• Darious Williams keeps his spot at No. 1: Williams prevents separation at an elite level and backs it up with elite play at the catch point, ranking second in grade and forced incompletions (11).
•Joey Porter Jr. makes his debut on the list: The rookie has been excellent, allowing 0.67 yards per cover snap, just three first downs and only one touchdown. He's recorded a 28.6% forced incompletion rate, too.
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Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
If quarterback is the most important position on the football field, then limiting the effectiveness of that player is the most important thing a defense can do.
A team can do this in two ways: It can pressure the passer to disrupt his timing, rhythm and accuracy, or it can shut down the opposing receivers.
These rankings will combine PFF coverage grades with our Successful Coverage Over Expected (SCOE) data, which looks at how well each coverage defender performed on non-targeted coverage snaps, as we grade every coverage defender’s ability to prevent separation whether they are targeted on the play or not.
Here are the top 32 cornerbacks for the 2023 season through Week 9. For more grades and statistics on the league's best cornerbacks, check out PFF Premium Stats.