NFC South Rankings: Cornerback

In an ongoing summer series, Pewter Report looks at and ranks each position group in the NFC South. So far, we’ve chronicled and ranked the NFC South quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive lines, defensive lines and linebackers. Now, it’s on to the NFC South’s cornerbacks.

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Offensive Line

Defensive Line

Linebackers

The NFC South boasts a young and talented group of cornerbacks that leads to an interesting conversation about where each team ranks. According to PFF the NFC South has five of the top-32 cornerbacks in the NFL heading into the 2023 season.

Tampa Bay Bucs

The Bucs lead off the NFC South cornerback rankings as the only team in the aforementioned PFF article to feature more than one player on the list. The interesting thing about the Bucs’ starting outside duo is that their No. 1 corner may not be their best corner.

Carlton Davis III has established himself as the top player in the Bucs cornerback room since his second year with the team back in 2018. Davis is a talented press-man corner who can lock down some of the premier wide receivers in the NFL. Davis’ PFF grades do not always bear this out due to the way Bucs head coach Todd Bowles typically deploys him.

Opposite Davis is Jamel Dean. Dean has ascended to one of the top 10 corners in the NFL and potentially top five in man coverage. Dean led off 2022 by wrestling away a starting job from Sean Murphy-Bunting and followed that up by improving his zone coverage and his run defense. Dean was only targeted 68 times last year, allowing 34 catches for 412 yards. As a matter of fact, Dean’s run defense grade was top-five among corners and his tackling grade was top-two in 2022.

Where the Bucs may find some trouble is beyond their top two. Currently. Dee Delaney is penciled in at the nickel corner position. Delaney faces stiff competition from rookie sixth-round pick Josh Hayes. Delaney has shown himself to be a solid, if unspectacular, option who can provide serviceable production over 400-plus snaps in the last two years. Hayes was a surprise selection by the Bucs, but the team is very high on him after he had some strong games for Kansas State in 2022.

If Dean or Davis were to go down the Bucs will rely on Zyon McCollum. McCollum struggled in his rookie year, but still features incredible physical traits. If McCollum can get the cerebral part down, the ceiling is near-limitless for him.

The Bucs have the top duo in the NFC South, and it carries them to the top spot in the rankings.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers are led by former top-10 pick Jaycee Horn. Horn has been hampered by injuries thus far in his career, logging fewer than 1,000 snaps and 16 games in his first two seasons. But when he has been healthy, few corners can match his level of play. Horn is adept at playing in man, press and zone coverages. If he can put together a full season, he has a good chance of becoming one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL.

Donte Jackson is a consistent and capable starter who the Panthers can rely on. Jackson has failed to allow a reception of 40 yards or more while picking off seven passes in the past three years. Jackson’s 4.32 speed help him keep up with any receiver that lines up opposite of him.

Former first-round pick C.J. Henderson is the primary backup to Jackson and Horn. Henderson has never lived up to his draft status and failed to overtake Jackson for the starting role alongside Horn. He still provides enviable depth if Horn’s injury problems continue.

Safety Jeremy Chinn is currently listed as the team’s primary nickel corner according to ourlads.com. Chinn played 40% of his snaps in the slot last year. At 6’3 and 220 pounds, Chinn is a physically intimidating presence, and while he struggled to a certain degree in coverage last year, he has shown he can play at a high level in coverage prior to that.

If Chinn can regain his 2021 play in coverage and Horn can remain healthy all year. this group could challenge the Bucs for the top corner unit in the NFC South.

New Orleans Saints

Some may be surprised by the Saints’ low ranking on this list. However, that is less an indictment on the Saints corners and more a compliment to the overall talent level of the NFC South. New Orleans has the best corner in the division in Marshon Lattimore (although that baton may be passed to Dean or Horn this year).

Lattimore has long been considered a top-three corner in the NFL, but has never quite lived up to his rookie season. Still, Lattimore can lock down some of the best receivers in the game, including the Bucs’ Mike Evans. As much as Bucs fans like to say Evans outplays Lattimore, the fact is over their past five matchups, Lattimore has held Evans to five catches on ten targets for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Paulson Adebo struggled last year in his sophomore campaign. At 6’1 and 192 pounds, he has the size to be successful, but he was targeted 69 times while allowing 652 yards and five touchdowns last year. Former Bronco and Texan Bradley Roby is working on his third season with the Saints and is slotted to be the team’s nickel corner. Roby’s level of play has fallen off each of his past two seasons, and at 31 years old, it is reasonable to worry whether he can regain the strong level of play he showed from 2015-2020.

There is a chance that 2022 second-round pick Alontae Taylor usurps Adebo for the starting job opposite Lattimore. Taylor came out of the gate strong last year with a 91.1 PFF grade in his debut performance during Week 2 against the Bucs. But he succumbed to inevitable rookie struggles, finishing the year with a 54.5 grade. Taylor will need to improve his tackling, as he had a 23.6% missed tackle rate last year. But he showed a lot of promise, allowing a catch rate of just 45.3%, 283 yards and no touchdowns.

Isaac Yiadom rounds out the group with a veteran presence who can be counted on to know his assignment. Yiadom is a long way from his days starting for the Giants in 2020 and enjoying a solid season as a decent No. 2, having logged only two snaps last year on defense for the Houston Texans.

Any team that has the possibility of enjoying a Lattimore high-end season is going to have a chance at having one of the best cornerback rooms in the NFL, let alone the NFC South. And head coach Dennis Allen, much like Bowles, has a way of making the sum of the parts greater than the parts themselves. But there are legitimate question marks past Lattimore. Personally, I believe Taylor is poised for a big step forward in 2023 that could help get this unit back to battling the Bucs for the top spot in the NFC South for years to come.

Atlanta Falcons

A.J. Terrell was one of the best corners in the league in 2021, allowing only 29 catches for 200 yards and earning an 82.6 PFF grade. He took a step back in 2022, but finished strong over the last four weeks. Terrell is big and fast and can match up with anyone.

The Falcons made a sizeable splash prior to the draft by trading for former top-five pick Jeff Okudah. It represented a low-risk, high-reward play. Okudah started last year off finally showing the promise that earned him his draft status, but failed to sustain that performance over the entire year. The book isn’t closed on him and as a No. 2, he could be very serviceable. Giving up a fifth-round pick for someone they can plug into the starting lineup with upside is a fantastic move that bolsters the entire secondary.

Former UCF Knight Mike Hughes was signed to provide depth. Hughes has always had immense talent, as evidenced by his 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to save UCF’s undefeated season in 2017. Things never worked out for Hughes with the Vikings, who drafted him in the first round of the 2018 draft, and they traded him to the Chiefs prior to the 2021 season. That led to the best season of his career. He parlayed that into a one-year deal with the Lions, where he continued his strong run defense, though his coverage production fell off a bit. In Atlanta, he will try to recapture that 2021 magic.

Clark Phillips III could debut in Week 1 as the team’s starting slot corner. Phillips had some of the most exciting tape of any corner in a very strong 2023 NFL draft class. His lack of physical measurables and his 5’9 stature caused him to fall to the fourth round, but he may end up being one of the steals of the draft. Phillips’ best tape at Utah came as an outside corner, but there is no reason to believe he can’t transition to the slot well.

Tre Flowers has over 3,000 career snaps of slightly below-average play. You can do a lot worse for a fifth corner.

The NFC South Cornerback Room Is Talented

There are 24 different combinations of how the NFC South cornerback rankings could wind up at the end of the year. There is a path for all four teams to take the top spot. There is a path for all four teams to end up in last. Ultimately, all four teams have a great blend of talent and question marks to make the upcoming season a fascinating one to watch.

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