Attack, Bleed and Burn
Cornerback is one of the most impactful positions on a football field. A great one can eliminate the opponent's best receiving weapon and a bad one is a liability that can throw the entire defense into chaos.
You should know them by now but here are the core ratios:
- Attack Ratio: Average of Passes Defended/(Passes Defended+Completions Allowed) and Total Targets/Total Snaps
- Bleed Ratio: Total Yards Against/Total Snaps
- Burn Ratio: (Total Interceptions+50% of Forced Fumbles/Total Snaps) minus (Total Touchdowns/Total Snaps)
These are represented by Z score (number of standard deviations from the mean).
Let's look at player performance through Week 7.
(Note: The cutoff for qualifying was 234 snaps.)
Player Performance
Attack Ratio - Who's Hot?
- White retains the top spot here from last week's list as he continues to scare off QBs with his leading Attack Z of 1.82x, up from 1.77x last week. He backs it up by showing a Bleed Z of > 1 standard deviation from average so he excels at limiting receiving yards.
- J. Johnson is the last player > 1 SD in our top 10 but he also has the weakest Bleed Z which is below average.
Attack Ratio - Who's Not?
- Although Kirkpatrick just edges out Okudah for works Attack, one thing is sure, at < 1 SD they are both getting shelled out there - plenty of targets not a lot of passes broken up. plus they both give up lots of yards. No reason for QBs not to go at them.
- Moreland makes the bottom 10 but he is not giving up yards (nearly 1 SD above average in Bleed Z) so perhaps Coordinators may move away from him.
I've broken out the Attack Ratio into its two components: Thrown At (Targets/Snaps) and Battle (Passes Defended/(Passes Defended plus Completions).
Battle less Thrown At - Who's Hot?
- Moseley has the widest spread between his "Battle" Z or PD/(PD+Comps Allowed and his Thrown At Z. He's getting attention but it's clearly a waste of time since he's defending passes at a very high rate.
- As much as the SEA corners are getting bombed with all the targeting, they are both above average in terms of Battle, which proves they are, indeed, battling.
Battle less Thrown At - Who's Not?
- Worley was safely hiding in the shadows as other teams targeted the rookie corner.
- Trevon Diggs, who saw about 2.5x more target volume than his teammate. But Diggs' Battle Z is positive whereas Worley's is negative - you knew it OCs would figure that out quick.
- Murphy-Bunting is the only player in the top 10 here who is getting thrown at more than average. Some of the other players on this list will likely get more attention given their Battle Z performances are sub par.
Bleed Ratio - Who's Hot?
- To paraphrase, Snoop, can't get a crumb up out of Jimmy Smith. This drives his low Attack given he is not yielding results for the opposition. I'm sure he doesn't mind.
- White is the only guy in this top 10 with an elite level Attack which, obviously, can drive Bleed results. If they don't throw at you, you can't give up a lot of yards.
Bleed Ratio - Who's Not?
- It rains a lot in Seattle but more than just water. The corners have given up a deluge of yards so far this season. Not playing a full game couldn't even help Griffin from taking over the top spot.
- MIN, which has a roster of really young CBs is also a team with two players on this list - you know the team hates to see ex-Viking Xavier Rhodes blowing up in Indy.
Burn Ratio - Who's Hot?
- Mainly the same names as last week, this group is showing consistency with Howard actually improving to a Burn Z of 2.70 from 2.42 last week.
- Humphrey and Okudah continue with the bend but don't break mindset having not allowed any TDs this year despite negative Attack and Bleed Z's.
Burn Ratio - Who's Not?
- Welcome to the National Football League, Igbinoghene.
- Phillips, with above average Attack despite sub par Bleed and Burn, is about to become very popular with OCs around the league.
3 Score Z Ratio - Who's Hot?
- Howard takes the top spot from last week's number one, Bradberry (who drops to ninth).
- Sullivan is a new name as he did not qualify last week because he saw too few snaps. He made the minimum number exactly this week with 234 snaps this season.
3 Score Z Ratio - Who's Not?
- It wasn't bad enough that Griffin retained the bottom spot of the 73 corners who qualified. Nor was it bad enough that his 3 Score Z actually got worse to -1.58 (compared to -1.42). I think the final indignity would be these things happening when he did not even play a complete game.
- Of course there are several young players on this list and I'm still standing by Gladney as one who will right the ship with experience. While I don't like to make negative player comments, let me just say there is one player I expect to remain on this list the LION'S share of his years in the league (no, he's not on DET).
Team List
Here are each team's aggregate scores. Remember, this is for each team's qualifying corners, only.
Check back for next week's update!
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