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So I just got involved in a debate where I'm told Revis is the GOAT corner. I've also heard all my life Deion is the GOAT, I'm too young to have saw him and Rod Woodson in their primes...
I started watching football in '99 when I was 10. I will say Revis is probably the SECOND best of the 16 years I've watched football, and I don't say that lightly. He legitimately could play another 8-10 years and has a real shot at being better than all his predecessors....
But the best cornerback I've witnessed in the last 16 years? Charles Woodson! Truly, if he isn't the GOAT, he's gotta be Top 5 by now. That man was something to watch for a long, long, time. He had legendary match ups against Moss, Owens, Harrison...physically, there was nothing he couldn't do. He was a phenomenal blitzer, could play man to man, could play zone, rarely missed assignments. His ball skills were legendary, he was a crisp tackler, I just never saw a real weakness in his game in his prime. He separated himself from the others of his era--Law, Bailey, Barber, etc...what separates Revis (at this time) is that Charles Woodson had far superior ball skills. Also, Charles was a supreme matchup problem you could line up anywhere. Other than that, Revis is very close, because his skills are superior everywhere else....
As for the corners of this generation (2010 to now), EVERYBODY else is either overrated or their game isn't matured yet. Sherman, Peterson--both skilled and very good, both overrated. Norman (Carolina) can potentially be great, but he isn't there yet. Cromartie is actually pretty good. But Revis is most definitely a once a generation corner, he's several levels above the rest of this era...
Anyway, my interest is because I played corner in junior high and high school. I'm younger though, so id like to know who you guys seem the best corners, both today and all time? Where do you put Charles Woodson? And why do you rank the guys how you do?
Most folks nowadays will say Richard Sherman's the best corner currently playing, but for my money Chris Harris is way more versatile. Harris can roam all over the defensive backfield - inside or outside, it doesn't matter. Sherman, OTOH, is almost exclusively outside.
Harris has definitely outperformed his college pedigree. Stanford was back in the national spotlight when Sherman played there, but Harris played his college ball in football purgatory at Kansas and came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent.
Best of all time? Good question. Probably Rod Woodson.
Top Dawg Hanford Dixon and Frank Minniefield were listed as the #2 cornerback tandem on NFL Network's Top 10 behind the Raiders Haines and Hayes. In 1987 it was said that Hanford Dixon had only 7 passes thrown in his direction. Truly one of the best.
PS. Hey Joe Haden.... take notes and watch highlights on Top Dawg on how NOT to give up the big play!
No question Haines and Hayes were the top tandem. Hate to say it but deion was the best cover corner I ever saw. As a Redskins fan Darrell Green was always my favorite player and belong on the short list, just not at the top.
No question Haines and Hayes were the top tandem. Hate to say it but deion was the best cover corner I ever saw. As a Redskins fan Darrell Green was always my favorite player and belong on the short list, just not at the top.
Ditto on your post. The best individual corners ever have to be Green and Deion Sanders. They made a defensive coordinator's job easy. Put Green or Sanders one on one with the other teams best receiver and start defending the rest of their team. No need to consider any double coverage with those guys stuck like glue on their guy.
Darrell Green for almost a decade was considered the fastest player in the NFL.
Haines and Hayes were the best pair playing at the same time. NO ONE wanted to be hand-checked by Lester Hayes during those days after he gooped his hands with all that stickem. Good thing the NFL enacted the Hayes Rule where that stuff was outlawed.
Okay, what about Charles Woodson? I've watched his whole career, and he NEVER needed help or double coverage in his prime. He was that good, and as I already said, he was a matchup nightmare, he would line up in the slot or outside, he took any receiver. His cover skills are as good as anyone I've seen besides Revis, so how would you all compare him with Green, Deion, or the Raiders duo?
Haden is a good corner, but he does seem to have brain lapses. I think Richard Sherman talked his way into the conversation for best corner. He absolutely isn't as skilled as Revis. I think it works to his advantage that he has played in such a tremendously skilled secondary, it's alleviated the pressure he'd have to face if he had to be the lone anchor of the unit (like Revis has done, like Charles Woodson did earlier in his career, like Bailey, Law, etc). Quinn and the Seahawks defensive coaches are masterminds. They know he isn't strong enough to defend a number one wideout all game long, week in/week out. He's not a great tackler, he also isn't strong in zone coverage. He is a good corner, but he looks better than he really is because he's had two nightmare safeties and good nickel corners backing him up his entire career. He has a long way to go to even enter a GOAT conversation...
Revis is the only corner back of this era who has already worked himself onto a best-ever list. Haden, Talib, Peterson, Revis is a far better football player than any of them...
Honorable mention to Aeneas Williams, as he wasted away in Arizona most of his career. Nobody EVER threw his way, but some of it was due to the string of lousy second corners they had.
In modern football, there isn't a corner in the game who played better than Champ Bailey in 2005 and 2006. He was simply on a another level during that two year stretch in a Hall of Fame career.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluescreen73
Most folks nowadays will say Richard Sherman's the best corner currently playing, but for my money Chris Harris is way more versatile. Harris can roam all over the defensive backfield - inside or outside, it doesn't matter. Sherman, OTOH, is almost exclusively outside.
Harris has definitely outperformed his college pedigree. Stanford was back in the national spotlight when Sherman played there, but Harris played his college ball in football purgatory at Kansas and came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent.
Harris is a stud. He is one of those guys who didn't have great measurables but understands the mental aspect of the game far above most of his peers. Talib is also proving to be elite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by murksiderock
Okay, what about Charles Woodson? I've watched his whole career, and he NEVER needed help or double coverage in his prime. He was that good, and as I already said, he was a matchup nightmare, he would line up in the slot or outside, he took any receiver. His cover skills are as good as anyone I've seen besides Revis, so how would you all compare him with Green, Deion, or the Raiders duo?
Woodson was good but I never really considered him the top in the game at any point in his career. Ironically enough I thought his relative level of play was better as a safety than as a corner.
Quote:
Haden is a good corner, but he does seem to have brain lapses. I think Richard Sherman talked his way into the conversation for best corner. He absolutely isn't as skilled as Revis. I think it works to his advantage that he has played in such a tremendously skilled secondary, it's alleviated the pressure he'd have to face if he had to be the lone anchor of the unit (like Revis has done, like Charles Woodson did earlier in his career, like Bailey, Law, etc). Quinn and the Seahawks defensive coaches are masterminds. They know he isn't strong enough to defend a number one wideout all game long, week in/week out. He's not a great tackler, he also isn't strong in zone coverage. He is a good corner, but he looks better than he really is because he's had two nightmare safeties and good nickel corners backing him up his entire career. He has a long way to go to even enter a GOAT conversation...
Sherman is good, but I think he's shown himself this season to not be in that truly elite category. He has a couple marks against him in that regard.
- Plays little to no man coverage.
- Plays in an ultra-simplistic Cover 3 scheme with two great safeties behind him. He has the luxury of playing in a very aggressive manner because Chancellor and Thomas can clean up any mistakes in the seams and over the top, respectively.
Not having Chancellor for the early part of the year and Thomas not being 100%, Sherman has had to play more disciplined and does not look nearly as good as he did before.
In modern football, there isn't a corner in the game who played better than Champ Bailey in 2005 and 2006. He was simply on a another level during that two year stretch in a Hall of Fame career.
Harris is a stud. He is one of those guys who didn't have great measurables but understands the mental aspect of the game far above most of his peers. Talib is also proving to be elite.
Woodson was good but ...
Sherman is good, but ...
Wow. Your Denver Bronco Homerism is bodaciously vociferous.
Nice job, Bosco.
That out of the way, I'd like to give props to Mike Haynes as being a decent cb with stellar character. The only thing that stands out for me about Lester Hayes was watching him gouge the eyes out of a Bronco receiver while he was on the ground. He was a dirty punk who got away with a bunch of crap. Today, he would be benched. When commenting about the offense after the game, Lester was heard saying something to the effect, "Being that he was a fellow Texas Aggie, I was just removing a spec of dust that I saw in the corner of his eye." Nice legacy for him. That is what Lester Hayes was, an eye-gouging cheater. He needed stickum.
Louis Wright of the Broncos had exceptionally soft hands for a cb and would go down as my pick for most underrated of all time. It's my opinion or perhaps biased memory, but it seems to me that qbs often threw away from him.
Last edited by McGowdog; 10-03-2015 at 02:35 PM..
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