Underrated Cornerbacks

[Jason]

This is the next installment in a series of articles about overrated and underrated players. The analysis is based primarily on the 2006 metrics, which can be found in "Scientific Football 2007." This week's topic is overrated and underrated cornerbacks.

[b]Underrated Cornerbacks[/b]

[b]Charles Woodson[/b]
Normally, I would not include Woodson in the underrated category because he is considered a very good cornerback. However, his 2006 metrics indicate he should have been a lock for the Pro Bowl.

Woodson had the sixth-lowest overall YPA in the league last year. He also had the second-best YPA among cornerbacks with more than 60 passes thrown their way. Only Champ Bailey beat him out in that category.

Woodson tied for the most stripped/dropped passes, and had the eighth-most forced incompletions. His six interceptions tied for sixth in the league and his 14 combined interceptions/near interceptions were the second most in the league. That Woodson was snubbed in favor of DeAngelo Hall and Ronde Barber for the Pro Bowl is a shame.

[b]Nathan Vasher [/b]
The Bears recently signed Vasher to a contract extension, and the metrics indicate he certainly deserved it. His 6.0 YPA last year was the 12th best in the league. Vasher had good YPA numbers across the board, but his bomb pass YPA numbers were tremendous. He allowed zero completions in six bomb attempts and was even able to draw a 10-yard offensive pass interference call on one of the plays, thus making his YPA on bomb passes a superb -1.7 yards.

The main reason Vasher wasn't seen as a Pro Bowl-level cornerback is that his interception total dropped from eight in 2005 to three in 2006. Vasher did notch seven near interceptions last year, a total that ranked him second in the league in that category. If he can catch some of those near interceptions in 2007, a trip to Hawaii should be in his future.

[b]Honorable mention[/b]
[color="#FF0000"][b]Johnathan Joseph[/b]: His 7.3 overall YPA was already very good, and if his poor performance against the Saints was removed, his YPA would drop to a mere 5.9 yards. He also helped the Bengals by leading the league in near interceptions (12).[/color]

[b]Leigh Bodden[/b]: Only appeared in nine games for Cleveland last season, but had the third-best success percentage in the league, and led the NFL in forced incompletion percentage.

[b]Al Harris[/b]: Was not quite as good as Woodson, but still ranked 18th in YPA and seventh in success percentage.

[b]Charles Tillman[/b]: A 6.7 YPA, 52.1 success percentage and seven near interceptions indicate the Bears should do what they can to keep him around as well.

[b]Glossary[/b]
[b]YPA (Yards Per Attempt)[/b]: A quick barometer of a quarterback/wide receiver/tight end's efficiency.
Depth level: A measurement of how far downfield a receiver was on a pass attempt. It is measured from the point at which the receiver touched the ball. Short passes are 1-10, medium 11-19, deep 20-29, and bombs 30 or more yards downfield.

[b]Success percentage[/b]: The percentage of plays on which a player does something successful with the ball. Successful plays include completions (for offensive players), incompletions (for defensive players) and penalty plays that go in the player's favor.

[b]Missed passes[/b]: Inaccurate or dropped passes that cause an incompletion. Missed passes are used to measure how successful a QB/WR/TE could have been if not for the mistakes. They also help measure how lucky a cornerback was in coverage.

[b]Near interception[/b]: Near interceptions are either dropped interceptions or interceptions that landed close enough to a defender that he could have had a chance to catch the ball had luck been on his side.

[b]Stripped/dropped pass[/b]: A pass that a receiver starts to catch but then has the ball stripped away by the cornerback.

[b]Forced incompletions[/b]: Any incomplete pass that a defensive back is physically responsible for causing. It is a combination of passes defensed, stripped/dropped passes and plays where a hit by a defensive back causes an incompletion.

I wouls post a link, but it's an Insider article. No Bengals made the Overrated list.

[Guest Tigris]

If Joseph would have picked off half the balls he should have caught, he'd been a ROY candidate.

[Quaker]

[quote name='Tigris' post='505128' date='Jun 27 2007, 06:32 PM']If Joseph would have picked off half the balls he should have caught, he'd been a ROY candidate.[/quote]
...I'll still take the 15+ (16 or 19?) PBUs.

[Guest Tigris]

[quote name='Quaker' post='505134' date='Jun 27 2007, 07:37 PM']...I'll still take the 15+ (16 or 19?) PBUs.[/quote]
Definitely.

I don't care if he gets any INTs... as long as the guy he has doesn't catch the ball I'm good.

BUT I'd love to see about 5-7 picks this year... hopefully that would be enough to put our offense in good field position and win us a couple extra games... or at least put us in the position to win them.

Prediction:

80 tackles, 4 INTs, 13 pass break ups

[bengalsfan850]

[quote name='Tigris' post='505135' date='Jun 27 2007, 07:41 PM']Definitely.

I don't care if he gets any INTs... as long as the guy he has doesn't catch the ball I'm good.

BUT I'd love to see about 5-7 picks this year... hopefully that would be enough to put our offense in good field position and win us a couple extra games... or at least put us in the position to win them.

Prediction:

80 tackles, 4 INTs, 13 pass break ups[/quote]

whoa 80 tackles i don't think he will allow that many catches unless you said that becuase you thik our ends and backers cannot contain, or will he be running down guys deltha is supposed to get