Brent Grimes Back on Track as Pro Bowl-Caliber CB for Dolphins

How a general manager builds their team is one of the most important aspects of cultivating a sustained winner over long periods of time. Recent trends suggest that the positions with the most value include quarterback, pass-rusher and cornerback.

This makes sense, as only one team in the NFL currently runs the ball more often than passing the ball, so a premium is placed on being a productive passing offense and defense.

When the Miami Dolphins signed cornerback Brent Grimes on March 30th, 2013, the acquisition was a buy-low move by the franchise. Grimes was coming off a torn Achilles for the Atlanta Falcons, and at 30 years old, it would be tough to know how much athleticism he’d retain.

Twelve months and a Pro Bowl nod later, Grimes received a much richer contract, worth nearly six times more than the one-year deal he had signed with the Dolphins previously.

The four-year, $32 million deal guaranteed the 31-year-old $16 million, which can be a scary proposition considering his age and timing of his bounce-back season for Miami. A rule of thumb that’s commonly referred to is that it’s important to pay for the production that will occur, not what has come in the past.

The 2014 season began in rocky fashion for Grimes, where he allowed 64.7 percent of all targets to be completed to his assignment for two touchdowns and a whopping 100.8 quarterback rating against him, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Although buyer’s remorse would have been too strong of a statement, those numbers indicate that Grimes had regressed physically to the point where he was just an average cornerback who Miami was paying handsomely.

At the midway point of the season, those worries are no longer on the tip of anyone’s tongue, as Grimes has been flat-out dominant in his play since the return of safety Reshad Jones. Jones’ insertion into the defense has allowed defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle to utilize more coverage looks that challenge the offense more than his famous off-man scheme.

Miami is mixing in more Cover 3 elements to use Jones in more roles, as well as blitzing. When the offense has less time to wait for receivers to get open, cornerbacks as good as Grimes feast. Take a look at Grimes’ 2013 16-game production compared to his 2014 numbers through just eight games.

	Tackles	Interceptions	Passes Defensed
2013 Stats	52	4	16
2014 Stats	33	4	9

The raw numbers are great but only tell a part of the story. Similar to the microscope that we put on receiver Brian Hartline last week, we are going to really dig into how Grimes is playing in 2014, using the game film available through NFL.com’s Game Rewind subscription.

Similar to the Hartline evaluation, I went through every defensive snap and charted how well Grimes provided coverage. Based on the results found, which we will dive into next, Grimes is well on his way to his second Pro Bowl as a Dolphins player.

Burn Percentage

Statistics are nice but limited, as are the advanced numbers that are produced by services across the internet. It’s hard to quantify how well a defensive back is playing because there are only a few very basic measures in place, such as targets, catches allowed, interceptions, etc.

With the limitations of a television broadcast, which often cuts out the defensive backs when the quarterback has the ball, interceptions have become the standard for which they are judged as a whole.

The issue with that mindset is that a cornerback cannot log interceptions if they aren’t being targeted. Not every catch allowed was due to poor positioning. Also, cornerbacks are seldom targeted if they are a smothering presence in coverage.

So, I developed the term burn percentage to help give context on how well a cornerback is playing in coverage and did a benchmark study on NFL prospects playing in college. You can find my original blog post here for more information on how it is calculated.

Although I haven’t accumulated enough scores to have definitive benchmarks, the table below reflects baseline marks for quality cornerback burn percentage scores for NFL cornerbacks.

Classification	Benchmark	No. of Qualifying Players in 2013
Elite	<20%	1
Above Average	20-30%	4
Average or Worse	30%+	N/A

While playing in zone coverage, cornerbacks are less likely to lose their individual matchup, since they are responsible for a set area of the field, and the receiver may leave that zone quickly. Off-man coverage, which Miami often employs, also has plays that are excluded from this study, such as quick slants, because there is no way for the cornerback to overcome the limitation of the coverage scheme.

Not every play is a qualifying snap in coverage, which is important as we look at the chart below.

Route Defended	No. of Losses	No. of Routes Defended	Burn Percentage
Cross	1	4	25%
Quick In/Out (1)	2	12	16%
Slant (2)	3	9	33%
Comeback (3)	3	8	37.5%
Curl (4)	0	16	0%
Deep Out (5)	2	6	33%
Dig (6)	2	6	33%
Corner (7)	0	1	0%
Post (8)	1	4	25%
Go (9)	3	25	12%

As detailed above, Grimes has been incredibly effective this season, losing just 22 percent of all of his qualifying coverage snaps. For a collegiate cornerback, this would be on the edge of an excellent grade, but this is the NFL.

If he can continue at this pace, he would rank in the top three scores of all starting cornerbacks that I charted in 2013 and just behind his grade of 20 percent last season. Grimes finished second in the NFL in this category, just two points behind Seattle’s Richard Sherman.

NFL Game Rewind

The most surprising strength of Grimes is his ability to competently defend the deep ball, despite possessing less than stellar straight-line speed. He’s lost twice on double moves, as he likes to jump routes to force turnovers.

This is a gamble that he’s earned the right to use at his own discretion, as he’s proved in each of the last two weeks. Two out of the three interceptions he’s logged in that time have come from jumping routes.

Footwork

Standing just 5’10” and 180 pounds, Grimes must rely on his technique and quickness to be an outside cornerback at this level of competition. Throughout his career he’s been able to perfect his balance and movement, limiting the wasted steps that routinely cost other cornerbacks valuable positioning for the ball.

NFL Game Rewind

This is what allows him to match up against big receivers like Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Dwayne Bowe, Keenan Allen and Malcom Floyd. Grimes’ film is filled with him running the routes as if he were the receiver on the play, which is a testament to his work ethic and mastering of his technique.

His lack of bulk is only a concern when he’s being blocked in the run game.

Grimes also has great burst toward the ball as it arrives. He plays the ball like a receiver, keeping his head turned to find it mid-air, then closes quickly. He’s able to be physical throughout his coverage because of his ball awareness, which shows that he will make a strong play for the ball to avoid any penalties.

There has only been one receiver that gave Grimes issues for more than a random play here and there, and that was Jordy Nelson of the Packers. Nelson is similar to Grimes in that he is an elite technician, but he differs from Grimes because he’s also a top-notch natural athlete in his prime years.

Grimes has played nearly exclusively as the Dolphins left cornerback no matter his opponent, but he followed Nelson for the entire Packers game, logging two snaps in the slot and 10 as the right cornerback.

NFL Game Rewind

That’s out of respect to Nelson’s tremendous abilities. Grimes played nearly as well as anyone has on Nelson this season, limiting him to eight catches and 98 yards, per PFF (subscription required). Outside of Nelson, Grimes has yet to find a formidable opponent who can consistently outwork him to the catch point.

Ball Awareness

What really makes Grimes a rare playmaker at cornerback is his ability to locate the ball with amazing mind and body synchronization. His eyes read the route and where the quarterback is looking, and when the ball is released, his body reacts without pause. That’s the key to being a defensive weapon at the position.

NFL Game Rewind

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8, Grimes abused rookie Blake Bortles on the interception above. As Bortles released the ball, Grimes flipped his body and stretched out to pluck the ball out of mid-air. It was beautiful, leading to an easy interception return for a touchdown.

It’s rare to find Grimes not looking for the ball when he’s downfield in coverage. It’s an innate ability that seems to come naturally and helps overcome physical disadvantages for players like Grimes. Of course, confidence is a major reason for success as well, and Grimes demonstrates this weekly.

NFL Game Rewind

We see Grimes’ active eyes in the screenshot of his coverage of Bills receiver Robert Woods on a crossing route above. Although Grimes isn’t in perfect position, he’s “won” in his coverage because he’s within distance to break up the pass or challenge the catch.

The Dolphins defense has been one of the best units in the league this year, ranking third in points and yards allowed, and limiting opponents to just 201 passing yards per game, according to NFL.com. Anchored by stars Brent Grimes, Cameron Wake and Reshad Jones (plus many other very talented players), it’s a treat to see such a high-achieving unit on a weekly basis.

Miami’s defense can continue to be elite with Grimes playing so well because he’s a consistently great player. If he’s elected to his second consecutive Pro Bowl, don’t be surprised; there aren’t many cornerbacks playing better this season, if there are any at all.

All stats used are from sports-reference.com.

Ian Wharton is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, contributor for Optimum Scouting, and analyst for FinDepth. 

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