Eagles' Darius Slay among the most valuable cornerbacks in the NFL

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Eagles' Darius Slay among the most valuable cornerbacks in the NFL

 

Darius Slay is one of the top cornerbacks on the planet, yet the disrespect for the Eagles star continues to grow at an alarming rate.

The latest snub came from CBS Sports, which left Slay off their top-10 cornerback’s list despite the Eagles star-making three-straight Pro Bowls, all while shadowing the opposing team’s best wide receiver.

There’s been some confusion about Slay’s value despite PFF ranking the Eagles star as one of the most valuable cornerbacks in the league over the past six seasons.

Slay was the fourth-most valuable cornerback in the NFL since 2014 per PFF WAR (wins above replacement), and his 74 forced incompletions over that stretch were the most in the NFL.

Slay was impressive last year despite the down statistics and his performance against some of the NFL’s best would be highlight-reel performances for some other cornerbacks.

Slay’s 85 forced incompletions since 2014 are the most in the NFL over that span.

When discussing Slay’s value and how he’s graded on a different scale, take into account that last season while playing for Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions, the Pro Bowler was asked to play 347 snaps in man coverage, the most of any defense in the NFL.

With only Slay as a viable option at cornerback, the Lions allowed 229 combined first downs and touchdowns, the second-largest total in the NFL while ranking 28th in passer rating as a team.

Slay for his part, only gave up three of the Lions’ 33 touchdown passes allowed and he allowed 1.40 yards per coverage snap, which was his worst single-season average since his rookie year, but far better than most of the cornerbacks in the NFL.

Slay will have the opportunity to make more plays with the Eagles, as the Birds and Jim Schwartz play zone about 58% of the time, while the Lions played zone about 33% of the time last season.

Slay’s numbers last season were still among his best ever in terms of yards allowed, touchdowns allowed, completion percentage against, and passer rating against.

Add in the fact that Slay has produced 104 pass defenses since entering the NFL in 2013 — the most by any player in the NFL during that span and you have the recipe for a huge bounce-back season in 2020 that should quiet the haters.

https://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/2020/06/24/darius-slay-eagles-nfl-most-valuable-cornerback-pff-war/

And my god so we need that high level from Slay...