The NFL’s best slot defenders

Today's slot defender has to do a little bit of everything, from chasing tight ends up the seam to matching steps with quick inside receivers. These players are the best in the game at the daunting task.

Doug Farrar | Jul 1, 2016

The NFL’s best slot defenders /

If you still doubt the value of a good slot cornerback, consider that last season, NFL defenses were in nickel or dime subpackages on 65% of their plays. The subpackage is the new base defense, and the slot corner is the NFL’s new defensive starter, as roles have reversed in the last half-decade. Now, teams are more inclined to use their third linebackers as situational players, taking their third cornerbacks or third safeties off the field on obvious running situations, as opposed to in the past, when you'd use your slot defender only when opposing offenses threw as many receivers on the field as possible.

With power comes responsibility, though. Today’s slot defender has to do a little bit of everything: chase tight ends up the seam, match dance steps with small, quick inside receivers, and face up against the run. It's a daunting task worthy of recognition, which brings us to this list.

Just missed the cut

Bobby McCain, Dolphins: McCain didn’t play a lot in the slot last season, but he allowed just two catches on eight targets on 117 slot snaps, and he'll get more reps in 2016. He’s an ascending player to watch.

The next big thing

Jeremy Lane, Seahawks: You can talk all you want about the worst play call in NFL history, but the Seahawks may have still won Super Bowl XLIX had Lane not been injured in the first quarter of that game after intercepting a Tom Brady pass intended for Julian Edelman. That injury upset the balance of the Legion of Boom, and Brady picked it apart in the second half. Lane didn’t see the field again until Week 11 of the 2015 season, but he fit right back in and played at a very high level. If the Seahawks maintain enough depth to keep him in the slot instead of outside (where he can also play quite adeptly), he'll most likely be in the top 10 next year.

Published Jul 1, 2016

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.