Is the cornerback position becoming less important?

Question

Just to clarify, it is a fact that every position on an NFL field is very important, and arguably equally important, and certainly none of them are completely irrelevant.

However, there seems to be a recent trend of cornerbacks and to a lesser degree other defensive backs becoming less important. Just look at last year's top teams: cornerback was certainly the weakest position on the Super Bowl champion Giants, the undefeated Patriots, and also on other top teams like the Colts and Cowboys. Meanwhile, teams with great defensive backfields, like the Broncos, Raiders, and Eagles, did poorly. Even the teams with great corners that did well during the season, like the Chargers and Packers, lost to the teams that had lesser defenders, but a little something extra somewhere else... namely, better recievers.

The Patriots, who always seem to be leading the way in league trends, started their dynastic ways with the "defense wins championships" mindset... and it did, until the league began to change the rules to stop the Pats from dominating (let's be honest here). With league rules constantly changing to give wide receivers the upper hand against defenses, the Pats finally changed their strategy, putting all their money on offense and stopping the cash flow to their defensive backfield; perhaps the Pats didn't pay Asante because its no longer worthwhile to pay big bucks to a position that isn't as important.

Cornerback has long been considered the second-most difficult position to play in football, right behind quarterback. Could this be changing? Is there a way to restore the balance? Do you think the league will even try to do that?

Answer 1

The secondary was the reason the Pats won in 01 and in 03, even if they did get away with over-aggressiveness.  Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning would attest to that..

Answer 2

Well, I agree with you on this.  The CB position is not very important as much as it was.  Back in the 90's and early 2000's, playing CB was ideal.  It was the position that was highly sought after in the draft.  You would hear of guys like Charles Woodson, and Champ Bailey being the one's that many would fear on the field.  But now it seems that the focus has shifted to the SS position.  The proof of that is, many football fans are wondering, who is the best safety.  A few years ago, many wondered who the best CB was, and now you rarely hear of this position being spoken of.  I think a lot of it has to do with the production in that area.  Many seasons ago, the defensive schemes used CB's more than they do now.  Now the defensive schemes tend to drop more safeties in the coverage, and they tend to focus more on LB production.. I don't think the leauge will address this issue, because its not something that many see as a growing problem.  Its up to the coaching staff to decide who does what, and what position means the most..

Answer 3

I will definitely agree with you - cornerbacks are becoming less and less important, but it is a trend that the league has brought upon itself.

If you look at the way the cornerback position was played 30 years ago, although clearly the same position, the finer details of it bear little similarities to the way it is played today. In short, CB's used to be able to rape WR's prior to the ball being thrown.

The rule changes that have been giving more and more of an edge towards the offense since then, and evolving offensive systems have found ways to take advantages of these rules changes. The changes make the CB position much more difficult to play because it limits their contact with WR's, opens up the field for the offense, and makes them rely on pure cover skills and instincts rather than a combination of toughness, strength, speed, and awareness. It makes the position greatly favor athletes rather than football players.

In order to counter this, teams have begun utilizing a variety of schemes and strategies. Cover 2 defenses, more nickel and dime packages, the 3-4 defense are just some of the many things teams have done to help take the pressure away from their CB's. The most prevalent strategy lately has been to obtain a few great pass rushers. By doing this, it decreases the reliance on the CB because he doesn't have to cover the WR for as long, and it also increases the chances for turnovers because QB's are pressured into making throws they don't want to, and the chances of a QB fumbling when hit are much greater than any other player. Its a simple and effective way of making a CB's job much easier.

Since defenses started doing this more, you have seen the contracts of some of the premier rushers (Jared Allen, Dwight Freeny, etc) sky rocket. Even average rushers are now getting paid fairly ridiculous amounts because teams absolutely need that pass rush (look at last years free agent DE's - very average group, very lucrative contracts). A corner will be beat on occasions regardless of how good he is, but if you can greatly reduce the time he has to cover someone, you greatly reduce the chances of him getting beat. It's directly proportional, so if you have a great pass rush, whats the point in spending on a great CB?

Even so, good CB's aren't exactly taking gigantic hits on their contracts (right Asante Samuel and Nate Clements?), but as you pointed out, many of the better teams in the NFL have average-ish CB's with a good scheme or excellent pass rush. One thing that i have to disagree with you on is the decrease in the importance of the safety position. If you look at the Colts with and without Bob Sanders, you will see a team with and without a good defense. There are other players who fit the same mold (Adrian Wilson, Polamalu, Ed Reed, and a few others). Although they obviously benefit from a pass rush as well, their role in run support, and their athletic abilities in coverage, blitzing, and reading plays really cannot be replaced by a pass rush.

Defenses are only as strong as their weakest link. A great pass rush will seem less great if their corners leave everyone open. Likewise a great CB will seem much less impressive when he is asked to cover someone for 10 seconds. It's practically impossible. So if you're asking if the CB position is less important, I'll say yes, simply because I feel that there is an influx of good pass rushers in the league at the moment. If I could have a choice between a great pass rusher and a great corner, I'd take the pass rusher. Is the cornerback any easier to play? Absolutely not - it still involves a lot of smarts and a lot of athleticism. It actually is probably harder now that the rules are still giving WR's more of an edge.

As far as restoring the balance goes, yes, there are ways to do that. Letting CB's play like they could back in the day would be a quick and easy fix, but obviously, that won't happen. The league seems to want more and more offensive yards and points nowadays, and I think this trend will continue as it makes games seem "more exciting" to the casual fan.  

Answer 4

The corner position hasnt lost its importance to the team just the players.There are so few teams with shut down corners anymore and all the defense now rely on 3-4 cover schemes.Defenses that have good or great corners dont use them in the right scheme just leaving them in single coverage with no support which sometimes makes them second guess.Take Tampa 2 scheme or Tampa cover 2 which ever sounds better to you.It's a true shut down corner scheme.Giving them man to man or zone coverage on the wideout with a safety over top just in case they get beat.Remember the days of Barber and Kelly the tag team duo with Lynch and Dwight over top? The 2002 defense did there job with that corner scheme even the 2000 ravens did with McCallister and Starks with Woodson over the top.

Answer 5

The most important position in football is Left Tackle followed by the rest of the O-Line.

They control the line of scrimmage. In doing so they set up the offense for success and win the field position battle. Good teams have this area of their teams figures out. No one on offense get's going in the defense is in their backfield. If the offense moves nowhere or backwards it puts the defense's backs against the wall.

Second is probably Defensive Line now. The D-Line won the Super Bowl for NY. By rattling Brady it threw the timing off and made their d-backs look much better then they are. The D-Lines ability to hold the line of scrimmage and disrupt the pass makes the rest of the defense better. You can't really say that about the other positions.

Offensive and Defensive Skill Players need their support staffs the big guys up front set them up for success.

D-Backs in particular can only guard a WR for so long. They will eventually get open even on Champ Baily or Asante Samuel. It's the nature of the game. D-Backs have a very hard job. They can only be so successful. Are they less important? NO. But they need the battle of at the line to be won if they want to be as successful defending the pass as possible.

Answer 6

wow deffinatly not. look at champ bailey he is a flat out beast. safety is becoming the most important postion on the football feild and so is o-line

Answer 7

who knows

Answer 8

There really werent rule changes, but more rule ENFORCEMENT, in particular the "contact with a reciever" downfield has been heavily enforced over the last 7 or 8 years. But it's not just about the Pats, so please get off that bandwagon.

And whoever said "the o-line is becoming more important", it's ALWAYS been in important, it's just not a glamour position. If I had to rank my top 5, I'd say: QB, O-line, D-line, RB, WR, DBs.

The teams you mentioned who had weak secondarie had elite d-lines (Giants, Patriots, Cowboys) and Indy's defense is capable of putting pressure on teams without just their d-line. If the QB has less time to throw or is running for his life, ur offense doesn't produce (Super Bowl 42: Brady had less time to throw the deep ball, as a result, the Pats were held to 14 points).

And will they restore the balance? It's unlikely because high offensive numbers coincide with raking dollars. True football fans dont care wut the score is, but the casual fan (those who r new to the game, most women, and people who are fans of other sports) will say "Man, the Baltimore Ravens are boring, they dont score and they just hold other teams to low scores, s***w this game". That was just an example but u get my drift.

Answer 9

The middle linebacker is as important as a corner.  A corner has more responsibility and is more likely to get blind sided or clobbered.  :)