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tony hipchest
06-22-2010, 10:53 PM
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d818c4908&template=with-video-with-comments&c


I think we can all accept the fact that the NFL is a passing league. In the Super Bowl last year there were 84 pass attempts for 621 yards and just 37 rushing plays for 150 yards. Despite all of those passing attempts, the game featured only one sack. The smart teams are building up their secondary even when they already have a solid unit. The Jets had a top-flight secondary last year, and still traded for Antonio Cromartie (http://www.nfl.com/players/antoniocromartie/profile?id=CRO161100) and drafted Kyle Wilson (http://www.nfl.com/players/kylewilson/profile?id=WIL741575) in the first round. Defensive backs are tricky to evaluate. There are only four on the field during the early downs in the base defense, but the defense can shift to the nickel, featuring five defensive backs, at any time. In fact, the nickel back is a primary starter more than you would think in the modern game. When an offense goes to four wide receivers or employs its hurry-up offense, the secondary can even go to six players on the field.
http://static.nfl.com/static/content/catch_all/nfl_image/c_woodson_100110_300.jpg Kevin Terrell / Associated Press Charles Woodson (http://www.nfl.com/players/charleswoodson/profile?id=WOO661523) leads a Packers secondary that rates as the league's best entering next season. Top five 2010 secondaries
Team

Returning starters

2009 INTs

2009 TDs allowed

Packers

4

30

29

Jets

3

17

8

Saints

4

26

15

Bengals

4

19

18

Bills

4

28

14

Given the importance of the defensive backfield, I thought I would try to rank the top five secondaries for 2010 based on the following criteria:
1. Prerformance in 2009. This was based on how opposing passers performed against them in terms of yards per pass attempt, completion percentage, passes attempted, number of 20-plus yard pass plays, 40-plus yard pass plays, sacks and passer rating.
2. Additions and subtractions in the offseason.
3. Production of the starting cornerbacks.
4. Are the safeties interchangeable?
5. The quality of the nickel back.
6. The depth to build a dime defense.
7. The presence of a lockdown corner.
8. The presence of an elite safety.
Based on the above criteria, here are the top eight secondaries from last season: Jets, Bills, Bengals, Packers, Saints, Eagles, Panthers, and Broncos.
As for additions and subtractions, the Jets brought in Cromartie and Wilson at cornerback, but lost safety Kerry Rhodes (http://www.nfl.com/players/kerryrhodes/profile?id=RHO457261). The Bills have maintained the same personnel as last year. The Bengals added cornerback Brandon Ghee (http://www.nfl.com/players/brandonghee/profile?id=GHE250267) in the draft. Green Bay added depth with safety Morgan Burnett (http://www.nfl.com/players/morganburnett/profile?id=BUR426788) in the draft, and veteran corner Al Harris is expected to return. New Orleans drafted CB Patrick Robinson and may have the most secondary depth in the league. The Eagles drafted safety Nate Allen, and he's already penciled in to start because of an injury to Marlon Jackson. They also traded starting corner Sheldon Brown. The Panthers traded away safety Chris Harris and really didn't help themselves in the draft until the late rounds. The Broncos didn't add anyone to the mix until the fifth round, so they are essentially going with what they had in 2009.
Taking a look at the starting tandem of cornerbacks, three teams jumped out right away. The Eagles got 14 interceptions, 33 passes defended and two forced fumbles from the tandem of Asante Samuel (http://www.nfl.com/players/asantesamuel/profile?id=SAM616410) and Sheldon Brown (now in Cleveland). The Packers got 14 interceptions, 33 passes defended and four forced fumbles between Charles Woodson, Al Harris and Tramon Williams (http://www.nfl.com/players/tramonwilliams/profile?id=WIL545231). Harris started the first 10 games opposite Woodson, before getting hurt and Williams taking over. Green Bay also started three corners at times. The Bengals got 12 interceptions, 44 passes defended and three forced fumbles from starters Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall (http://www.nfl.com/players/leonhall/profile?id=HAL432931).
The best safeties in the league are Troy Polamalu (http://www.nfl.com/players/troypolamalu/profile?id=POL041872) and Ed Reed (http://www.nfl.com/players/edreed/profile?id=REE192451), but they both play for teams with questions at corner. The Colts get Bob Sanders back and have two quality starters in Antoine Bethea (http://www.nfl.com/players/antoinebethea/profile?id=BET074391) and Melvin Bullitt (http://www.nfl.com/players/melvinbullitt/profile?id=BUL417373). The Packers got 10 interceptions from their starting safeties last year. The Bills discovered rookie Jairus Byrd (http://www.nfl.com/players/jairusbyrd/profile?id=BYR449897) and his nine interceptions. Darren Sharper (http://www.nfl.com/players/darrensharper/profile?id=SHA500479) may be long in the tooth, but his nine interceptions and three touchdowns put him in an elite group.
When it comes to that all important third corner, Drayton Florence (http://www.nfl.com/players/draytonflorence/profile?id=FLO150404) of the Bills, Dwight Lowery (http://www.nfl.com/players/dwightlowery/profile?id=LOW556220) of the Jets, the Packers' Williams, Orlando Scandrick (http://www.nfl.com/players/orlandoscandrick/profile?id=SCA335249) of the Cowboys, Aaron Ross (http://www.nfl.com/players/aaronross/profile?id=ROS527992) of the Giants, Brent Grimes (http://www.nfl.com/players/brentgrimes/profile?id=GRI674817) of the Falcons, and Malcolm Jenkins (http://www.nfl.com/players/malcolmjenkins/profile?id=JEN372222) (who might move to safety) of the Saints are a cut above the rest.
As for which teams have a lockdown corner, that rare player who can eliminate the opposition's go-to receiver, there just aren't many available. The Packers' Woodson, the Jets' Darrelle Revis (http://www.nfl.com/players/darrellerevis/profile?id=REV515344) and maybe still the Broncos' Champ Bailey (http://www.nfl.com/players/champbailey/profile?id=BAI582194) fit the bill.
http://static.nfl.com/static/content//catch_all/nfl_image/nfl_Commissioner_ST_235x60_v02.jpg (http://fantasy.nfl.com/draftcenter/mockdrafts?icampaign=fantasyteaser_v2_235x60_artic le)

From all of the above factors, I have compiled a list of the top five secondaries entering next season:
1. Packers -- They have three excellent corners in Woodson, Williams and Harris. They had outstanding production from their safeties last year and added one in the draft. They got 24 interceptions from their starters last year, despite ranking only 11th in sacks.
2. Jets -- They might have been No. 1 if they had kept Rhodes. They are great at corner with Revis and Cromartie, and in the nickel with Lowery or rookie Wilson. They will be a top dime defense. They had the fewest sacks of the five teams that made this list with 31, but they were tops in completion percentage defense and yards per pass attempt allowed.
3. Saints -- Depth makes their secondary very attractive. They score fast on offense and most teams are playing catch-up against them, so nickel and dime defenses are critical. Tracey Porter, Jabari Greer (http://www.nfl.com/players/jabarigreer/profile?id=GRE654582), rookie Patrick Robinson, and Jenkins make their corner depth excellent. Sharper is joined by Roman Harper (http://www.nfl.com/players/romanharper/profile?id=HAR293034) and Usama Young (http://www.nfl.com/players/usamayoung/profile?id=YOU614589) at safety. The Saints saw 73 more passes than the Jets did in 2009 and 34 more than the Packers, which affected the stats.
4. Bengals -- A terrific pair of starting corners (Hall and Joseph), a solid corner pickup in the draft (Ghee), and underrated safeties Chris Crocker (http://www.nfl.com/players/chriscrocker/profile?id=CRO017900) and Chinedum Ndukwe (http://www.nfl.com/players/chinedumndukwe/profile?id=NDU344714) make up a solid secondary. Roy Williams has a place in the secondary, but they may be better off without him. The Bengals generated only 34 sacks last year and that number should improve this season, thus helping the secondary.
5. Bills -- I can't believe they let defensive coordinator Perry Fewell go this offseason. They had the second-ranked pass defense, nabbed 28 interceptions, which was second to Green Bay's 30, and only allowed 14 touchdown passes.
I'm sure some other team will make its way into the top five by season's end, and here is my honorable mention list of teams I expect have a chance: Carolina, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Minnesota and Philadelphia. It's tough to make the Super Bowl without an elite secondary, so these teams should have a leg up.

tony hipchest
06-22-2010, 10:54 PM
while it would be absurd to include the steelers in this pre-season ranking, based on last years stats, i see no reason why they wont regain the depth and form of the 2008 championship team that had the #1 pass defense in the league.

steeldawg
06-22-2010, 10:58 PM
If troy stays healthy.

steeldevil
06-22-2010, 11:02 PM
If Troy can stay on the field our secondary should be top 5. If not, it could be top 15, maybe?

polamalubeast
06-23-2010, 06:13 AM
If I remember, Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger have not had too much misery against the Packers.:coffee::rolleyes2:

The Packers not deserve to be number 1, as long they are going to be bad against the great QB.

The Duke
06-23-2010, 07:03 AM
If I remember, Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger have not had too much misery against the Packers.:coffee::rolleyes2:

The Packers not deserve to be number 1, as long they are going to be bad against the great QB.

True, the packers D is tough for young/bad qbs. They try to use a lot of confusion like the steelers do, but their secondary isn't exactly great

Woodson is a turnover machine, true, but he gets burned a lot. He's still going at age 33 and at a high level so you can't blame him. Their free safety collins is the same, causes turnovers but gets burned a lot. Bigby not even need to mention, big hitter but sucks in coverage. A rookie is said to be giving him a lot of competition. Williams is ok, nothing special, but harris may not come back until midseason, if that....

I'd put the saints at #1. Adding pat robinson only makes them better

stillers4me
06-23-2010, 07:45 AM
I have to grudgingly admit that I was envious of the Bungles secondary last year. Hall and Joseph have become a deadly combination.

CantStop85
06-23-2010, 08:46 AM
I have to gridgingly admit that I was envious of the Bungles secondary last year. Hall and Joseph have become a deadly combination.

The Bengals' cornerbacks should be really good again this season, especially if Adam Jones is as impressive as everyone has reported during mini-camp. Safety is the big question, though. They have four guys who have been pretty good (Roy Williams, Chris Crocker, Chinedum Ndukwe, Gibril Wilson), but none of them has really established themselves as an irreplaceable starter. Should be interesting to see how Zimmer ends up utilizing these guys. This is the one position on the team where I wish they had drafted a young guy to groom.

Psycho Ward 86
06-23-2010, 10:07 AM
This writer is another fail.

"2. Jets -- They might have been No. 1 if they had kept Rhodes."......lol yeah that must really suck to get rid of the achille's heel of last year's #1 defense

5. Bills -- I can't believe they let defensive coordinator Perry Fewell go this offseason. They had the second-ranked pass defense....that happens often when your defense has the 30th ranked run defense in the league. That's like saying the Broncos had a good pass defense last year.

The Duke
06-23-2010, 10:13 AM
The Bengals' cornerbacks should be really good again this season, especially if Adam Jones is as impressive as everyone has reported during mini-camp. Safety is the big question, though. They have four guys who have been pretty good (Roy Williams, Chris Crocker, Chinedum Ndukwe, Gibril Wilson), but none of them has really established themselves as an irreplaceable starter. Should be interesting to see how Zimmer ends up utilizing these guys. This is the one position on the team where I wish they had drafted a young guy to groom.

I don't think even LeBeau can do something about that guy. :chuckle:

What have you heard about his progress with the bengals?

Psycho Ward 86
06-23-2010, 10:28 AM
I don't think even LeBeau can do something about that guy. :chuckle:

What have you heard about his progress with the bengals?

still i gotta admit im a little envious of their safety depth. Seriously lol, what do we have behind Ryan and Troy

Vincent
06-23-2010, 10:56 AM
"The best safeties in the league are Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed, but they both play for teams with questions at corner."

I disagree with the premise of the article and that statement in particular. They both play for teams that play team defense. With the arguable exception of those two, the scheme is the reason for ours and the rats' success on defense. The scheme doesn't require the very best CBs.

Our 2008 results speak for themselves. 157 yds /game passing; 23 yds less that the 2nd place rats. We gave up 12 passing TDs and picked 20. That is scheme, not corners. As Papa LeBeau said, our defense isn't about "splash plays". Its about keeping them from completing passes. I'll take that to any of the fantasy secondaries. And the defense that produced those numbers is the defense that will likely play for us in 2010.

CantStop85
06-23-2010, 10:59 AM
I don't think even LeBeau can do something about that guy. :chuckle:

What have you heard about his progress with the bengals?
Not a whole lot yet...hasn't been spectacular, hasn't been terrible. Odds are good that he'll just be a backup barring injury. He's been disappointing as a starter in the NFL, but I like having a guy like him in a reserve role, especially with the injury histories of Roy Williams and Chris Crocker.