PFF: Haden & Patterson Among the League's Most Efficient Tacklers at Cornerback

by Chris Pokorny on Feb 18, 2012 7:03 PM EST

It still amazes me how the cornerback Dimitri Patterson was regarded as playing so poorly for the Eagles, only to play terrific the following year for the Browns. In Pro Football Focus' latest feature, they took a look at the best and worst tackling cornerbacks in the NFL. Two of the Browns' cornerbacks, Joe Haden and Patterson, were among the top ten.

Patterson was ranked 4th in the league at cornerback in tackling efficiency. He played 519 total snaps and had 26 tackling opportunities. Out of those opportunities, he only missed a tackle once (1 miss out of every 26 attempts). Haden ranked 7th in the same category. He played 939 snaps and had 71 tackling opportunities. Out of those opportunities, he only missed three tackles (1 miss out of every 23.7 attempts). I wonder if Haden's missed attempt on Antonio Brown against the Steelers in Pittsburgh at the end of the game counted as one of those three misses.

Is it surprising that the person who was ranked second worst in tackling efficiency was Nnamdi Asomugha? He missed a tackle 1 out of every 4.3 opportunities. In terms of quantity, veteran Ronde Barber might want to think about hanging it up: he missed 22 tackles. To be fair, though, he plays in a different defense that puts him in a position to make those type of plays more than other cornerbacks (Barber had more attempts than most players).

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What has Barber’s percentage? Much better way to gauge him considering the quantity.

XBL - TheRabbit087. Get at me.

by SpecialBrownie on Feb 18, 2012 7:54 PM EST reply actions

He missed a tackle every 4.9 attempts. As the article put it, that’s “solid bottom 5 numbers”.

by Vududawg on Feb 19, 2012 2:28 AM EST up reply actions

Dat bad.

XBL - TheRabbit087. Get at me.

by SpecialBrownie on Feb 19, 2012 10:10 AM EST up reply actions

Really like Patterson. I know there is a lot of hand wringing over Sheldon Brown (unneeded in my eyes), but I have no problem with Patterson playing more if needed. If we can get anything out of Dockery or Skrine, we have a very good group of young CB’s.

Why did the Steeler fan grow a mustache? So he could look like his mother.

by Bernie19Kosar on Feb 18, 2012 8:18 PM EST reply actions

I like Patterson too. I’m really hopeful for his future.

by Jon @ DBN on Feb 18, 2012 10:21 PM EST up reply actions

Love Patterson, not sure why his 4 ints playing accross from an all pro were a problem but I think if anything, our defense coaches had him playing too conservatively. Keep bringing Skrine and Dockery along. Ward is a stud still and Young is better than people give him credit for. Haden was playing man coverage a lot. He’ll need to figure out how to avoid the slips next year to avoid giving up the big play but he was definitely on an island and giving up 1 TD a game would not be something a normal offense wouldn’t be able to overcome.

by HenryDawg on Feb 18, 2012 8:52 PM EST reply actions

Seems to be two camps on Usama Young- is he just a placeholder or can he do a job for us at FS?

Hard on him when TJ went down for sure.

....just need a guy called Byner to play RT...

by LondonBrown on Feb 19, 2012 9:23 AM EST up reply actions

Usama looked better as a SS. I always thought based on his size and reported speed, he seemed more like a FS. I just think he is a FS with good physical skills that plays the run well, but is a liability in coverage. Translation: placeholder or decent backup

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by bross09 on Feb 20, 2012 7:07 PM EST up reply actions

Also Nnamdi is better in man coverage, not the zone he was shoved into. That was a case of not using your players well.

by HenryDawg on Feb 18, 2012 8:54 PM EST reply actions

I still want to see Joe Haden create more tackling opportunities for himself. He could be a ridiculous force in this area if he really put his mind to it.

If he gets his nose in there and finds the ball carrier a little more and cleans up his footwork a little bit it could be really awesome to see.

"Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital." - Aaron Levenstein

by rufio on Feb 18, 2012 11:02 PM EST reply actions

TLP will find some way to hate this.

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools" -Hemingway

by notthatnoise on Feb 19, 2012 1:34 PM EST reply actions

I’m sure it would be something about Haden only playing well when covering “bad” WRs. You know, like A.J. Green and Brandon Marshall. Two of his better games off the top of my head.

I should have made my screen name DerekAndersonIsMyBrother

by Doc's Kid on Feb 20, 2012 7:03 PM EST up reply actions