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NFL Week 9 cornerback rankings: Jets' Sauce Gardner moves into the top three, Jaguars have three top-15 cornerbacks

2K71YT8 October 16, 2022: New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) breaks up a pass intended for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) during the NFL football game between the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Darren Lee/CSM/Sipa USA(Credit Image: © Darren Lee/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA)

Sauce Gardner making his way back up: Gardner returned from injury and a bye week to allow two catches for 3 yards. The best cornerback from a year ago is back to his shutdown ways despite not getting his hands many passes this year.

• Jags' Darious Williams moves into the top spot: Williams has been incredibly consistent all year. He leads the league in forced incompletions and is second in interceptions. Better yet, he has yet to give up a touchdown this year.

• Dig into the numbers for yourself: PFF's Premium Stats is the most in-depth collection of NFL and NCAA player performance data. Subscribe today to get full access!

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes


If quarterback is the most important position on the football field, then limiting the effectiveness of that player is the most important thing a defense can do.

A team can do this in two ways: It can pressure the passer to disrupt his timing, rhythm and accuracy, or it can shut down the opposing receivers.

Each week, after every NFL game is graded and reviewed, PFF will check in on the top cornerbacks of the 2023 season. These rankings will drastically change over the first month, as one interception, one missed tackle or one deep completion can dramatically alter a player's grade when the sample size is small. But as snap counts rise, the grades will stabilize, and we'll get a clearer picture of the league's best corners.

These rankings will combine PFF coverage grades with our Successful Coverage Over Expected (SCOE) data, which looks at how well each coverage defender performed on non-targeted coverage snaps, as we grade every coverage defender’s ability to prevent separation whether they are targeted on the play or not.

Here are the top 32 cornerbacks for the 2023 season through Week 8. For more grades and statistics on the league's best cornerbacks, check out PFF Premium Stats.

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