azdad1978
Championship!!!!
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Football is a game of physics; for every action there is an equal, opposite, and generally violent reaction. Lead a receiver over the middle anywhere near Kam Chancellor, and your best pass catcher is liable to be obliterated. Leave J.J. Watt alone on a below average offensive lineman, and your quarterback will likely hit the ground within three seconds. Not putting two defenders on Calvin Johnson at all times is virtually guaranteeing a few embarrassingly long bombs being completed behind your defense. In an age where football is just as much of an arms race as it is a spectator sport, teams have found creative ways to outfit themselves with new and exciting weapons to help put physics back on their side.
Wes Welker and Tom Brady unleashed the fury of the modern slot receiver on the league in 2007, and in the years since the position has evolved into an entirely new monster. Offensive coordinators are now looking for "slot weapons" with just as much earnest as they are for traditionally dominant outside receivers. Tavon Austin and Brandin Cooks would have never sniffed the first round before wideouts like Welker and Lance Moore started lighting up nickel cornerbacks every Sunday, and yet in today's NFL, both of those prospects are seen as big time offensive chess pieces. With the emergence of those potentially game-breaking threats, a new kind of defender has evolved as well – the slot cornerback.
A good slot corner is a completely different species than his traditional counterparts. Smaller, more fluid, and just as infuriatingly quick as modern slot receivers, a good inside corner is a defensive coordinator’s only real answer for today’s offensive trends. Whether it is having the foot quickness and technical discipline to undercut an out-breaking route on third and five or the flat out speed to trail 5’10" track stars forty yards down the field, a slot corner has to be one of the most adaptable defenders on the team. Suffice to say that it is a position that is exceedingly difficult to fill. Few defenders can handle the role without becoming a liability, and even fewer are above replacement level.
As it stands now, three names rise to the top when debating who is the best slot corner in the league – Chris Harris, Brandon Boykin, and Tyrann Mathieu. Interestingly enough, all three of them are still on their rookie contracts. New age slot receivers have been tearing the league apart for the better part of a decade, and just now is football finally seeing a generation of defenders enter the league that can slow them down. Teams do not even know how to value good slot corners yet because they simply did not exist – nor were they considered a crucial position – until a few years ago. Now, most front offices in the league are doing everything they can to get their hands on one. In short, all three of these men are about to be showered in money never before thought possible for a traditionally part-time player.
Back to the question at hand – who is the best slot corner in the league? Stats, rankings, and team successes all point in completely different directions when trying to give the answer. For the purposes of this article, however, I will make my judgments based solely on game tape. After charting hundreds of snaps and taking just shy of 15,000 words worth of notes, here is how the best of the best fared against one another.
http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/
http://www.battleredblog.com/2014/7/30/5951035/the-film-room-who-is-the-nfls-best-slot-defender
