Sports
September 30, 2014
23
Sherman is still the best corner JONATHAN MUNSHAW Editor-in-Chief @jon_munshaw
After last season’s infamous Richard Sherman rant following the NFC Championship Game, NFL fans love to debate who really is the best corner in the league. Nike fueled that debate recently by spoofing Sherman’s relationship with the media, with some people in the commercial calling him the best football player ever. Sorry, Jerry Rice. Now that we’re a fourth of the way through the NFL season, I think bringing up the debate of who the best corner in the league is definitely worth our time. In a league that puts more and more emphasis on passing each season, a team simply can’t get by with below-average corners, and need at least one elite guy to cover the Calvin Johnsons and Jordy Nelsons of the world. Right now, if I was playing a game for the fate of the world (shout out to all my loyal readers from last column) Sherman would be my first corner I’d draft to play a random team of aliens, who likely have opposable thumbs so that they can even play football. These statistics are all from Pro Football Focus. If you want to look at them yourself, it’s the best tool a football fan can have, but it does cost money. Anyway, on to Sherman. He’s only played three games so far this season. One of them was against Aaron Rodgers, who didn’t throw to Sherman all game, and another was against Peyton Manning, the greatest regular season quarterback of all time. And last year, quarterbacks who threw at Sherman only had a 36.2
rating. For reference, the highest rating an NFL quarterback can have is 158.3 and the lowest is zero. In 2013, the next closest corner who I’d put in the same conversation as Sherman was Alterraun Verner, who held quarterbacks to a 55.8 rating. That same season, Sherman only allowed 0.63 yards per coverage snap. So every time that Sherman lined up to cover a receiver, the quarterback had no chance of even picking up a yard on that play. Yikes.
6879124502476 3923543705457 93759993575985 25576933856202 3475623460017 72774650309622 545965418347 TALK NERDY TO ME This season, with Sherman only playing three games, he is 15th in the league in quarterback rating allowed (65.0), and is fourth in yards per coverage snap (0.52). Pro Football Focus also assigns a cumulative rating to every player in the league on a weekly basis between 2 and -2. Last season, Darrelle Revis was the highest rated corner with a final rating of 18.6 (the ratings are cumulative over the course of the season) and Sherman finished fifth. This season, Sherman is only 16th among players who have played at least 50 percent of their team’s defensive snaps (Revis is 27th) but again, guys like Kyle Fuller and Perrish Cox have played in four games. It’s also worth bringing up DVOA again. For the uninitiated, DVOA takes the performance of team
offenses and defenses and adjusts their performance based upon the opponents they’ve played and if they’ve been at home or on the road. Last season, Seattle’s defense was first in the league in defensive DVOA (it made offenses 25.9 percent worse than they generally performed) and this season the Seahawks are 12th. So, Sherman was the best corner on the best defense, and this year has had to play Rodgers and Manning in two out of his three games. Sherman is the best corner in the league. The other corner I do want to discuss, though, is Brandon Flowers. Flowers was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason and was signed by the San Diego Chargers. Through four weeks, Flowers has statistically been one of the best corner in the league, and isn’t getting enough credit for it. He’s held quarterbacks to a 54.3 rating, and he’s allowing just 0.75 yards per coverage snap. Flowers also has an interception, and has only allowed 98 total yards to receivers despite playing 130 defensive snaps and being targeted 19 times. Last year, San Diego’s defense was the worst in the league in DVOA, and through three games, was 22nd. Though it’s not great, jumping from the worst defense in the league to an average defense is a huge improvement for the Chargers, and Flowers is a big part of that. Even the best players will have a bad week (see: Sherman’s allowed two-point conversion against the Broncos in Week 3) but looking at their stats, I have full faith that Sherman will be the best corner once again this year, no matter what that sorry receiver Crabtree says.
NFL’s Top Corners According to opposing QB rating:
Courtesy of Mark Samia
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman burst onto the scene in 2013, after he allowed opposing quarterback to throw for a 36.2 rating. This season, he’s letting up a 65.0 rating in three games.
1. Vontae Davis (22.6) 2. Perrish Cox (28.6) 3. P Amukamara (36.0) 4. Chris Harris Jr. (41.3) 5. Greg Toler (47.9) 5. A. Cromartie (47.9) . 14. R. Sherman (65.0)
Katie Ponce Soccer
The senior midfielder scored a 53rd-minute goal in Towson’s 4-2 loss to James Madison on Friday. She leads the team with three goals and adds an assist for seven points total this season.