration and led the league in interceptions. The reason is that, even though his turnover totals are down, he\u2019s playing more consistently and giving up fewer yards in coverage. Week to week, Diggs is doing an excellent job creating tough passing windows and contributing to one of the top defenses in the league by being a demon in coverage.<\/p>\n

8) James Bradberry, Philadelphia Eagles<\/h3>\n

Playing opposite slay is James Bradberry, who might be one of the best offseason pickups this year. Bradberry looks like his Carolina self instead of how he looked in New York, and the result has been shutdown play. Like Slay, Bradberry has length and speed and knows how to use it, though his quickness and instincts are just a tick below Slay\u2019s.<\/p>\n

9) Charvarius Ward, San Francisco 49ers<\/h3>\n

The 49ers have had elite play at all three levels of the defense, so it\u2019s difficult to fully appreciate the great players that play alongside Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Talanoa Hufanga. But Ward is one of the critical pieces to the dominant 49ers defense that shut down the explosive Miami Dolphins, embarrassed Tom Brady, ended Seattles\u2019 hopes for a divisional crown, and held Justin Herbert\u2019s Chargers to just 16 points.<\/p>\n

10) Jamel Dean, Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/h3>\n

The focus of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been Tom Brady and his level of play, but the defense is incredibly underrated and has been driving their wins when they come. A big part of that comes from their secondary play. And without Carlton Davis or Antoine Winfield at various points throughout the season, it\u2019s been up to Jamel Dean to step up. He has answered the call. Dean is playing high-level football and has been for a little while.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Rankings | 11-32<\/h2>\n

11) Chidobe Awuzie<\/strong>, Cincinnati Bengals
\n12) A.J. Terrell<\/strong>, Atlanta Falcons
\n13) Jonathan Jones<\/strong>, New England Patriots
\n14) Marlon Humphrey<\/strong>, Baltimore Ravens
\n15) D.J. Reed<\/strong>, New York Jets
\n16) Tyson Campbell<\/strong>, Jacksonville Jaguars
\n17) Jaycee Horn<\/strong>, Carolina Panthers
\n18) Tariq Woolen<\/strong>, Seattle Seahawks
\n19) Trent McDuffie<\/strong>, Kansas City Chiefs
\n20) Jason Verrett<\/strong>, San Francisco 49ers
\n21) Desmond King II<\/strong>, Houston Texans
\n22) Kader Kohou<\/strong>, Miami Dolphins
\n23) Tre\u2019Davious White<\/strong>, Buffalo Bills
\n24) Cameron Sutton<\/strong>, Pittsburgh Steelers
\n25) L\u2019Jarius Sneed<\/strong>, Kansas City Chiefs
\n26) Xavien Howard<\/strong>, Miami Dolphins
\n27) Patrick Peterson<\/strong>, Minnesota Vikings
\n28) Adoree Jackson<\/strong>, Tennessee Titans
\n29) Mike Hilton<\/strong>, Cincinnati Bengals
\n30) Kendall Fuller<\/strong>, Washington Commanders
\n31) Casey Hayward Jr.<\/strong>, Atlanta Falcons
\n32) Rasul Douglas<\/strong>, Green Bay Packers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The importance of defending the pass forces fans to ask who the best cornerbacks in the NFL are in 2022. We look at the top 32 players at this position thus far this season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1169,"featured_media":311746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[59788],"tags":[63339,63343,63344,63347,62676,58093,63349,63350,63351,63352,14980,63353,63354,63355,63338,63356,63357,6371,13938,50628,39863,62694,62763,63358,63359,63360,63361,63362,63363,63364,63365,55561,63366,63367,63345,63368,64783,63369,15485,63370,63371,15132,63372],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256367"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312034,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256367\/revisions\/312034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profootballnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}