How Saints' Crawley has been the top-graded CB so far

New Orleans Saints CB Ken Crawley is PFF’s highest-graded cornerback through Week 4, even though he missed the first two games of the Saints. A big reason for Crawley’s success is his aggressiveness and the number of plays he makes on the ball. While he gave up eight receptions, the former Colorado player got his hands on three passes already, including an interception in the end zone against the Miami Dolphins.
Making plays on the ball was always part of Crawley’s game, as he broke up six passes last season; however, he has been able to elevate his game in 2017 by avoiding giving up big plays. He is yet to give up a reception for more than 20 yards so far, due largely to the fact that he has not missed a single tackle this season compared to his seven missed tackles in 2016.
Crawley is among the five most targeted cornerbacks in the league, as he is targeted on every 3.9 cover snaps. This is unlikely to change with the emergence of rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore forcing quarterbacks to attack Crawley instead. However, opposing signal-callers are not having a lot of success throwing Crawley’s way as he allows just 3.7 yards per target, which is the seventh-lowest out of 113 qualifying cornerbacks.