FOXBORO, Mass. — A perfect statistic to gauge NFL cornerback play doesn’t exist.
The best we probably have is raw coverage numbers, but there are inherent flaws with those, too. New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, for instance, has allowed 16 catches on 37 targets for 173 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in seven games this season. Quarterbacks have a 73.4 passer rating while targeting him.
But some incompletions are lucky on the cornerbacks’ part, and some catches are unlucky. A quarterback can overthrow a poorly covered receiver, or a cornerback can be in perfect coverage and the pass-catcher can make the play anyway.
Gilmore hasn’t just been lucky this season, though. He ranks third among all defenders in Pro Football Focus‘ forced incompletion stat with 10 on the season. He’s eighth in forced incompletion percentage at 27 percent.
Gilmore has nine pass breakups, good for second in the NFL, and the one interception.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked Friday if those ball skills always existed or if that’s something Gilmore has improved since coming to New England. The Patriots are playing against Gilmore’s old team, the Buffalo Bills, on Monday night in Orchard Park.
“Well, I think — again, he was a good player in Buffalo, obviously, and has done a good job for us,” Belichick said. “I think he’s continued to improve for us as he’s gotten more familiar with our scheme, and also I think we were able to utilize him in ways that are more advantageous to him.
“So, I think as he and Pat (Chung), Devin (McCourty), Jon (Jones), Duron (Harmon), those guys have played together more, there’s just a comfort level in those type of adjustments. But, yeah, he gets his hands on a lot of balls in practice. So, he’s playing with a lot of confidence, playing with good technique and just the second year has helped like it usually does with most players.”
Gilmore is on pace for the most pass breakups of his career. He had 18 in 2015, ranking seventh in the league. He’s currently on pace for 21 pass deflections this season. He’s already matched his number of pass breakups from last season, his first with the Patriots.
Gilmore needs just one more interception to tie his total from last season. Given the Bills’ poor quarterback play, it easily could come Monday night.
Gilmore is PFF’s eighth-ranked cornerback this season.
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, go to ProFootballFocus.com.
