Best One-on-One Defenders in Sports
Defense wins championships. Repeat after me: Defense wins championships. All teams in sports need a great defense in order to properly thrive.
And what makes a great defense is, of course, great defenders. One of the hardest things to do is match up with an individual mano a mano. It becomes a battle of skill, will and persistence.
We checked up on some of the best one-on-one defenders across two sports: the NBA and NFL. Looking at what each league had to offer, we assembled a list that represents the cream of the crop.
Per usual, the formula was simple. We incorporated advanced metrics, traditional statistics and good-old fashion film study. The results are only a few clicks away, so let's get started.
Honorable Mentions
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Here are your honorable mentions—names who are excellent defenders in their own right, but haven't pushed into the 10 best at this very moment in time. Take Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks as an example. There's no denying he's a special cornerback, but his play has suffered lately. That's a notion that Sherman has even apologized for on his Facebook page.
- Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks
- Paul George, Indiana Pacers
- Brent Grimes, Miami Dolphins
- Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks
- DeMarre Carroll, Toronto Raptors
- Patrick Peterson, Arizona Cardinals
- DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers
- Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Jimmy Butler
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To his credit, guard Jimmy Butler has become a multifaceted player. He's turned his offensive presence up, which is the reason why the Chicago Bulls gave him a five-year, $95 million deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
That doesn't mean his defensive ability has suddenly eroded. Butler is still one of the NBA's top perimeter defenders. ESPN's advanced scouting report even called Butler a "rugged defender who plays either wing position."
He frustrates opponents in one-on-one situations. That's a feat that LeBron James is well aware of. Few in the world today are as good defensively as Butler. And at age 26 that's a great long-term calling card.
Darrelle Revis
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The NFL hasn't seen a cover cornerback like Darrelle Revis before. He's a true mercenary with an outrageous skill set to back up his financial earnings.
Revis rejoined the New York Jets this past offseason after a Super Bowl win with the New England Patriots. The common theme with him always comes back to his outstanding coverage skills. By Pro Football Focus' count, Revis finished the 2014 season with a positive-17.7 grade. That was good enough to rank him fourth among all active corners.
It's rare when a cornerback can essentially close down half of the field. Revis has been one of the few to actually accomplish that on a recurring basis.
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Kawhi Leonard
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Kawhi Leonard has become a ferocious on-ball defender. The 24-year-old, 6'7" wingman has taken the NBA by storm, winning the NBA Finals MVP in 2014 and the Defensive Player of the Year in '15.
The NBA's quiet man also represents the future of this league, because guys who can play both sides of the ball with such promise are hard to come by. Leonard has helped the San Antonio Spurs keep their winning ways alive. He can be slotted onto an opposing team's best offensive threat and shut the guy down.
Do yourself a favor and watch as much Spurs basketball as possible this season. Besides fluid offense and gorgeous passing, you'll also get to witness sone of the game's best defenders put in work.
Chris Harris Jr.
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Who was Pro Football Focus' No. 1-ranked cornerback last season? If you guessed Richard Sherman, you would be mistaken. The correct answer was Chris Harris Jr. of the Denver Broncos.
Harris is one of those lockdown defensive backs you don't hear too much about. Sporting No. 25 for the Broncos, he's become an invaluable piece for this franchise.
Blanketing pass-catchers in '14 led Harris to a positive-27.2 coverage grade by PFF's standards. Dating back to 2010, no single player has achieved that high of a mark. This season, Harris looks sharp again. His plus-3.1 coverage grade seems to be trending in a positive manner, proving once again he's the real deal.
Draymond Green
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Without Draymond Green's defensive prowess, odds are the Golden State Warriors wouldn't have captured an NBA title last season.
No disrespect to the great Stephen Curry or the sharpshooting Klay Thompson, but defense always sets the tone for championship runs and few are better than Green. Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes slung a heap of praise onto Green in the middle of his awesome 2014-15 season:
"Green plays extremely hard, propelled by active hands, wild emotional swings and a maniacal desire to win his individual matchups—no matter the opponent. He helps with uncommon urgency, shuts off passing lanes quickly and almost never gets caught unaware. He's also pretty good at coming out of nowhere to make the right play at the right time.
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At the end of the year, Green finished fourth in Basketball-Reference.com's defensive rating category. His value is historic and the Warriors understand that. They dished out a whopping five-year deal, worth $85 million, as first reported by Bleacher Report.
Vontae Davis
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The Indianapolis Colts have themselves quite the cornerback in Vontae Davis. He's no longer Vernon Davis' little brother. For the last few seasons, Vontae Davis has become the more impactful sibling on the field.
Even a struggling 0-2 Colts team can't undermine the value of a top-flight defensive back—something that Davis has proven to be over the years. Pro Football Focus was super generous last season, rewarding him with a plus-16.5 coverage grade.
In other words, he was everywhere, taking options away from rival quarterbacks.
Hopefully the concussion he sustained in a Week 2 loss to the New York Jets, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, doesn't amount to anything serious. Because if it does, the Colts will definitely miss his presence on the field.
Tony Allen
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This is what Tony Allen does. He's been a defensive magnet for 11 seasons running.
Allen had success with the Boston Celtics, doing the work of the defensive lord, until he finally settled down with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2010. That's where this grinder found a supportive home—a place where his defensive aptness was welcomed with warm, friendly arms.
Last season, Allen averaged two steals per game. Adding onto that, Basketball-Reference.com also checked out what the steal percentage category had to offer up. In that category alone, Allen ranked No. 1 in the NBA with 4.1 percent.
Essentially, what he's become is the quintessential stopper in today's NBA.
Aqib Talib
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Through two weeks of the NFL season, no cornerback in football is playing as good as Aqib Talib. He's become a critical reason why the team is 2-0, destroying any wide receiver that he lines up against.
We jumped back into the waters of that advanced statistics pond in order to check out just how excellent he's been. What we found was amazing. Pro Football Focus mentioned that quarterbacks who throw the football in Talib's direction this season have an NFL passer rating of 5.1.
That's not a typo. It's pure truth. A 5.1 passer rating is ridiculous. In nine attempts, Talib has given up three receptions for 32 yards. He also has two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Clearly if this holds up, he'll be a lock for the NFL's coveted Defensive Player of the Year award.
LeBron James
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It's good to be King. LeBron James has two NBA titles, four MVP awards and is blessed with constant media coverage.
There are a lot of wonderful things James does with the basketball, but he also does a lot when he's asked to play defense.
When LeBron retires, fans will have vivid memories of him chasing down players and swatting their layup attempts off the glass. That has become one of King James' signature moves. Besides the flashy stuff, he's been named to the NBA's All-Defensive Team on six separate occasions.
James had issues at time last year with his defense on film. But that doesn't totally evaporate how solid of a player he is at that end of the floor. He still was a brilliant on-ball stopper at times. And frankly, there's little reason to believe he won't get back to his All-Defensive Team ways this season.
Josh Norman
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The biggest up-and-coming talent on this list has to be Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Norman has yet to become a household name on all fronts. He isn't paid like Chris Harris Jr., Vontae Davis, Aqib Talib or Darrelle Revis.
Yet factoring money out of the equation, Norman has done an excellent job evolving into a top cornerback through two weeks of the NFL season. Last year was the start of something great. Norman finished the season with a positive-5.4 pass coverage grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
Remember, that was in a division where Julio Jones, Marques Colston, Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson all lurked.
Fast-forward to '15 and Norman has only improved. The tape shows that his coverage skills are sharp. PFF agrees. Norman's plus-4.2 mark is second in the NFL, trailing only the great Talib.
I know the season is young. Still, that doesn't mean Norman is headed down a dark, musty road filled with touchdowns. He's a very good player that seems to be getting better with time.
All stats and information provided by Sports-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.
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