Every year at this time it’s always fun to take a look at the rosters of the four teams playing on championship weekend to see how they are constructed and the kind of pedigree that they include. Personally, I really like looking at the secondaries more than anything else when doing this exercise.
Below is a look at the secondary players from each of the four teams playing on Sunday. These players are sorted by the amount of snaps they played throughout the regular season and including the playoffs. Please keep in mind that a few players listed below are either currently no longer with the team or on the team’s Reserve/Injured list.
Of the players who played a high percentage of snaps this season (more than 50%), only four are former first-round draft picks, with one of those being a safety.
The most interesting of the four teams are the Carolina Panthers when it comes to pedigree, or lack thereof. Sure that group includes a couple of former second-round draft picks, but both players were originally drafted by other teams and both are well up there in age. Outside of those two veteran players, the Panthers secondary doesn’t include very much draft pedigree at all. A big tip of a cap to the Panthers front office and secondary coach Steve Wilks.
Nobody wants to talk about, but there will be four former undrafted players who will start in the two games that will be played on Sunday.
| Pedigree Of Championship Weekend Secondaries | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | ||||
| Player | POS | SNAPS | % | ROUND |
| 21-P.Peterson | CB | 990 | 94.60% | 1st |
| 32-T.Mathieu | S | 886 | 84.60% | 3rd |
| 26-R.Johnson | S | 845 | 80.70% | 3rd |
| 25-J.Powers | CB | 785 | 75.00% | 3rd |
| 22-T.Jefferson | S | 756 | 72.20% | UDFA |
| 28-J.Bethel | CB | 443 | 42.30% | 6th |
| 36-D.Swearinger | S | 152 | 14.50% | 2nd |
| 29-C.Clemons | S | 49 | 4.70% | 5th |
| Carolina Panthers | ||||
| Player | POS | SNAPS | % | ROUND |
| 24-J.Norman | CB | 1061 | 96.50% | 5th |
| 20-K.Coleman | S | 1018 | 92.50% | 7th |
| 41-R.Harper | S | 951 | 86.50% | 2nd |
| 25-B.Benwikere | CB | 788 | 71.60% | 5th |
| 31-C.Tillman | CB | 711 | 64.60% | 2nd |
| 33-T.Boston | S | 222 | 20.20% | 4th |
| 26-C.Finnegan | CB | 213 | 19.40% | 7th |
| 42-C.Jones | S | 151 | 13.70% | 6th |
| 21-T.Williams | CB | 50 | 4.50% | UDFA |
| 27-R.McClain | CB | 35 | 3.20% | 7th |
| 29-D.Marlowe | S | 9 | 0.80% | UDFA |
| New England Patriots | ||||
| Player | POS | SNAPS | % | ROUND |
| 21-M.Butler | CB | 1082 | 98.80% | UDFA |
| 26-L.Ryan | CB | 978 | 89.30% | 3rd |
| 32-D.McCourty | S | 928 | 84.70% | 1st |
| 23-P.Chung | S | 887 | 81.00% | 2nd |
| 30-D.Harmon | S | 603 | 55.10% | 3rd |
| 22-J.Coleman | CB | 299 | 27.30% | UDFA |
| 37-J.Richards | S | 239 | 21.80% | 2nd |
| 25-T.Brown | CB | 162 | 14.80% | 5th |
| 34-L.Johnson | CB | 157 | 14.30% | UDFA |
| 27-T.Wilson | S | 83 | 7.60% | 2nd |
| 24-B.Fletcher | CB | 68 | 6.20% | 3rd |
| 24-R.Melvin | CB | 49 | 4.50% | UDFA |
| 43-N.Ebner | S | 46 | 4.20% | 6th |
| Denver Broncos | ||||
| Player | POS | SNAPS | % | ROUND |
| 25-C.Harris | CB | 1063 | 97.00% | UDFA |
| 21-A.Talib | CB | 977 | 89.10% | 1st |
| 26-D.Stewart | S | 848 | 77.40% | UDFA |
| 43-T.Ward | S | 703 | 64.10% | 2nd |
| 29-B.Roby | CB | 622 | 56.80% | 1st |
| 30-D.Bruton | S | 481 | 43.90% | 4th |
| 20-J.Bush | S | 232 | 21.20% | 6th |
| 33-S.Keo | S | 87 | 7.90% | 5th |
| 36-K.Webster | DB | 69 | 6.30% | 3rd |
| 31-O.Bolden | S | 48 | 4.40% | 4th |
| 37-L.Doss | CB | 3 | 0.30% | 5th |
