2023 10 Best CBs in the NFL: Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain Jr. lead rankings

FOX Sports NFL Staff

The NFL’s last true lockdown cornerback was Deion Sanders.

That’s not an indictment on the great corners who followed him. Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey and Darrelle Revis are deserving Hall of Famers. Richard Sherman will likely follow them into Canton. But as offenses have changed over the last few decades, it’s become harder for individual corners to lock down a side of the field like Sanders would do in the 1990s. There are more dime and nickel formations, a lot of zone coverage and constant pre-snap motion — making it harder for an elite cornerback to have the outsized impact he once did.

Let’s use pay as an example. In 1995, Sanders signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Cowboys that made him the highest-paid defensive player in football. That same year, Dallas re-signed Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin to a five-year deal worth 12.3 million.

In 2023, the highest-paid cornerback is Jaire Alexander, with an average annual value of $21.3 million. Tyreek Hill makes $30 million per year, and Justin Jefferson will very likely beat that number when he signs an extension in the next year.

That should not, however, take away from the accomplishments and capabilities of this era of corners. The top two corners on our list, particularly, are young players off to sensational starts, with a real chance to get their own busts someday.

Our writers listed their best 10 cornerbacks based on their confidence in each player were he healthy and set to take the field for a game next week. A first-place vote merited 10 points in our methodology and descended from there, down to a single point for 10th place. We then combined the scores to determine our rankings.

1: Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, New York Jets

Henry McKenna: He looked like prime Richard Sherman in the 2022 season, his rookie year. Gardner needed no time to acclimate to the NFL. He perched himself on the left side of Jets coach Robert Saleh’s defense and rarely lets anything come that way. Last year, he deserved contention for Defensive Player of the Year Award, not just Defensive Rookie of the Year. And teams can’t hide from Gardner by going to the other side, because D.J. Reed is one of the best CB2s in the NFL. Gardner has the right coaching and support system to stay atop this list in 2023.

2: Patrick Surtain Jr., Denver Broncos

Ben Arthur: The Broncos defense has gotten off to a disastrous start to the season, and Surtain is by no means blameless (He’s allowed a 152.2 passer rating when targeted through three weeks, second-worst in the league among all cornerbacks who’ve played at least 30 coverage snaps, according to Next Gen Stats). But it’s too small of a sample size to be concerned. Surtain has been fantastic since he entered the NFL in 2021, elevating his play to a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro level last season. He’s a big, long cornerback who is arguably the best technician at the position in football.

3: Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers

Carmen Vitali: Make sure when you talk about Alexander, you’re using the word ‘great.’ Good doesn’t suffice. He’s coming off his second Pro Bowl selection after nabbing five interceptions and tallying 14 passes defended in 2022. He allowed just two touchdowns all season, according to Pro Football Reference.

This season, he came in as hot as ever, dubbing the Green Bay secondary “Strap City” though that hasn’t necessarily been the case through three games. The Packers’ loss in Atlanta, where he dropped a pick-six, among other issues, served as a wake-up call. Alexander and the rest of the Packers defense stood up in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s game against the Saints in which the Packers engineered an impressive comeback thanks to the defense holding their ground and quarterback Jordan Love persevering.

4: Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles

Ralph Vacchiano: He is 32, in his 11th NFL season and the Eagles see no sign of him slowing down. In fact, they made retaining him a priority in the offseason when they were trying to keep their defense from falling apart under the salary cap. Slay is a beacon of confidence in the backfield, willing to take on any receiver and often getting the best of them. The better they are, the better he plays. He knows their moves and how to counter them. And even if he’s not as fast as he used to be, he’s still quick enough to keep up with them all.

5: Jalen Ramsey, Miami Dolphins

Arthur: Ramsey is not who he was just a few years ago, and he’s going to miss most of this season after tearing the meniscus in his left knee. But I think he still has some elite football left in him. He’s 28. Vic Fangio’s defense has the potential to bring the best out of him. He has four interceptions in each of the last two seasons. In 2022, he allowed a passer rating of 99.1 when targeted, which ranked 11th in the league among all cornerbacks who played at least 500 coverage snaps, per NGS.

Eric D. Williams: A lockdown corner in his prime, Ramsey remains a valuable chess piece because of his physicality and versatility. Ramsey played the “star” position while with the Rams, allowing head coach Sean McVay to get the hard-hitting cover man closer to the action in coverage and as a blitzer. Once Ramsey recovers from his knee injury, expect Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to use the veteran defensive back in a similar manner when healthy.

6: Trevon Diggs, Dallas Cowboys

Vacchiano: The 11 interceptions he had in 2021 may turn out to be an anomaly, probably because teams won’t throw at him often enough for him to reach those heights anymore. But even if he ends up with three to five each season, it doesn’t take away from how good he is — and why it’s such a huge blow to the Cowboys to lose him for the season to a torn ACL. He is quick, smart and has shown a knack for knowing exactly what opposing receivers are going to do. No doubt he has the benefit of a great pass rush in front of him. But those pass rushers give him credit, too, because it’s easy for them to put their head down and rush the quarterback, knowing the opportunistic Diggs is behind them.

7: Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns

Arthur: I don’t think Ward, a former No. 4 overall pick, gets enough love nationally for his role in the Browns’ elite defense. Health has been an issue — he’s ranged between 12 to 15 appearances every year of his career — but he’s been one of the best cornerbacks in the league when available. He’s made two Pro Bowls in his first six seasons. He had a league-high two fumble recoveries for a touchdown in 2022. So far this season, he’s allowing just a 55.9 passer rating when targeted and a 59% completion rate, which ranks fifth and eighth in the league, respectively, among cornerbacks who’ve played at least 70 snaps, per Next Gen Stats.

8: Riq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks

Williams: Now in his second season, Woolen is the latest of Pete Carroll’s long, rangy corners, part of a lineage led by Richard Sherman. Drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, the converted wide receiver in college at UT-San Antonio finished tied for the league lead with six interceptions last season, earning a Pro Bowl invitation as a rookie. Blessed with a 79-inch wingspan, Woolen led the Seahawks with 16 pass breakups in 2022.

9: Stephon Gilmore, Dallas Cowboys

McKenna: He’s 33 years old. Let’s start there. And while Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave up on Gilmore a few years ago — which can be a death knell for any player — Gilmore went the way of Tom Brady rather than Wes Welker. Gilmore remains one of the best players at his position and is on a team with Super Bowl ambitions. The cornerback has been a journeyman, perhaps because teams are giving him short-term contracts in fear his play will decline. But it hasn’t. He’s as reliable as ever, particularly in covering longer-framed receivers.

10: Xavien Howard, Miami Dolphins

McKenna: He has not been super healthy in recent years. And then there were the problems with the Miami Dolphins’ system. Howard is not the same caliber of player he was a few years ago, when he would have been in consideration for the top spot on this list. Now he has to settle for a paltry 10th place (I’m kidding.) Howard seems like he’s finding his footing in Vic Fangio’s system, and when things start to click for Miami’s defense (which will include the return of Jalen Ramsey), I expect to see Howard terrorizing quarterbacks.

Honorable mentions: A.J. Terrell, Atlanta Falcons; James Bradberry, Philadelphia Eagles; Jaycee Horn, Carolina Panthers

These rankings were compiled by:

AFC South reporter Ben Arthur (@benyarthur)
NFC South reporter Greg Auman (@gregauman)
Dallas Cowboys reporter David Helman (@davidhelman_)
AFC East reporter Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis)
NFC West reporter Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams)
NFC East reporter Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano)
NFC North reporter Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV)