Do Shutdown Cornerbacks Still Exist in Today’s NFL?

Shutdown cornerbacks still exist; they’re just harder to identify in today’s pass-happy NFL. 

So many yards are accumulated through the air that it makes the term “shutdown” anachronistic, or at least relative to how the game is currently played. 

The days of Deion Sanders no longer exist. Cornerbacks aren’t completely shutting down one side of the field and being avoided like the plague by opposing quarterbacks. The game is geared toward offense after years of rule changes favoring passing attacks. 

What actually defines a shutdown corner when the game is stacked against the position?

The Denver Broncos Chris Harris Jr. provided a description for the NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks: 

[A] guy who’s not giving up touchdowns. I think in this league, those ‘tubs’ [touchdowns] are the games that you win or lose. And if you ain’t giving up touchdowns, you’re doing whatever you can for your team to win that game. Also, in those big, key third downs—those big, key plays—you gotta come up and make those plays. And I think the shutdown corners are making those plays most of the time.

Harris views himself as a true shutdown corner, and he’s certainly one of the league’s best. The Broncos defensive back experienced a stretch of 35 games between the 2013 and ’15 seasons when he didn’t surrender a score. He officially gave up two touchdowns by the end of the 2015 campaign, though.

The formula to determine a true shutdown corner must expand beyond how many touchdowns are allowed, because 14 cornerbacks gave up two or fewer scores last season. Clearly, there aren’t 14 different corners playing today who can be termed “shutdowns.” 

Preventing the other team from scoring is certainly important, but it’s only part of the equation. A true shutdown corner should also discourage quarterbacks from throwing in his direction. It should also be more difficult to complete a pass when that defensive back is in coverage. They need to be the entire package, even when everything is slanted to the wide receivers’ advantage. 

This is where it becomes quite tricky trying to identify the best of the best.

Along with Harris, the Arizona Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson and even an aging Darrelle Revis remain the league’s best cover corners.  

“At the end of the day, I know I’m the best,” Peterson said, per USA Today’s Lorenzo Reyes. “I know I can get in the face of the receiver, and I mean much more to my team versus those guys to their team.”

The advanced statistics back up Peterson’s claim. 

Last season, quarterbacks completed a pass against the Cardinals defensive back once every 19.5 plays—the highest percentage of targets between receptions. Peterson finished first by surrendering only 0.58 yards per coverage snap and tied for second with 9.3 coverage snaps per target. Quarterbacks only completed 47.7 percent of passes thrown toward his coverage, which equates to a 61.8 quarterback rating.

No other cornerback finished among the top six performers in all five categories. A handful came close but didn’t quite make the cut in one or more categories. 

For example, Revis ranked sixth in coverage snaps per reception (14.0), 12th …

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