To be a cornerback in the National Football League is one of the hardest things to do in any sport. To be a top-tier cornerback at the highest level for any length of time is even more difficult, because the difference between 100% and 90% at that altitude can mean that your time in the positive spotlight is over in a hurry.
Losing even a fraction of a step can be professionally fatal. And no cornerback, no matter how great they have been at their peaks, can escape it.
There’s also the matter of working with coaches who don’t understand what you do best. That can take your talent out of the picture in a big hurry.
Through the first six weeks of the 2022 season, we’ve already seen a handful of formerly A-level cornerbacks with declining performances. On the field, they’ve not been the players they were, and you want to analyze whether it’s up to physical ability, or coaching, or scheme.
There are other cornerbacks who have struggled this season, but we can put that down to injuries at this time — Miami’s Xavien Howard has been pushing through a groin issue that is obviously affecting his speed on the field, so we don’t know if that’s what is keeping Howard from his usual status as one of the NFL’s best man defenders. What we’re dealing with here is more about four great cornerbacks who are struggling at a heretofore unimaginable level, and why that might be.
J.C. Jackson, Los Angeles Clargers
From his rookie season of 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland through his 2021 season, former New England Patriots and current Los Angeles Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson was the best lockdown cornerback in the NFL. This was especially the case in 2021, when Jackson was New England’s CB1, and was targeted accordingly. And when he was targeted, he allowed 54 catches on 103 targets for 724 yards, 253 yards after the catch, eight interceptions, three touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 52.4.
From 2018 through 2021, Jackson was the NFL’s most effective lockdown defender. No cornerback with at least 200 targets in that four-year stretch had a lower opponent passer rating than Jackson’s 46.9; Buffalo’s Tre’Davious White ranked second at 62.2. And while interceptions are far from the ultimate arbiter for defensive effectiveness, no defender had more interceptions through that time than Jackson’s 25.
In March, the Los Angeles Chargers signed Jackson to a five-year, $82.5 million contract with $40 million guaranteed, making him the fulcrum of head coach Brandon Staley’s defense. That defense is quite different than the ones Bill Belichick prefers to put on the field. Whether in man or zone, Belichick likes cornerbacks who can match receivers through the route. Staley’s defensive paradigm aligns more with the idea that cornerbacks and safeties need to work together through the route. There are match principles, but you don’t see them a lot on the field this season. And when they’re there, they aren’t often well-coordinated.
This season in his new home, Jackson has not been a happy camper. At all. Through most of his first six games in Staley’s systems, Jackson has allowed 17 catches on 23 targets for 331 yards, 69 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, no interceptions, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 155.3. Among cornerbacks playing at least 20% of their teams’ defensive snaps, only New Orleans Saints second-year cornerback Paulson Adebo has allowed a higher passer rating (156.0).
This is not the J.C. Jackson we expected, and it’s clearly not the J.C. Jackson the Chargers expected — Staley benched him halfway through the Chargers’ 19-16 Monday night win over the Denver Broncos.
“I feel defeated,” Jackson said after the fact. “I just feel like I’m not just being me. “It’s hard and it’s very disappointing. Knowing what I can do, and I’m not able to do it. I’m not really playing to my full potential; it’s kind of upsetting.”
Well, Jackson is onto something there.
What’s the problem? Jackson’s new team doesn’t understand what he is (and isn’t).
Jackson was roasted on Russell Wilson’s one passing touchdown — a 39-yard pass to rookie tight end Greg Dulcich in which Jackson (top of the screen) followed receiver KJ Hamler in Cover-3, which meant that Jackson and deep safety Nasir Adderley were in the same place at the same time, and Dulcich was completely uncovered. With Adderley running the post, and Derwin James as the flat defender to that side, it’s tough to debit anybody else for being where Jackson was supposed to be.
One of Jackson’s last snaps in the game showed how he should be utilized. With 12 seconds left in the first half, Jackson was in press coverage on receiver Jerry Jeudy in the red zone, and Jeudy couldn’t shake Jackson through his route.
This season, Jackson has been targeted 19 times, allowing 13 receptions for 220 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 147.0. Of his 19 targets, Jackson has been in press coverage just six times. There, he’s allowed three catches on six targets for 38 yards and no touchdowns.
The math isn’t hard here. When Jackson is in off coverage, he’s given up 10 catches on 13 targets for 182 yards, and all three of his touchdowns. Jackson is clearly a much better press/bail cornerback than he is in any kind of off coverage, so why to the Chargers insist on putting Jackson in those positions to his detriment?
“He came here to press, that’s what he’s been doing most of the time for us, pressing,” Staley recently said. “Now, there are some times where you can’t press, where a team that gets into a bunch of cut splits, they can really affect your leverage on the formation. Sometimes you want to play off, just like every defense in the NFL. You can’t press every split because it’s going to put you in a disadvantage. He came here to do the job that he was designed to do. His performance, it has nothing to do with that, fitting in or scheme fit or any of that. He’s here to do what he does best. We need to make sure that we continue to work with him so that he’s focused, consistent and being the player that we know he can be.”
Well, the numbers don’t lie; nor does the eye in the sky. Jackson missed the first two games of the 2022 season recovering from an ankle injury, which delayed his transition to his new team. Which begs the question with even more volume: Why is Jackson asked to do what he doesn’t do best, more often than now?
William Jackson III, Washington Commanders
The Commanders’ entire defense has been a disaster under Jack Del Rio, but things have been especially problematic for their starting outside cornerbacks. Kendall Fuller has allowed 22 catches on 33 targets for 389 yards, 78 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, no interceptions, three pass-breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 137.1. It’s been even worse for William Jackson III, who has allowed 16 catches on 19 targets for 219 yards, 60 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, no interceptions, two pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 149.8.
When Jackson signed a three-year deal, $42 million deal with the then-Washington Football Team before the 2021 season, I opined that Washington got a CB1 for CB2 money, which is what it looked like, based on Jackson’s time with the Bengals.
I did add this proviso, which… well, as George Carlin liked to say, some people need practical advice.
It’s not easy to find great man cornerbacks, and even more difficult to find man cornerbacks who have Jackson’s consistency from year to year. He will be highly paid for that reason alone, and don’t be surprised if the Football Team — who played man coverage on just 24% of their defensive snaps last season, but allowed an EPA per play of -0.26, third-best in the league — doesn’t avail itself of more Cover-0, Cover-1, and 2-Man in the 2021 season and beyond.
How has it gone since then? Head coach Ron Rivera benched Jackson during Washington’s 21-17 Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans, a game in which Jackson allowed two catches on two targets for 20 yards.
On October 13, Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that, per sources, Jackson wanted to be traded.
Once a key cog in the Commanders’ secondary, Jackson is not frustrated specifically with the team.
Rather, he considers himself more of a man-to-man cornerback and Washington has run a lot of zone thus far. When Jackson signed, he envisioned himself as a true lockdown corner, covering a team’s top receiver.
It hasn’t worked out that way.
“I never said, ‘I want out,'” Jackson said Tuesday, per Sam Fortier of the Washington Post. “I love my teammates. I love being around the guys. People are going to write what they want to write. I just sit back and do my job.
“I don’t really know who I talked to or how that came out. But it is what it is.”
Whatever it is, it’s not working. Jackson did not play at all in Washington’s 17-7 win over the Chicago Bears last Thursday, and he showed up on the team’s injury report with a back issue.
What’s the problem? The Commanders are terrible in man coverage, but Jackson isn’t.
This season, Washington has played man coverage — Cover-0, Cover-1, or 2-Man — on 66 opponent attempts, the eighth-most in the league. And when in man coverage, the team has allowed 48 catches on those attempts for 567 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 101.0. But when Jackson has been targeted in man coverage, he’s allowed two catches on five targets for 19 yards.
If you want to see the difference between Jackson in man and Jackson in zone, let’s look at two deep passes from Cooper Rush to CeeDee Lamb in Washington’s 25-10 Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.
The first play happened with 7:10 left in the game, and Jackson and Lamb at the bottom of the screen, Washington was in Cover-1, and Jackson was in press. He followed Lamb all the way through the vertical route downfield, and deflected the pass.
The vertical route that Jackson allowed to Lamb happened at the start of the fourth quarter. Here, the Commanders were in Cover-3, Jackson did goodness knows what at the end of his off-coverage rep, and Lamb had one of the easiest touchdowns he’ll ever get.
Overall, communication issues have run rampant in Washington’s defense, and given the schism between player and team, it’s probably best for all involved to create a situation in which Jackson can move to a different team. Whether that’s what he says he wants or not.
A.J. Terrell, Atlanta Falcons
At the end of the 2021 season, a common theme in and around the NFL was that Terrell was one of the best cornerbacks nobody was talking about. That was based on Terrell’s 2021 performance — he allowed just 29 catches on 66 targets for 200 yards, 93 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three interceptions, 13 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 47.5. The other reason for Terrell’s relative anonymity, despite his obvious excellence? The fact that the Falcons were seen as a team in a total rebuild.
Neither narrative has carried much weight in 2022. The Falcons are 3-3, and fighting to stay relevant in the NFC South. That’s the good news. The bad news? Terrell’s game has fallen apart. Through six games, the 2020 first-round pick from Clemson has allowed 26 catches on 39 targets for 309 yards, 101 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, a league-high seven touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 130.2. Sadly, Terrell has looked more this season like the guy who got lit up by Ja’Marr Chase in the 2019 College Football Championship, as opposed to the guy who impressively transcended all that.
What’s the problem? Islands without pressure.
In 2021, Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees had Terrell as the left-side outside cornerback no 92% of his snaps, with Fabian Moreau as the primary right-side cornerback. That has changed drastically in 2022. This season, Terrell has played 145 snaps on the left side, and 162 on the right. New acquisition Casey Heyward Jr. is doing about the same rotation, but more often than not, it’s Terrell who’s shadowing the opponent’s best receiver.
It doesn’t help that the Falcons aren’t getting much in the way of pressure. Through the first six weeks of the 2022 season, only the Lions have fewer sacks than Atlanta’s eight, and only the Rams have fewer pressures than Atlanta’s 31. Add in how confidently opposing quarterbacks can hit Terrell when Atlanta plays man coverage in the red zone, and it’s a recipe for disaster. As it was last Sunday, when receiver Brandon Aiyuk scored Sam Francisco’s two touchdowns in Atlanta’s 28-14 win.
On this touchdown, the 49ers ran a pick with Aiyuk and running back Jeff Wilson, and Terrell was the odd man out after Wilson blocked him out of the play.
And here, Terrell loses Aiyuk in the slot on a whip route. With no help over the top, that’s an easy touchdown.
Should Pees return to more of a side-to-side cornerback thought process? The Falcons placed Hayward on injured reserve with a shoulder issue this week, so Pees may not have a choice.
Amani Oruwariye, Detroit Lions
Oruwariye, the 2019 fifth-round pick out of Penn State, was a boom-or-bust defender early in his career, but he certainly seemed to get the hang of things in 2021. Last season, he gave up 41 catches on 69 targets for 582 yards, 154 yards after the catch, five touchdowns, six interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 60.2.
Things have not gone nearly as well for Oruwariye this season, to say the least. In three games this season, he’s already allowed 19 catches on 26 targets for 217 yards, 73 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 123.4. Oruwariye had really bad games against the Vikings in Week 3 against the Vikings and in Week 4 against the Seahawks. Then, in Week 5 against the Patriots, Oruwariye was not only benched, but made a healthy inactive. The Lions had a bye in Week 6; they’re now preparing to play the Cowboys on Sunday with Dak Prescott at quarterback, which is not exactly an ideal rebound opponent.
What’s the problem? Pretty much everything.
While Oruwariye has not played well, he’s not always the primary offender as a defender. He gave up this 15-yard pass to Adam Thielen with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter of the Vikings game, but that was to the defensive right side. Watch how cornerback Jeff Okudah gets absolutely torched by Justin Jefferson on the deep over from right to left If Kirk Cousins makes that throw, we’re talking more about Okudah than Oruwariye right now.
And on this 34-yard pass from Seattle’s Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett… well, I’m not sure what the plan was here against Lockett’s deep over, but Oruwariye turning the wrong way in Cover-0 probably wasn’t how defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn drew it up.
“Amani’s going to get a chance to compete,” head coach Dan Campbell said this week. “I told him he’s not out of the boat, so he’s going to get a chance to compete this week and see where he can help us.”
But where is that? The Lions have had defensive breakdowns throughout the secondary. Based on what Glenn said Thursday, Oruwariye’s benching was really about sending a message to the entire team.
“He responded really well,” Glenn said of Oruwariye’s recovery from this setback. “And I think it’s important that you do that as far as a team because now it sends a message to everybody — offense, defense that man, this game is about competing at the highest level every time. And you have to earn your keep in this league. [There are] no free passes, and just with Dan being confident to make that decision, I think it really sent the message, I really do. It kind of reminds me back in my days with Coach [Bill] Parcells, man, he wasn’t afraid to do that. And it taught me a lesson also that you can’t be afraid to make a decision, and you live with it, and you move on even though you might have outsiders say what you should do [and] what you shouldn’t do. You be confident in your decision, you move on, and you do what’s best for the team. That’s what Coach Campbell did.”
We’ll see how that goes. Another problem is that the Lions are struggling mightily to tie pressure to coverage. No team has fewer sacks than Detroit’s seven this season, and while Detroit’s defense has amassed 44 pressures, there are issues all over the place beyond whatever Oruwariye is or is not doing.
