PFFs Top 25 Cornerbacks of 2018

[T-post Tom]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/new...he-nfl-in-2018

PFFs Top 25 CBs of 2018


With the regular season in the books, we are counting down the highest-graded cornerbacks this season in the NFL. With every throw and catch attributed to someone in coverage this season, here’s who played the best.

[Editor’s Note: The list below purely runs off our Player Grades, which are made available to all of our EDGE and ELITE subscribers.]

1. STEPHON GILMORE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

It was a career year for Gilmore whom Bill Belichick has taken to employing as a weapon in the secondary. New England shadowed receivers more than any other team in the NFL this season, and it was often Gilmore’s job to take away the other team’s top receiving threat. He tracked receivers in 13 games this year yet still only allowed 42 catches on 90 targets for 466 yards all year.

2. DESMOND KING II, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

The league’s preeminent slot cornerback at the moment, King simply doesn’t allow many first downs. On his 78 targets this past season, only 22 went for first downs. 81 cornerbacks allowed more first downs in their coverage this season.

3. CHRIS HARRIS JR., DENVER BRONCOS

Harris was at the top of his game before ending up on the IR. He may have only played 12 games, but he allowed a passer rating of only 63.6 when healthy. The Broncos corner was back to his stingy ways in the red zone once again, allowing only one touchdown on the year.

4. KAREEM JACKSON, HOUSTON TEXANS

It was a rough Wild Card weekend for Jackson, but during the regular season, he was the Swiss Army Knife for the Texans. Alternating between safety and corner, Jackson had a career revival this past season. He didn’t allow a touchdown all season long.

5. BYRON JONES, DALLAS COWBOYS

One of PFF’s top-10 breakout players from 2018, Jones season at corner was so dominant it makes you wonder why he ever was stuck at safety in the first place. PFF’s first-team All-Pro corner allowed a 53.6 percent catch rate and had 10 pass breakups.

6. JASON MCCOURTY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Yet another Patriots corner who had a career year. McCourty allowed a completion percentage of only 58.9 on the season, his lowest for a single season in his career. Arguably his most impressive stat on the year, though, was that McCourty committed one penalty all season long.

7. KYLE FULLER, CHICAGO BEARS

Fuller may not have been the stingiest cornerback in coverage this season, allowing 745 yards, but few had his playmaking ability. Fuller’s seven interceptions led the NFL while his 12 pass breakups were second at the position.

8. PATRICK PETERSON, ARIZONA CARDINALS

While the rest of the Arizona defense crumbled around him, Peterson continued his elite play. He allowed 30 catches all season long. That’s fewer than two per game. His 0.63 yards allowed per coverage snap was the lowest in the league.

9. BRYCE CALLAHAN, CHICAGO BEARS

Callahan made himself some money with his play for Chicago this season in the slot. His 0.72 yards per coverage snap was the fifth-lowest at the position in the NFL, and he only allowed a passer rating of 80.5 in his coverage.

10. JOHNATHAN JOSEPH, HOUSTON TEXANS

At 34 years old, Joseph had a bounce-back year in a big way. After allowing the highest passer rating in almost a decade last season, Joseph only allowed a passer rating of 76.0 this season.

11. PRINCE AMUKAMARA, CHICAGO BEARS

While Amukamara’s career has been plagued by injury, he’s been one of the most consistent corners in the NFL when healthy. That was finally the case again in 2018, and he earned a career-high grade because of it. Amukamara allowed a passer rating of 82.9 this past season.

12. DENZEL WARD, CLEVELAND BROWNS

The highest-graded rookie cornerback on this list, Ward lived up to his top-five billing. He allowed a catch rate of 53.7 and passer rating of 70.7 to immediately transform the Browns secondary. We’ll be seeing his name on this list for years to come.

13. MARLON HUMPHREY, BALTIMORE RAVENS

After a solid rookie season, Humphrey quite comfortably established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this year. His 52.5 catch rate allowed was the seventh-best in the league this season and his 22.5 percent forced incompletion rate was third-best.

14. CASEY HAYWARD JR., LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

It wasn’t quite the production we saw from Hayward in 2017, but some of that wasn’t his fault. Quarterbacks simply stopped targeting Hayward as much this season. He was the third-least targeted cornerback per coverage snap. The Chargers corner allowed only 32 catches all season.

15. PIERRE DESIR, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

While Desir had a career year in coverage, his ability against the run was key in the Colts’ cover-2 heavy defense. He finished the season with the second-best run defense grade of all corners.

16. XAVIEN HOWARD, MIAMI DOLPHINS

Howard had a very boom-or-bust season. His 50.9 percent catch rate was third-best in the NFL, but at the same time, his 16.2 yards per catch allowed was the second-worst among corners. Still, seven picks in only 12 games is pretty absurd production for the Dolphins corner.

17. A.J. BOUYE, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Bouye wasn’t near the level we saw over the last two seasons, but it’s difficult to complain about still being the 17th-best corner in the NFL. Bouye only allowed 417 yards on the season, but his 67.2 percent catch rate allowed was nearly 20 percentage points higher than a season ago.

18. DARIUS SLAY, DETROIT LIONS

The interceptions might not have been there this season, but targeting Slay still wasn’t beneficial for opposing quarterbacks this season. He had the sixth-best forced incompletion rate at 19.8 and was third in the NFL was 12 pass breakups.

19. TRUMAINE JOHNSON, NEW YORK JETS

After a down 2017, Johnson was once again at the top of his game when healthy. He played in only 10 games this season but still managed to nab four interceptions.

20. MARSHON LATTIMORE, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

It wasn’t the year Lattimore had hoped for after a dominant rookie season, but he had one of the toughest draws of any corner this season. Lattimore tracked Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Crabtree, Alshon Jeffery, Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper, Mike Evans and Antonio Brown this year.

21. STEVEN NELSON, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

He may have allowed the second-most yards of any cornerback in the NFL (825), but it’s only because he was targeted eight times more than any corner in the league. His 53.1 percent catch rate and 76.8 passer rating allowed show how good Nelson really was this year.

22. WILLIAM JACKSON III, CINCINNATI BENGALS

While the Bengals’ pass defense was atrocious, Jackson more than held his own. He allowed only 38 catches all season long and had 10 pass breakups on the year.

23. ADOREE’ JACKSON, TENNESSEE TITANS

Jackson was picked on ruthlessly in the Titans’ defense, getting 105 passes thrown his way this season. He continued his high-level of play, though, allowing a catch rate of 62.9 and had seven pass breakups.

24. JALEN RAMSEY, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

While Bouye took a small step back from 2017, Ramsey took an even bigger one. He allowed 163 more yards this season and had four fewer combined pass breakups and interceptions.

25. JAIRE ALEXANDER, GREEN BAY PACKERS

It was a rocky first year at times for Alexander, who also battled through injury, but the high-level play from him was as good as anyone in the NFL. His five pass breakup game against the Rams was one of the best from any corner this year.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

CB and WR are both positions where you should throw numbers at the problem because many of them can contribute on special teams while you're trying to figure out exactly what they can give you at their 'primary' positions. Tremon Smith is a good example of that thought in action. Hell, Tyreek Hill is in that category.

You don't have to hit often to make it worthwhile; If you can find a late round or UDFA guy every 2-3 years that will give you a couple of solid seasons after being coached up, you're well ahead of the game.

Yep. Tremon Smith ended up being one of the more productive 2018 Chief draft picks, despite playing only a handful of snaps at CB.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

CB and WR are both positions where you should throw numbers at the problem because many of them can contribute on special teams while you're trying to figure out exactly what they can give you at their 'primary' positions. Tremon Smith is a good example of that thought in action. Hell, Tyreek Hill is in that category.

You don't have to hit often to make it worthwhile; If you can find a late round or UDFA guy every 2-3 years that will give you a couple of solid seasons after being coached up, you're well ahead of the game.

I'm pretty certain that Tremon Smith can give you Steven Nelson level play day one next year.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I'm pretty certain that Tremon Smith can give you Steven Nelson level play day one next year.

HA! You're serious?

Did you watch anything Smith did? That dude was AWFUL out there.

Y'all really need to be more reasonable in your analysis of Nelson. Tremon Smith needs to get twice as good to be an even below average NFL cornerback. He was horrid as a CB.

He's nowhere even close to Nelson and if you cut him right now he'd get nothing more than a futures contract. Meanwhile Nelson is probably going to be one of the 3 highest paid CBs in FA this year.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Yep. Tremon Smith ended up being one of the more productive 2018 Chief draft picks, despite playing only a handful of snaps at CB.

Solid STs contributor, for sure.

Shiiiiiity cornerback though.

But again - I respect the effort and because of his STs contributions I'd absolutely keep him on the roster and continue to try to develop him. But he has a looooong way to go to be anything more than an emergency depth player in the secondary.

He was awful against the Seahawks.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

HA! You're serious?

Did you watch anything Smith did? That dude was AWFUL out there.

Y'all really need to be more reasonable in your analysis of Nelson. Tremon Smith needs to get twice as good to be an even below average NFL cornerback. He was horrid as a CB.

He's nowhere even close to Nelson and if you cut him right now he'd get nothing more than a futures contract. Meanwhile Nelson is probably going to be one of the 3 highest paid CBs in FA this year.

Two wrongs don't make a right corner.

FAX

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

HA! You're serious?

Did you watch anything Smith did? That dude was AWFUL out there.

Y'all really need to be more reasonable in your analysis of Nelson. Tremon Smith needs to get twice as good to be an even below average NFL cornerback. He was horrid as a CB.

He's nowhere even close to Nelson and if you cut him right now he'd get nothing more than a futures contract. Meanwhile Nelson is probably going to be one of the 3 highest paid CBs in FA this year.

Watch again. He actually made a play on the ball a couple of times, although he did get burnt a couple of times and missed at least one tackle badly. Same stuff you saw week in and week out from Nelson, minus the actually making a play on the ball.

I honestly think some of you don't watch the game. Nelson is at best a 3rd corner on a plus defense. personally, I think he's an okay 4th corner. That's not worth $12 million a year. Smith is young, and the second fastest player on the team. It's absolutely reasonable to think he will get better, and you can't coach speed.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Watch again. He actually made a play on the ball a couple of times, although he did get burnt a couple of times and missed at least one tackle badly. Same stuff you saw week in and week out from Nelson, minus the actually making a play on the ball.

I honestly think some of you don't watch the game. Nelson is at best a 3rd corner on a plus defense. personally, I think he's an okay 4th corner. That's not worth $12 million a year. Smith is young, and the second fastest player on the team. It's absolutely reasonable to think he will get better, and you can't coach speed.

Season ticket holder - saw more of 'the game' than you did, of that I am relatively certain. I just bothered actually paying attention to what the players were doing on a weekly basis.

Yes, Nelson got 'burnt a couple of times and missed tackles week in, week out'...that's why he made quarterbacks throwing in his direction the rough equivalent of Blake Bortles over the course of 16 games.

I HATED Nelson for years. I'd have very possibly cut him prior to this season after a miserable 2017. This isn't me seeing what I want to see because I never liked the guy from the moment we picked him and there are a couple of people I've argued loudly with about him in the past. I distinctly remember dismissing Jaelen Strong as a prospect because I saw tape of Nelson, who I called a firmly average college CB, holding him in check. I was unimpressed enough by Nelson that when he held Strong to a draw, I was convinced I didn't want Strong either.

But I actually paid attention to what the guy was doing out there this season instead of seeing what I wanted to see and saying absolutely ludicrious things like "Tremon Smith can be as good on Day 1 as Steven Nelson..."

That's just absurd and completely unsupportable by any objective measure.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Season ticket holder - saw more of 'the game' than you did, of that I am relatively certain. I just bothered actually paying attention to what the players were doing on a weekly basis.

Yes, Nelson got 'burnt a couple of times and missed tackles week in, week out'...that's why he made quarterbacks throwing in his direction the rough equivalent of Blake Bortles over the course of 16 games.

I HATED Nelson for years. I'd have very possibly cut him prior to this season after a miserable 2017. This isn't me seeing what I want to see because I never liked the guy from the moment we picked him and there are a couple of people I've argued loudly with about him in the past. I distinctly remember dismissing Jaelen Strong as a prospect because I saw tape of Nelson, who I called a firmly average college CB, holding him in check. I was unimpressed enough by Nelson that when he held Strong to a draw, I was convinced I didn't want Strong either.

But I actually paid attention to what the guy was doing out there this season instead of seeing what I wanted to see and saying absolutely ludicrious things like "Tremon Smith can be as good on Day 1 as Steven Nelson..."

That's just absurd and completely unsupportable by any objective measure.

Unless you are a season ticket holder in Seattle, then no, you didn't see more of the game than I did.

I think you overrate Nelson. And I think you underrate the potential of Smith. Tell me, did you think Ward was awful that game? Because i didn't. I saw real potential, I saw that he was in good position, could run with anybody, and just got burnt on a few all-pro throws from Russell Wilson. While so many here on the board screamed about how terrible he was, I counseled otherwise. The rest of the way, I think my assessment proved to be correct.

Nelson is small, not particularly fast for the position, has zero ball awareness and is a fundamentally bad tackler. He's at best a #3, more of a #4 corner type. He's not trash, but he's not worth anywhere near what someone will pay him. I think Smith has better size, much better speed, and has shown some ball awareness. So yeah, I think you can absolutely project him to produce at Nelson's level. Furthermore, i think you HAVE TO. In order to build teams, you draft and DEVELOP. It's the whole key.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Unless you are a season ticket holder in Seattle, then no, you didn't see more of the game than I did.

I think you overrate Nelson. And I think you underrate the potential of Smith. Tell me, did you think Ward was awful that game? Because i didn't. I saw real potential, I saw that he was in good position, could run with anybody, and just got burnt on a few all-pro throws from Russell Wilson. While so many here on the board screamed about how terrible he was, I counseled otherwise. The rest of the way, I think my assessment proved to be correct.

Nelson is small, not particularly fast for the position, has zero ball awareness and is a fundamentally bad tackler. He's at best a #3, more of a #4 corner type. He's not trash, but he's not worth anywhere near what someone will pay him. I think Smith has better size, much better speed, and has shown some ball awareness. So yeah, I think you can absolutely project him to produce at Nelson's level. Furthermore, i think you HAVE TO. In order to build teams, you draft and DEVELOP. It's the whole key.

You were speaking generally when you said "I don't think some of you watch the game", that's why I hook quoted it.

As for Ward - I absolutely liked what I saw there and mentioned his performance as soon as the game ended. I really thought we had a player there and came away from that game very impressed by his day, though disappointed that he was taking the flack he was for it (said as much 'round here, in fact).

I believe you're conflating ball awareness with awareness in space and the latter is what determines floor. You seem to believe that because Nelson doesn't get his head around well (he does not) that he doesn't have very good innate feel for the position - that's just not true. He recognizes route combos well and is very comfortable in space. That's why he had such a good season in the slot in '16. He reads breaks well and knows how to use his angles well.

Nelson has very good awareness in space - it's why he was among the better slot DBs in football in '16 and again had a good season in '18 despite your refusal to acknowledge same. Smith, OTOH, really struggled to feel his depth and feel/recognize breaks. You say that he can develop it but he damn sure isn't doing it in the offseason and he's nothing CLOSE to Nelson in that regard right now.

Yes, his ceiling is higher than Nelsons, but right now his foundation is sand. I have a player grading system I've stolen from Hockeysfuture and I love it, it's a combination of ceiling and odds of getting there. Nelson's ceiling is a 7ish player; solid regular starter. And he's actually been there but there are no guarantees of him repeating it. So I'd give him a 7.0(B); maybe a 6.5(B-) as a guy with a solid if unspectacular ceiling with a reasonably decent chance, though no guarantees, of repeating that performance. A guy like Peterson would be a 9.5(A-) with the minus only due to him getting a little older for a CB.

Tremon Smith is something like an 8.0(D-). The odds of him ever getting near his ceiling are INCREDIBLY long and its because he has an issue that, if not fixed (generally poor spatial awareness) makes him virtually unplayable. Sure, because of his speed and solid build, if he fixes that he could be much more than Nelson. But Nelson has a foundation of generally good overall awareness to build on that Smith simply doesn't.

And no, that's not something that most players just get. If that were the case, the NFL draft would be about drafting athletes and little else. There's a reason Tremon Smith played for Central Arkansas and didn't go until the 6th despite premier measureables - dude just doesn't feel the game very well and there's not a great reason to believe he will. That doesn't mean you don't keep trying, but you damn sure don't expect it.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You were speaking generally when you said "I don't think some of you watch the game", that's why I hook quoted it.

As for Ward - I absolutely liked what I saw there and mentioned his performance as soon as the game ended. I really thought we had a player there and came away from that game very impressed by his day, though disappointed that he was taking the flack he was for it (said as much 'round here, in fact).

I believe you're conflating ball awareness with awareness in space and the latter is what determines floor. You seem to believe that because Nelson doesn't get his head around well (he does not) that he doesn't have very good innate feel for the position - that's just not true. He recognizes route combos well and is very comfortable in space. That's why he had such a good season in the slot in '16. He reads breaks well and knows how to use his angles well.

Nelson has very good awareness in space - it's why he was among the better slot DBs in football in '16 and again had a good season in '18 despite your refusal to acknowledge same. Smith, OTOH, really struggled to feel his depth and feel/recognize breaks. You say that he can develop it but he damn sure isn't doing it in the offseason and he's nothing CLOSE to Nelson in that regard right now.

Yes, his ceiling is higher than Nelsons, but right now his foundation is sand. I have a player grading system I've stolen from Hockeysfuture and I love it, it's a combination of ceiling and odds of getting there. Nelson's ceiling is a 7ish player; solid regular starter. And he's actually been there but there are no guarantees of him repeating it. So I'd give him a 7.0(B); maybe a 6.5(B-) as a guy with a solid if unspectacular ceiling with a reasonably decent chance, though no guarantees, of repeating that performance. A guy like Peterson would be a 9.5(A-) with the minus only due to him getting a little older for a CB.

Tremon Smith is something like an 8.0(D-). The odds of him ever getting near his ceiling are INCREDIBLY long and its because he has an issue that, if not fixed (generally poor spatial awareness) makes him virtually unplayable. Sure, because of his speed and solid build, if he fixes that he could be much more than Nelson. But Nelson has a foundation of generally good overall awareness to build on that Smith simply doesn't.

And no, that's not something that most players just get. If that were the case, the NFL draft would be about drafting athletes and little else. There's a reason Tremon Smith played for Central Arkansas and didn't go until the 6th despite premier measureables - dude just doesn't feel the game very well and there's not a great reason to believe he will. That doesn't mean you don't keep trying, but you damn sure don't expect it.

Again, I think your memory of THE GAME (the one that Smith had his only meaningful extended PT on defense) is incorrect. He missed two tackles badly but not because he was not in position. He made a couple of nice plays in the middle of the field in which he had perfect 'trail tech' and slapped the ball out. And he got burnt on a couple, just like Ward. Other than the badly missed tackles, he looked pretty good. There's nothing there to indicate that he can't get himself into position.

And again, I don't care what PFF says, the fact that everyone threw at Nelson tells me they felt it was the weak spot and that his shit ball awareness was gonna mean a big gain or a DPI, making that a low risk/high reward strategy.

I hope wherever he goes, we play him and can watch Tyreek torch him all game long.

[Shoes]

Nelson gets more flack around here then he probably should- I think he is an above average cornerback but I'm not necessarily going to be upset if the Chiefs don't extend and pay him. Going into next season though the only players the Chiefs have at the corner position are:

Fuller
Ward
Smith

Even if you pencil a higher draft pick into the mix, I think you're still looking at bringing in and signing a veteran corner. If you could keep Nelson at a reasonable price I would definitely keep him. Valuable to have a corner that has experience in the slot or on the outside- I just think with the season he had he will probably price himself out of Kansas City.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Shoes

Nelson gets more flack around here then he probably should- I think he is an above average cornerback but I'm not necessarily going to be upset if the Chiefs don't extend and pay him. Going into next season though the only players the Chiefs have at the corner position are:

Fuller
Ward
Smith

Even if you pencil a higher draft pick into the mix, I think you're still looking at bringing in and signing a veteran corner. If you could keep Nelson at a reasonable price I would definitely keep him. Valuable to have a corner that has experience in the slot or on the outside- I just think with the season he had he will probably price himself out of Kansas City.

Nelson's going to get paid a lot, and in my opinion a lot more than he's worth.

Any FA pickup is likely to be a lower priced over 30 vet with a little left in the tank. Like if Scandrick hadn't sucked.

Ain't gonna be no Ramsey's or Patrick Peterson's.

We're going to have to draft and develop CB's. They're too overvalued on the market.

[FAX]

This is sad. We're debating the relative worthiness of players who are objectively average (at best).

Let's stop settling for middling, mediocre play. Let's think in terms of fielding a #1 defense which will match up better with our #1 offense. Like a nice scarlet club tie with a well-tailored, grey pinstripe suit.

Nelson may have made PFFs greatest hits or their Hot 100 (or whatever), but so what?

This reminds me of us debating the potential of starting Chiefs quarterbacks who didn't even belong in the league. And we did that for years. Decades, actually.

Enough, already. We need to elevate our goals here.

FAX

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Again, I think your memory of THE GAME (the one that Smith had his only meaningful extended PT on defense) is incorrect. He missed two tackles badly but not because he was not in position. He made a couple of nice plays in the middle of the field in which he had perfect 'trail tech' and slapped the ball out. And he got burnt on a couple, just like Ward. Other than the badly missed tackles, he looked pretty good. There's nothing there to indicate that he can't get himself into position.

And again, I don't care what PFF says, the fact that everyone threw at Nelson tells me they felt it was the weak spot and that his shit ball awareness was gonna mean a big gain or a DPI, making that a low risk/high reward strategy.

I hope wherever he goes, we play him and can watch Tyreek torch him all game long.

Completion% and QB Rating against isn't some high-faluting PFF stat, man. It's a pretty straightforward analysis and I don't understand how you can just hand-waive it. I've said in this very thread that I don't trust a lot of what PFF does and don't consider it anything close to dispositive, but as a point of reference and when combined with other objective measurements, it's worth looking at.

And Ward didn't get 'burned' a couple times in that game - he had himself in perfect position on the 2 big plays made over him (pretty sure it was Baldwin that got him on both) but Wilson just made unbelievable throws to find a hole where there shouldn't have been one. That throw down the right sideline made me want to just give the kid a hug - he did EVERYTHING right. Stayed in the guy's pocket, pressed the boundary, got his head around and contested the catch - it did everything you could reasonably ask and got beat by a perfect throw/great catch. I believe the one down near the goalline was Baldwin hauling it in with one hand and again, Ward was right there. Sometimes you're the bug but I won't say that Ward was 'burned' on those plays.

Ward was demonstrably better in that game and I don't think it was even a close question. Ward looked like he belonged out there and Smith seemed like he was more of a dog chasing tires. He was occasionally able to use his athleticism to get there but he was a double move and deep TD waiting to happen.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Completion% and QB Rating against isn't some high-faluting PFF stat, man. It's a pretty straightforward analysis and I don't understand how you can just hand-waive it. I've said in this very thread that I don't trust a lot of what PFF does and don't consider it anything close to dispositive, but as a point of reference and when combined with other objective measurements, it's worth looking at.

And Ward didn't get 'burned' a couple times in that game - he had himself in perfect position on the 2 big plays made over him (pretty sure it was Baldwin that got him on both) but Wilson just made unbelievable throws to find a hole where there shouldn't have been one. That throw down the right sideline made me want to just give the kid a hug - he did EVERYTHING right. Stayed in the guy's pocket, pressed the boundary, got his head around and contested the catch - it did everything you could reasonably ask and got beat by a perfect throw/great catch. I believe the one down near the goalline was Baldwin hauling it in with one hand and again, Ward was right there. Sometimes you're the bug but I won't say that Ward was 'burned' on those plays.

Ward was demonstrably better in that game and I don't think it was even a close question. Ward looked like he belonged out there and Smith seemed like he was more of a dog chasing tires. He was occasionally able to use his athleticism to get there but he was a double move and deep TD waiting to happen.

I disagree completely.

Except on Ward. I like the kid a lot.