Spartans CB Receives High Honor for Week 3 Performance
Michigan State redshirt junior cornerback Charles Brantley is having a tremendous 2024 season so far.
Brantley recently received a very well-deserved honor, earning the highest grade of any FBS cornerback in Week 3 with an astounding 92.1 grade by PFF College.
This news came a couple days after Brantley returned a 100-yard program record-breaking pick-six in the second half of the Spartans' 40-0 win over Prairie View A&M. That return was also later named the B1G Football Play of the Week.
"I was thinking about putting a knee down because just yesterday, we were in the meeting, Coach [Joe] Rossi was saying, like, 'If you catch an interception and your progression is going backwards, take a knee,'" Brantley said after the game. "And I'm like, I took a look to my left and my right, and I ain't seen nobody. I'm gonna take this out. It's time to go."
PFF College analyzes every play from all cornerbacks across the FBS and measures how well each defender executed on non-coverage plays while also grading every coverage defender's ability to prevent separation with the receiver on targeted passes.
Brantley was a blanket all afternoon covering Prairie View's wide receivers adding two tackles and one pass break up to help improve his grade.
The Sarasota, Florida native also spoke on the final few yards of his return and what he saw as an elite, high-level cornerback at the Division-I level.
“Well, before I cut back, I saw nothing but green grass to my right side," Brantley said. "I'm like ‘OK then I saw Armorion Smith run past me, I'm like ‘OK I got a lead blocker so I took off, cut across the field. Then by the time I got to the 5-yard line, I saw (number) two, I was like 'I'm not going to let them stop me' so I tried to drop my shoulder and got in there.”
PFF did not include Brantley in its "Top 10 returning cornerbacks for the 2024 season" article before the season but he is slowly climbing up the ranks as one of the most dangerous to throw against. A high grade like this will surely turn heads heading into next week.
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TOM CAVANAUGH