Detroit Lions top NFC North cornerback power rankings
By Ash Thompson
The Detroit Lions narrowly sit atop the NFC North’s cornerback rankings. They have the best depth, the best player, and the least question marks.
One week into Detroit Lions training camp, reports are filtering in regarding which players have developed. Using those reports as well as analysis of the last season, I am going to continue my power rankings for the NFC North’s position groups. The NFL Pre-season schedule starts off tonight with the hall of fame game. We can all breathe a sigh of relief as we get our football fix. I know I have been jonesing for some football.
The cornerback position is one of the most exposed positions in the NFL. Their opponents, wide receivers, typically celebrate even the most mundane accomplishments as though they had just ushered in world peace. Mental toughness and a healthy ego are absolute requirements for the corner position.
Fans only get to see about 10-15% of the work a corner does on television, and even then only the final moments of any given play. All of the work that goes into that moment is lost on television as the camera follows the ball. More than half the time a corner spends on screen, he is giving up a reception.
It is only in those 5-20 times a year that the corner manages to touch the ball where the fanbase loves them. On 1000 snaps, a corners efforts will be appreciated only 2% of the time, and that is if they’re really good. When a corner does his job, the ball normally goes elsewhere and with it goes the eyes of the crowd.
The NFC North’s corner groups are all works in progress, but there are definitely two tiers. One team has workable starters, but no depth. Another has an impressive group of youngsters, but the top of their depth chart lacks any sure things. The other two have an elite leader of the group, but a definite talent dropoff.
One team’s dropoff is a waterfall steadily descending without end, the other drops to a plateau of competence and levels out. I gave them Lions the nod because they are the least reliant team on unknown quantities. You can argue that they had the best group last year, and there is more reason for optimism there than elsewhere for the early part of 2018.
The cornerback position may turn out to be the best group in the division collectively. There is no team I would say is in a really bad place at corner.