Who has a case to be best cornerback in the NFL?
Devin McCourty joins Chris Simms Unbuttoned to break down the top cornerbacks in the NFL, explaining why players such as Christian Gonzalez, Devon Witherspoon and Patrick Surtain II.
Video Transcript
All right.
So let's, let's talk about DBs, 'cause I, I do wanna pick your brain here.
I, I have found this interesting, and it just, it kind of organically happened with you coming on the show, and Connor's heard me talk about this a little off air, 'cause of the corner play we do have right now.
You know, we always joke, and I know I've joked with you before about, like, there's 20 top 10 receivers, right?
There's a lot of good receivers.
Some people might go, "Hey, I like this guy, I like that guy."
With the corner position, I find it, like, you could make a case for six or seven different guys, I feel like, to say, "He's the best corner in the league," right?
I was saying to Connor before, I could ask Shanahan, I think he might give me one name.
I could ask McVay, he'd give me another name.
I'd ask Andy Reid, he'd give me another name.
And that's where I find it pretty amazing.
Let me throw some out to you.
I mean, at least the ones that I think are in the conversation for the best, right?
McDuffie, at, out with LA, Denzel Ward, of course Devin Witherspoon, Derek Stingley Jr., Quinyon Mitchell, Christian Gonzalez, Patrick Surtain of cou- of course, and, okay, Sauce Gardner, right?
I don't know if you think I'm missing anybody else, if a J.C. Horn deserves to be in that combo.
Not for me, at least, but he's really good.
Right.
You know?
But how do you kind of see the position right now as far as the top two or three guys in your eyes?
No, I, I agree with your list.
And, and for me, I think it's what you like.
Like, I, I look at McDuffie and Witherspoon, if you want a guy that's gonna be outside, go inside, and be able to blitz- Yeah and you're a defense, like in Seattle, you want, like, this total package player where you're like, "Hey, listen, we're not gonna play a ton of man and you just sit outside one on one.
Like, we're gonna do different zone pressures.
We're gonna mix it up in here.
We want that more complete football player."
Like, tho- like, those two guys, to me, than you would take over anybody in the NFL.
I hear you there.
Yeah, yeah.
If you're like- They're a little bit system fit that way- Yes though, for that.
Right.
But yes, I hear you all the way.
And they still And that's not enou- they still can go out there and cover a guy.
No doubt.
They can still- No doubt get all over a guy.
They just have great versatility.
Whereas I look at some of those other guys, you know, Gonzalez, Surtain, those guys all, they can all go inside.
Quinyon Mitchell.
But they're, they're not really blitzing.
They're not really doing anything.
Right.
Yeah.
And for me, Gonzalez is a little bit special because we haven't seen him with, like, this great pass rush.
When you go down and you see Stingley in Houston- Yeah, that's a good point Stingley knows now, like- Mm-hmm "Hey, man, that ball's coming out."
Surtain knows that ball's coming out now.
Yeah.
Again, Surtain's been at the top of the league for a few years now.
Right.
So, like, he's, I think, the guy that everyone thinks is, like, he's a little bit over here because he's now adding the years to when his name is mentioned at number one.
But I do think it's something special when certain corners are out there, and when we think about their defense, we know they have a good defense, but we don't think about, like, just this dogs coming after you.
They're top five in the league in sacks.
Whereas, like, in Seattle, you know, hey, if you hold the ball too long, like- Yeah they got guys that are coming.
I think that's what Gonzalez has done a good job of.
He just goes out there and plays, and it's not always the perfect kind of criteria.
I am a J.C. Horn fan.
I love his size.
I think, I think playing in Carolina, you don't get as many primetime games, so, like, Sims, you know, 'cause you're, you're one of those guys that goes back and you're watching the 1:00 game that nobody wanted to watch.
So you see it, but, like, he doesn't get as many of those, like, marquee matchups that, like- Right people love to watch the corner play against this certain receiver.
I feel like because of the injuries a little bit, him being in and out, we can't really think back to, like, "Man," like, "I love watching Horn against this guy or that guy."
That's fair.
You're right.
Yeah.
And I think that's the next step for him.
Right.
And I'm interested to see what happens with Joey Porter Jr.
I think he's a guy that's, like, on the outside looking in.
And I think Sauce is like that, too.
I think a few years ago Sauce was, like, A, this shutdown guy.
But, like, unless you playing a defense like that, I think it's, it's different.
And he's n- I don't, I don't see the defense being like that.
Lou Anarumo in Indy is creative.
Right.
He's sending pressures.
It's not all about just, you know, four-man rush, man-to-man defense.
So it, it'll be interesting to see how he kind of plays with a full off-season and now year going into Indy.
But I, I would keep him, you know, that tier right under some of those top guys.
Yeah.
Okay.
That, that, that's, that's how I feel.
You, you obviously feel a little different about J.C. Horn, but I, I kind of sa- echoed some of the same things there, too, especially with the Joey Porter contract.
'Cause I've heard, you know, rumors of what he wants and, you know, close to 30 and things like that, where I just go, "I don't think he's that caliber."
He's awesome.
He's really good.
Mm-hmm.
But he's not like, oh, he As we always talk about, there's, like, the next guy, right?
Where you go, "Oh, this guy's so good, he should be the next highest paid guy at the position," or whatever.
I don't think he's, worthy of that.
From what you say right there, though, i- I feel like you feel like Christian Gonzalez is the best corner in football.
Like, that would be your number one guy.
Yeah.
I'm a, I'm a big Gonzalez fan.
Yeah.
If I, if I had to go and I'm gonna be in a man-to-man defense- Yeah again, it's probably for me is between him and Surtain.
Like, I, I don't wanna, I don't wanna Surtain is up there.
Like, they're, I would, I would- I'm with you.
I hear you.
I know spend a lot of time debating over taking those two guys.
Their size, how they can play, like, I, I would debate over those two guys the most.
Okay.
Yeah, it, I, I, I, I think that's totally fair.
You, there's a clip that's kind of circulating right now with Josh McDaniels after the AFC Championship game.
He gets into Patrick Surtain's ear and he goes, "Like, I just wanna let you know you're the best.
Like, I, I watch them all.
I study them all.
You're the best," right?
Surtain has everything.
He's got size.
Yeah.
He can play man.
He's smart.
He can, you know, read plays and cover, and, and know where they're susceptible in coverage.
He has it all.
How about, like, you know, another guy that I think could be in the next convo is Quinyon Mitch- Mitchell.
Where do you view him at in that?
Because last year I would sit there and maybe argue that he had a better year than Surtain and some of the other corners.
Not saying he's better in totality, but he's certainly, I think, in that class for me.
How about, how about you?
Yeah.
And, and it, it seemed like he, and, a- and him and A.J.
Brown went at it at the Patriots training camp.
So, like, you know each team, when you look at their social media, they played a highlight of each guy.
Yeah, yeah.
But from what I heard, it wa- it was a battle.
Like, A.J.
Won one of the days, but then the next day, like, he just couldn't get open against Quinyon Mitchell.
For me, the next step for him is just catching the ball.
Ah, yeah.
He catches the ball, to me, he's by far, like, he, he is right And he's still top three, four with those guys, with Gonzalez, Surtain, him, and Stingley.
Like, those, to me, those guys are, when you talk about just outside corners- Yeah, island corners to me, those are the top four guys that you would take and put out there.
And then the one guy that's not in this tier, but I really like, is Kamari Lassiter in Houston.
Uh-huh.
Like, I like how he plays, aggressive, physical player.
I mean, it, it's just he fits the mold on that Houston defense, but I liked him.
I liked watching him in Georgia, and then now seeing him in Houston, I think he really fits in well there, that I, I enjoy watching him play as well.
Ooh, don't get me going about the Houston Texans D. You could do this all day.
Don't get me going.
Man, I have a man crush.
I still, I love them.
I really do
