More at the link, including the bottom 12 list and some more analysis.An Early Look at 2011 CB Charting
by Aaron Schatz
We've finally got enough game charting data to get some interesting numbers for the 2011 season. And so, as promised on Twitter a few days ago, here's a look at the best and worst cornerbacks in our game charting stats with the data we have collected as of December 26.
Any game charting data comes with a heavy dose of caveats, but that's especially true for in-season game charting data. So when you look at these numbers, please be aware:
* Data is still coming in. Because we've got a group of volunteers charting rather than paid employees, we're always a couple of weeks behind, plus there are still unfinished games from early in the season. These numbers include pretty much all games from Weeks 1-8, most of Weeks 9-11, and two-thirds of Weeks 12-13.
* Game charting data is of course based on watching TV footage, not all-22 film, and therefore our attempts to mark defensive coverage will be imperfect. We do our best.
* We haven't adjusted yet to give half-credit on plays with double coverage.
* As always with our cornerback charting numbers, plays listed as "Hail Mary," "Hit in Motion," "Thrown Away," and "Tipped at Line" are not included.
* These numbers are not yet adjusted for the quality of receivers being covered.
* Defensive Pass Interference calls aren't yet included.
I used a minimum of 28 targets for these tables. Because this data is incomplete, please don't assume that a low number of targets listed equals a cornerback that opponents are "avoiding." That player could just be on a team with a few missing halves.
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Top 12 CB in Success Rate, 2011 (through Week 13) Player Team Passes Suc% Yd/Pass Avg Dist YAC D.Revis NYJ 30 73% 3.0 17.1 2.2 J.Greer NO 63 71% 5.6 11.2 7.1 I.Taylor PIT 72 70% 4.9 13.7 2.6 R.Sherman SEA 49 69% 6.1 13.4 3.0 A.Samuel PHI 55 67% 4.5 14.8 2.2 S.Routt OAK 58 67% 4.8 10.9 2.7 D.Patterson CLE 34 67% 5.9 9.3 4.7 J.Wilson WAS 53 66% 5.9 12.5 3.3 C.Finnegan TEN 40 65% 4.0 7.2 2.9 R.Mathis JAC 34 65% 9.1 13.3 5.9 B.Grimes ATL 44 64% 6.5 14.8 5.2 C.Gamble CAR 35 63% 6.8 11.7 3.1
I thought Wilson has been playing pretty well — especially in the latter half of the season — but I didn't realize he stacks up this well against other corners in the league. He's not a #1 CB, so the adjustment for receivers might take him down a few notches . . . nevertheless, I think this is pretty encouraging. Good to see a FA acquisition work out.
As for Hall, this is an argument I've been making since after last year. He's not very good on man-to-man cover skills. At a younger age, or as was the case last year where he's an outlier on turnovers, his "playmaking" can almost make up for poor play-to-play performance. (Almost.) But I don't see him being able to comp much longer at acceptable levels. Certainly not enough to justify a big paycheck and the #1 spot on our depth chart, but perhaps not even enough to be playing on this team.
