Sunday Debate: Richard Sherman is the NFL’s best corner

It’s time again for our Sunday Debate. I’ll once again be educating Brendan Pignataro, this time on the defensive side of the ball. Richard Sherman vs Patrick Peterson.

It’s time for another Sunday debate. I’m now 2-0 after another clear victory last week. Still laughing about Will Tye. Brendan’s argument was so bad the Giants went out and re-signed Larry Donnell and relegated Tye to backup duties.

This week we have another laugher. Who is the top cornerback in the NFL today? While my esteemed colleague Brendan is rolling with the wildly inconsistent Patrick Peterson, I’ll opt for the Super Bowl champion Richard Sherman. A man who’s been among the best in the league for about four years now.

Granted Peterson is as gifted an athlete we have in this league, very few can touch him in that respect, but he’s also inconsistent. He was great coming out of the gates as a rookie in 2011. Then in 2012 he kind of fell off and went into a sophomore slump. He bounced back with a nice season in 2013 before having a drastic decline in 2014. Now he’s coming off a strong 2015. On the other hand Sherman has been first team All-Pro three of the last four years and second team the other season.

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We have Sherman have success both in the regular and post season. He’s the center piece of what has become the most dominant pass defense in the NFL. The Legion of Boom has been the top ranked pass defense two of the last three seasons and only fell to No. 2 last year behind the Denver Broncos. Since drafting Sherman, the Seahawks pass defense hasn’t fallen out of the top 10. We’ve seen them play in two Super Bowls and hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2013-14.

I’m sure Brendan is going to make the argument that Sherman doesn’t travel, however, if you watched the Seahawks last year you know that’s no longer the case. In 2014 he didn’t travel, he just blanketed the left side of the field. Opposing QBs only attempted 100 passes to the entire side of the field. Since 2012 he’s allowed the lowest QBR and completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks. During that span he allowed an unfathomable five TDs to 20 INT ratio. That’s ridiculous.

Last year he did struggle a bit during the first half of the season, which is an anomaly. And his struggling still left him a top 10 corner in the league. That whole defense was a bit influx early on last season, but righted the ship by late October. In the second half of the season he matched up against premier receivers and was as good as ever. The switched was made because the Seahawks simply didn’t have the talent to allow Sherman to stay on his side.

What Sherman gives up to Peterson in athleticism, he more than makes up for with superior technique, awareness and football I.Q. I can tell you how great he is all day, but this is what former NFL cornerback and NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks had to say about him. This is a perfect breakdown:

"“Say what you want about Sherman thriving in the Seahawks’ Cover 3 scheme, but there isn’t a cover corner playing at a more consistent level than the three-time first-team All-Pro. As a long, rangy defender with exceptional patience and awareness, Sherman rarely misses jams at the line and his accurate hand placement prevents receivers from running straight lines down the field. He complements his physicality with outstanding instincts, anticipation and awareness, which allows him to make breakups and interceptions on vertical routes and back-shoulder fades along the boundary. After being chastised for years for only playing on the left side of the field, Sherman silenced his critics when he “traveled” in 2015 to match up with WR1s in key showdowns. Considering his consistency, playmaking and production, Sherman remains the gold standard at the position.”"

Now we get to the numbers where Sherman is superior in every way. The beauty of comparing these two is they both were drafted in 2011, so Brendan can’t skew the numbers like he tried to with Odell Beckham and Antonio Brown a few weeks back. Of course, Sherman is at a disadvantage since as a fifth-round pick he wasn’t handed the starting job out of the gate. With that said, you will see that doesn’t help Peterson’s case.

It’s okay Patrick, don’t cry. We all know Richard Sherman is on a different level.Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Sherman is clearly the superior run stopper and cover corner, so let’s start with tackles. Sherman has made 274 career tackles to Peterson’s 246. That’s not what’s interesting though. Sherman has 216 solo tackles and 58 assisted tackles, while Peterson has 229 solo tackles and just 17 assisted tackles. Why the big disparity? Sherman has more assisted tackles because he is up helping against the run, while Peterson is dragging down receivers he just allowed a completion too.

Peterson is known as a playmaker. Is he though? He has accumulated just one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 17 interceptions over the entirety of his career. Sherman on the other hand has racked up five forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an impressive 26 interceptions. This is a no contest when it comes to game changing plays. Sherman has also scored two TDs to Peterson’s one.

Despite being targeted much less than Peterson, Sherman dominated pass defenses too. As a matter of fact, Sherman has defended more passes every single season of their careers and Peterson has only manage to even tie him once in INTs. Sherman has 79 career pass defenses to Peterson’s 57.

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There is no statistic or example you can point to that gives Peterson an advantage unless you are going purely based on the first half of last season. By making that point in defense of an inconsistent player kind of seems illogical and hypocritical when he has full seasons of disappointment. So clearly this is another win for me to tack on to my incredible undefeated streak.