We are now over halfway through our positional rankings and the overall rankings are starting to take shape. Will they stay the same moving forward or will there be a shakeup? Stay tuned as we move onto cornerbacks today. Side note: we are including the nickel in our rankings as it has almost become the base in today's NFL.
4. Miami Dolphins - Desmond King, JC Jackson, Minkah Fitzpatrick. This is a really an exciting young core to build around. King is one of the best zone coverage guys in the game. He is a ball hawk who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Our question mark here is what happens when the Dolphins need to play man? That's just not who he is. We know they will run the right scheme for him to be successful, but there will undoubtedly be times they need to man up and may need to look to someone else for this job. Jackson has the build to be a top corner, but he just hasn't shown enough yet. He had flashes last season, but he also had some really bad moments too. Fitzpatrick needs to be on the field every play so look for him to bounce between safety and nickel depending on the defensive package. A very solid unit that in 2 years will be at or near the top of this list.
3. Buffalo Bills - Casey Hayward, James Bradberry, Budda Baker. Nothing about this unit says, "Wow." However, it's definitely above average and many teams would be happy with this group. Our problems? What direction is Hayward trending and who is James Bradberry going to be? Two years ago, Hayward was mentioned with the top corners in the game and Buffalo got an extremely team-friendly deal done to keep him in Upstate New York. Last season? We saw some regression and are wondering if father time is starting to play a role in his production. James Bradberry could be a solid number two, or he could give up a ton of touchdowns. We just don't know who he is based on the last few seasons of play. This is most likely his last season with the Bills as the exciting young Greedy Williams was drafted to take this job. This may even happen before season's end depending on which Bradberry shows up. Baker is the most exciting player in the group as he is a versatile player that can play all over the field. Buffalo needs to get this young man into more defensive sets.
2. New England Patriots - Marhson Lattimore, Ronald Darby, Byron Murphy. What put New England at number two on our list was having a true lockdown CB1 on their roster. When you look at the two teams below them, you aren't as confident in the players at the top of the depth chart to shut an elite receiver down. Lattimore can do this and it breaks the Pats away from the pack. Resigning Darby was wise as he is a perfect number two for this team. The question for the Super Bowl winners is who plays nickel? We have their first round pick Murphy slotted to get the job, but Chauncy Gardner-Johnson is a name to keep an eye on. Both have their strengths and could see time based on scheme.
1. New York Jets - Xavien Howard, Trumain Johnson, Jason Verrett. The Jets take their first positional rankings crown with this cornerback group. Howard is an up and coming elite corner who just got paid like one. The Jets made a splash with their trade for him and then smartly locked him up moving forward. He is already a top 5 player at the position and has all-pro written all over him this year. Trumaine Johnson will slide into the number two role for the Jets and we have wonder if he is a bit overpaid considering this, but we know the Jets feel much better having him on the field. Finally, we get to Verrett in the slot. This is quite the luxury as he would be on the outside for most other teams. Considering his injury history though, this is a great spot for him as he may not need to play as many downs. If the Jets can keep the wear and tear to a minimum, they have a group that will keep opposing receivers in check.
We will be assigning cumulative points to these rankings to determine the best overall team in the 3GML.
Buffalo - 23
New England - 20
Miami - 15
New York - 12
