Today I wanted to look at the cornerbacks, a position Pittsburgh could be looking to upgrade for the 2022 season. The graph below uses their 2021 PFF Grade and their current rank on PFF’s Big Board that updates through the draft process:
Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie is currently in the top ten on the board with average size and played primarily on the outside the last three seasons with 50+ snaps in the box last season. He had 85+ overall and coverage grades, a high 70 run defense grade, with a 44.4% completion rate and 52 passer rating allowed. LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. top five on the board with good size and played on the outside primarily the last three seasons but had a mid 60 overall, coverage, and run defense grade along with a 60% completion rate and 130.8 passer rating allowed in 2021, playing only three games.
Cincinnati cornerback Ahmad Gardner is in the top 15 and has great size and played primarily on the outside with 50+ snaps in the box and slot last season. He had a high 80 overall and coverage grade, a high 70 run defense grade, with a 50% completion rate and a stellar 26.1 passer rating allowed! Baylor cornerback Jalen Pitre has good size and played primarily in the slot, 100+ defensive line snaps the past two seasons and 100+ from the box in 2021. He had a mid 80 overall grade, 90+ run defense grade, and a mid 70 coverage grade with a 60.3% completion rate and 61.1 passer rating allowed, and top ten in coverage stops! Pitre started at safety for the National team in the Senior Bowl and enjoyed his versatile performance with good tackling in the run and pass game, especially a tackle for loss on a screen along with a downed punt on special teams.
Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. has good size and played outside primarily with most of his playing time coming the last two seasons. He had high 80 overall and coverage grades, low 70 run defense grade, 61.2% completion rate and a 69.2 passer rating against. Auburn cornerback Roger McCreary has good size and played primarily on the outside the last three seasons and 50+ snaps in the box in 2021. He had high 80 overall and coverage grades, high 60 run defense grade, 45.3% completion rate, a 57.8 passer rating against, and ranked first in forced incompletions! McCreary played for the American team in the Senior Bowl and was strong in coverage along with a good tackle.
Michigan cornerback Daxton Hill has good size and played the slot primarily, and had 100+ snaps in multiple seasons in the box and deep alignments. He had 70+ grades overall, coverage, and highest in run defense, but a high 70.6% completion rate, an 81.5 passer rating allowed, and was top 15 in coverage stops. Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam has great size and mostly played outside the last three seasons and had 50+ snaps at slot and the box in 2021. He had a low 60 overall grade, high 70 run defense grade, and high 50 coverage grade with a 52.8% completion rate and a 75.1 passer rating allowed.
The final player in the current top 50 is Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon. He has good size and primarily played outside the last three seasons and played 100+ slot snaps along with 50+ from the box and defensive line as well. Gordon had high 80 overall and coverage grades, high 70 run defense grade, 51.25 completion rate, and a 49.1 passer rating allowed!
Continuing on the top right of the graph, we see Nebraska’s JoJo Domann who has great size and is position versatile with most of his snaps from the slot the last three seasons, 100+ snaps each season at defensive line, and 50+ in the box in 2021. He had high 80 overall and coverage grades, low 80 run defense grade, 63.8 passer rating allowed, but a high 82.1% completion rate. Domann played linebacker for the American team in the Senior Bowl and had a good tackle but washed out in the run game and provided value on special teams with a tackle and downed punt. It will be interesting to see what position he plays in the NFL.
Houston cornerback Marcus Jones is undersized and primarily played outside the last two seasons along with 100+ slot and 50+ box snaps in 2021. He had mid 80 overall and coverage grades, low 80 run defense grade, 48.7% completion rate, 60.4 passer rating allowed and tied for second in forced incompletions! The final player in the current top 100 with an above the mean grade is Mississippi State cornerback Martin Emerson, who has great size and played primarily on the outside the last three seasons. He had high 70 overall and coverage grades, mid 70 run defense grade, 58% completion rate, top 10 in coverage stops but a 100.3 passer rating against.
Getting outside the current top 100, Georgia cornerback Derion Kendrick has good size and played primarily on the outside the last three seasons. He had low 80 overall, coverage, and run defense grades with a 46.3% completion rate and a 38.6 passer rating against! He started for the American team in the Senior Bowl and enjoyed his performance with a nice run tackle and strong coverage, highlighted by bottling up an end zone fade. LSU cornerback Cordale Flott needs to add weight to his frame and played primarily in the slot the last three seasons, along with 100+ outside the last two. In 2021 he had 80+ overall and coverage grades but a high 50 run defense grade, 50% completion rate and 72.6 passer rating against.
The next players landed above the mean in the ranks with lower overall grades. Nebraska cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt has good size and primarily played outside the last three seasons and had 100+ in 2019 at slot, outside, box, and deep alignments along with 50+ in the box in 2021. He had 70+ overall, coverage, and run defense grades, 53% completion rate, and 77.3 passer rating against. UTSA cornerback Tariq Woolen has great size and primarily played outside with 50+ box snaps in 2020 and most of his experience coming the last two seasons. He had the lowest overall grade on the graph of 59.5, low 60 coverage grade, and mid 40 run defense grade! Woolen had a 59.5% completion rate and 100.2 passer rating against.
Cincinnati cornerback Coby Bryant has good size and played primarily on the outside the past three seasons. He had 85+ overall and coverage grades, 80+ run defense grade, 44% completion rate, 61 passer rating allowed and in the top 15 in forced incompletions! Bryant started for the National team in the Senior Bowl and enjoyed an early coverage play early and physical tackling but had a huge pass interference for explosive yardage along with another poor play in deep coverage. Clemson cornerback Mario Goodrich has good size and primarily played outside the last three seasons. He had 80+ overall, coverage, and run defense grades, 51.2% completion rate, and a 49 passer rating against!
The final player in the top 150 is Virginia Tech cornerback Jermaine Waller, who needs to add weight to his frame and played primarily outside the last three seasons with 50+ box snaps in 2019 and from the slot in 2021. He had low 60 overall, coverage, and run defense grades, a 64.3% completion rate, and 73.2 passer rating against.
Missouri cornerback Akayleb Evans has good size and primarily played on the outside the last three seasons along with 50+ snaps in the box in 2021. He had 70+ overall, coverage, and run defense grades, 53.2% completion rate, and 97 passer rating against. He started for the American team in the Senior Bowl and noted a good tackle. Oregon cornerback Mykael Wright needs to add weight to his frame and played on the outside primarily the last three seasons with 50+ box snaps in 2021. He had low 70 overall and coverage grades, mid 60 run defense grade, 62.3% completion rate, and 98.1 passer rating against and struggled with missed tackles. Alabama cornerback Josh Jobe has good size and primarily played outside the last three seasons. He had mid 60 overall, coverage, and run defense grades, a high 71.4% completion rate and 109.9 passer rating against!
The remaining players are currently PFF’s later round/undrafted possibilities, and I will discuss some. Tennessee cornerback Alontae Taylor has good size and primarily played on the outside the last three seasons. He had 80+ overall and coverage grades, an 85+ run defense grade, 55.8% completion rate, and 70.7 passer rating against. Taylor played for the American team in the Senior Bowl and had an interception, but important to note it was on an underthrow. South Carolina State cornerback Decobie Durant is undersized and primarily played on the outside the last three seasons along with 50+ snaps in the box in 2019 and 2021 and 70+ in the slot last season. He had 75+ overall, coverage, and run defense grades, a 47.6% completion rate, and a 65.5 passer rating against. Durant played for the East team in the Shrine Bowl and was physical for his size but was penalized twice for holding.
Baylor cornerback Kalon Barnes has average size and played primarily on the outside the last three seasons. He had 65+ overall and coverage grades, a low 70 run defense grade, 52.5% completion rate, and 100.8 passer rating against. Barnes started for the West team in the Shrine Bowl and enjoyed a couple positive coverage plays from him. Penn State cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields has good size and played primarily on the outside the last three seasons along with 50+ box snaps in 2019 and 2021. He had a high 60 overall grade, low 70 coverage grade, but mid 50 run defense grade, a 55.3% completion rate and 85 passer rating against.
Toledo’s Tycen Anderson is a versatile player with great size, with 100+ snaps in each of the last three seasons in the box and slot along with 250+ at safety in 2019 and 300+ in the slot in 2021. He had 65+ overall, coverage, and run defense grades, but high 71% completion rate and 114 passer rating against! He started at safety for the American team in the Senior Bowl and had a good tackle along with sideline-to-sideline chase speed but was faked bad on a play action play and gave separation in coverage on another.
Sam Houston cornerback Zyon McCollum has great size and played primarily on the outside along with 50+ box snaps the last two years and 50+ slot snaps in 2021. He had high 70 overall and coverage grades, 80+ run defense grade, 55.4% completion rate, and 65.4 passer rating against. McCollum played for the American team in the Senior Bowl and enjoyed a good run tackle but was outmuscled by a receiver on his route and flagged in deep coverage for pass interference. East Carolina cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian high grades but is undersized and primarily played outside along with 50+ box snaps in 2019 and 2021. He had a high 80 overall grade, 90+ coverage grade, but high 50 run defense grade, a 50% completion rate and 54.1 passer rating against.
Pittsburgh cornerback Damarri Mathis has average size and primarily played outside in 2019 and 2021 but didn’t play in 2020. Last season he had 65+ overall and coverage grades, a high 80 run defense grade, 50% completion rate, and 71.8 passer rating against. Mathis started for the National team in the Senior Bowl and noted some struggles in coverage but provided good punt coverage on special teams. Washington State cornerback Jaylen Watson has good size and primarily played outside the last two seasons. He had a 60+ overall and coverage grade, a mid 70 run defense grade, a 58.3% completion rate, and 75.9 passer rating against. Watson played for the National team in the Senior Bowl and enjoyed a good play in coverage.
A name that did not appear on the board that I enjoyed from the West team in the Shrine Bowl was Wake Forest cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor. He started for the team and noted a good coverage play along with multiple tackles, one of which was a big run stop.
With uncertainty of who will return at the position from the Steelers 2021 roster, it will be interesting to see who is retained and if Pittsburgh ultimately selects a cornerback for the 2022 roster or perhaps goes the free agent route.
While the ranks on PFF’s board with certainly change, and surely some names missing from this list, I especially hope you enjoyed the grade data and some notes from the all-star games. Later in the process as the Steelers Depot draft team continues to compile more draft profiles, I plan and look forward to providing visuals with their Depot draft grade and projection.
What are your thoughts on this year’s cornerback class? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments!
