PFF: Broncos have two of NFL’s top three corners
The Denver Broncos have one of the NFL’s best (defenses,) duh. Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. are better than Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson, Josh Norman and Vontae David. Duh.
Wait, duh? Hold on a second, these two Broncos corners are great. But are they really better than those corners we just listed? Well, we know that Pro Football Focus is as reliable as it comes. They ranked the top 25 corners last week, and Talib is your number one corner in the NFL. Chris Harris Jr. is two.
Malcolm Butler of the New England Patriots is second, even though Jarvis Landry and Antonio Brown each owned him and he gave up some big plays and a touchdown to the New York Jets this week.
Here’s what PFF said about Talib:
“Talib has allowed just 9.3 yards per reception, 53.7 percent of the passes thrown his way to be caught, and opposing QBs have a passer rating of just 37.0 when throwing into his coverage. That’s 2.6 points lower than if those quarterbacks just threw the ball out of bounds every snap, thanks to three interceptions and no touchdowns surrendered this year.”
The Broncos defense did not look the same when Talib missed multiple weeks – there’s no doubt he’s a difference maker on the field.
As for Mr. Harris?
“Harris will play outside and in the slot, and does go up against legitimate No. 1 receivers when Denver elects not to track them; more often than not, he does just as well against them as anybody else. This season, Harris has allowed under 10 yards per reception, and just 53.8 percent of passes thrown into his coverage to be caught.”
Everyone knows Harris is among the NFL’s best corners. Aside from facing Antonio Brown in Week 15 of last year, he’s basically shut down all of his receivers.
The Broncos have built one of the NFL’s best secondaries over the years, thanks in large part to Harris’ emergence and the signing of Talib. Defense wins championships, and the Broncos are lucky to have both of these guys for the long run.
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