Eagles’ Darius Slay Snubbed From CB Rankings

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay was omitted from a new countdown ranking the top 10 cornerbacks in the NFL.

While there may be slight differences in countdowns of the top quarterbacks, running backs and receivers in the NFL, there are some generally agreed upon statistics that keep there from being too many drastic differences on preseason lists. 

Said numbers don't exist when evaluating cornerbacks, which is one of the reasons Darius Slay of the Philadelphia Eagles has seen such a wide variance in his rankings ahead of this season. 

The latest countdown of the top 10 cornerbacks for this upcoming season was done by Brian Baldinger of NFL Media, and didn't include Slay at all. Fellow Eagles cornerback James Bradberry was also left off the countdown. 

Baldinger is stepping out on quite a limb by leaving Slay out of the top 10. Pro Football Focus had Slay rated as its No. 3 cornerback for this season. CBS Sports had Slay at No. 4. Pro Football Network had Slay rated No. 5. Again, rating cornerbacks is more subjective than some other positions, but to have Slay altogether out of the top 10 feels like a pretty controversial opinion based on where other sites have ranked him.

After agreeing to a new two-year, $42 million deal, Slay is back with the Eagles for a fourth season. In each of the last two seasons, he's been a Pro Bowler, on top of the three times he was as a member of the Detroit Lions. The 32-year-old was voted a team captain for the first time in his career last season.

Slay wasn't the only notable NFC East cornerback that Baldinger excluded, as Trevon Diggs of the Dallas Cowboys also didn't crack the list. Diggs is a polarizing player among evaluators, but he has 17 interceptions in three seasons and the Cowboys rewarded him with a new five-year, $97 million extension earlier this week, so there are definitely some that would vehemently disagree with Baldinger.

The Cowboys have the silver lining that former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore -- acquired in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts this offseason -- was rated as the ninth-best cornerback by Baldinger. 

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