• A new name atop the rankings: Rasul Douglas continues to grade highly and prevent separation. He allowed a touchdown on a pick route against the Broncos in Week 7 but was excellent otherwise, making a pass stop and allowing just two catches for 11 yards.
• Brian Branch remains in the top five: The Lions rookie returned to action this week after missing the past two games. It was a game to forget for the team, but Branch continued to prevent separation and now owns the top mark in SCOE. He allowed a touchdown on a scramble drill but made two pass stops.
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Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
If quarterback is the most important position on the football field, then limiting the effectiveness of that player is the most important thing a defense can do.
A team can do this in two ways: It can pressure the passer to disrupt his timing, rhythm and accuracy, or it can shut down the opposing receivers.
Each week, after every NFL game is graded and reviewed, PFF will check in on the top cornerbacks of the 2023 season. These rankings will drastically change over the first month, as one interception, one missed tackle or one deep completion can dramatically alter a player's grade when the sample size is small. But as snap counts rise, the grades will stabilize, and we'll get a clearer picture of the league's best corners.
These rankings will combine PFF coverage grades with our Successful Coverage Over Expected (SCOE) data, which looks at how well each coverage defender performed on non-targeted coverage snaps, as we grade every coverage defender’s ability to prevent separation whether they are targeted on the play or not.
Here are the top 32 cornerbacks for the 2023 season through Week 7. For more grades and statistics on the league's best cornerbacks, check out PFF Premium Stats.
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