Most Overrated and Underrated Cornerbacks in the NFL

Ever since the league has started to turn into more and more of a passing league, the cornerback has become one of the sexier positions in the NFL.

The trouble is, the media focuses on a few of the guys we perceive to be good, some of them justifiably so, but they also overlook a lot of the guys playing at very high levels.

Let's take a look at some of the big names and delve into some of the lesser-known guys you should keep an eye on.

Antoine Winfield

A long-time veteran that a surprising number of people are not familiar with.

Winfield is not the best in terms of pure coverage in the NFL, but as Pro Football Focus points out, Winfield does everything well. In the 2010 season, Winfield allowed only 7.8 yards per reception last season—the lowest mark in the NFL outside of Asante Samuel's ridiculous 7.4.

Cornerbacks aren't just responsible for covering receivers however, helping in the run is a must for any good corner, and few are better than Winfield. In terms of statistics, he only allowed 3.5 yards per run play he was in on—fifth among cornerbacks.

On the field, you can see the difference Winfield makes. He doesn't miss tackles. And by doesn't miss, I mean Winfield did not miss a single tackle last year. He was the only defensive back (with any reasonable snap count) to do so.

Verdict: Underrated.

Asante Samuel

Asante Samuel is overrated. There I said it.

This is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way, and it shouldn't. Samuel has obviously been one of the best cover corners in the NFL, especially when it comes to picking off the ball. Of that, no one should have any doubts. However, when it comes to tackling, Samuel is downright dreadful. He's like the anti-Antoine Winfield.

In 2010, Samuel missed 10 tackles, which was the second worst in the league. That's better than the previous year however, in 2009, Samuel somehow managed to miss an absurd 19 tackles. Samuel seems to dislike contact and struggles wrapping up people in the open field. This makes him a massive liability in run coverage.

But on the other hand, Asante Samuel was tops in the league in pass coverage last year, having a stop rate of 71 percent.

The verdict: Beautiful in coverage, overrated as an all-around corner. 

Brandon Carr/Brandon Flowers

This duo of cornerbacks has quietly developed into one of the best starting tandems in the league.

Flowers has gotten much more recognition over the past couple of years, though his abilities as a top all-around corner are not held nearly as highly in regard as they should be. Scouts love him to death, while the media continues to praise him as a developing young player.

Matt Williams of Scout Inc. actually went so far to say that in the first half of last season, Flowers played "terrific football. He’s played better than (New York Jets Darrelle) Revis and as good as Nnamdi (Oakland’s Asomugha). He’s been that good.”

The go-to scout for ESPN also said he thought Flowers "should be in the top five" when the site released it's top 10 cornerbacks power rankings. He's also known to be one of the most exceptional tacklers in the entire league, missing only one all year on 60-plus attempts. 

Brandon Carr is a name even a lot of regular football fans don't know and is overshadowed to some extent by Flowers and the rest of the ridiculous cornerback play in the AFC West. Carr actually led the league in pass deflections last year with 25 and was targeted 105 times, one of the most out of any corner in the league.

In coverage, Carr was good, allowing only a 45.9 completion percentage against himself. He isn't a top 10 corner in the league, but he's one of the very best second corners in the game and would be in high demand if he ever hit free agency. 

Verdict: Underrated

DeAngelo Hall

In what can only be an inside joke between all the NFC players, coaches, and fans, DeAngelo Hall somehow made the probowl this year.

It goes to show how reputation carries more weight than anything in this votes now. He had an impressive game against the Bears, when Jay Cutler was personally air-mailing him to the Pro Bowl. That's where it ends. He's often been described as a "feast or famine" type of cornerback, known for taking risks to make big plays.

Unfortunately, that's not really a part of the job description. Hall allowed eight touchdowns (the most of any CB) this year for his six interceptions, four of which were obviously in the game against the Bears. That's a lot of famine. On average, a completion at Hall yielded 13.2 yards.

That's as if Antonio Gates is lining up against him every play for the entire year. He allowed a mind-boggling 73.7 percent of passes to be completed on him. Football Outsiders said he might have been the worst cornerback all year.

It still baffles me how anyone thinks Hall is good. Or even decent. He was the eighth overall selection in his class, and his performance so far suggests he might have been worthy of a seventh-rounder or shouldn't have been drafted at all.

The verdict: So overrated it hurts.