Browns Digest

Browns' Rival Claims That He Is The Best Cornerback In The NFL

Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. claimed on Tuesday that he holds the crown for being the best corner in the NFL. The numbers beg to differ.

Anthony Moeglin

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The NFL news cycle has slowed down as we turn the calendar from May to June, but on Tuesday, a story came out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that would make anyone scratch their head.

Steelers' second-year man Joey Porter Jr. claimed that he is the best cornerback in the entire NFL. No typo there. Yes, Joey Porter put his name in the hat to be the best lockdown guy in the league.

Cornerbacks are known to be the most confident guys on a team and they have to be. Cornerback is arguably the hardest position on the entire roster as their job responsibility is to cover some of the best athletes in the world, who know exactly where they are running to every play. That's a tough task for anyone, so those who do it are oozing with confidence.

Porter Jr. doesn't lack the self-belief, but in my opinion, he lacks the skill to be one of the top guys in the league. While Pro Football Focus is not gospel when it comes to ranking players, it gives a uniform scale to compare NFL players based on their actual play.

For Porter Jr., he ranked as the 66th-best corner in football with a 64.3 overall grade last season. What's worse is that his overall grade wasn't weighed down by low run game numbers. He had nearly identical grades in both defending the run and pass. His run defense grade shook out to be 64.7, while his coverage grade settled at 66.6.

Ken Blaze | Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

I do believe that Porter Jr. has the tools to be one of the greats. He is a big corner that can move with the best of them. What hurts him the most is his inability to not grab receivers. Porter had four defensive pass interferences, three defensive holdings, two face masks and one illegal use of hands.

If Porter can eliminate the penalties, he has the potential to be special, but until then, he is not a top defensive back in the game.

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Anthony Moeglin
ANTHONY MOEGLIN

Anthony Moeglin is a northeast Ohio native, who most notably quarterbacked John Carroll University to the NCAA DIII National Semifinals in 2016 after beating the No. 1 team in the country twice in a 4-week stretch. He contributes written and video/podcast content for Browns Digest, as well as serving as the lead football analyst for BuckeyesNow on the FanNation network.

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