In the history of the NFL there has only been one Shut Down Corner!

Typhus

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We didn't have a first round pick that year from the Galloway trade. It was 2nd, 4th, and 6th.

The 1,2, and 3 you are seeing was the order picked not the round. Wiley was a 5th rounder.
That's right,, its was like we got tired of chasing the next Charles Haley those three or four years earlier, late first pick busts like Kavika Pittman.. actually traded back in that draft in 96 and took Pittman at 37.
We decided we were going to come away with a contributor in the secondary in that 2000 draft.
 
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jazzcat22

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We didn't have a first round pick that year from the Galloway trade. It was 2nd, 4th, and 6th.

The 1,2, and 3 you are seeing was the order picked not the round. Wiley was a 5th rounder.

Yes thanks for the correction. I looked at it wrong. Late night (no not from drinking LOL) then up too early, on 1st cup go coffee.
 

JohnsKey19

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Thanks for sharing.
i could name some true shutdown coverage CBs, Sanders of course,along with, Mike Haynes, Lester Hayes
- BTW, remember how Lester the Molester Hayes and Mike Haynes totally shutdown that hated " Fun bunch" Charlie Brown and Art Monk in the super bowl ?

But besides being the most flamboyant ,showboating CB, Prime Time had a tremendous knack for " baiting" the QB into thinking that WR he want to
throw to is open...he feint and give so much cushion in front of him that QBs think there's a big opening and the moment he unleashes his throw, Sanders
immediately jumps the route, picks off the ball ....and takes it the other way for a quick six.
i've never seen a CB do that to a science and art the way Deion did that.
That's what further adds to his repertoire as a pure shutdown coverage CB, and the very Best in History of NFL, imo.

i wasn't there back in the old school dayz of Diiccckk Night-Train Lane, Mel Blount or our own Cowboys' Mel Renfro, so i dunno what his return INT for TD skill set was like, .. but i was to see how the the likes of Deion, Lester, Mike Haynes, Darrell Green, etc.

In terms of pure man shut- down coverage, this is MY particular top 10 all time list:
1 Deion Sanders
2 Mike Haynes
3 Darrell Revis
4 Lester Hayes
5 Darrell Green
6 Richard Sherman
7 Rod Woodson
8 Aneas Williams
9 Patrick Peterson
10 Ty Law

Best of the Rest: Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson, Albert Lewis, Hanford Dixon, Frank Minnifield, Louis Wright, Josh Norman

Minnifield and Dixon had things locked up completely for a 3-4 year stretch.
 

Gorgon

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Disagree overall, Also, are we talking for their whole career or for a certain amount of time.
I will say Deion was probably the most pure cover corner we have seen and better than the ones I list below who also could be considered Best of the Best corners in man coverage.


I could say at times, Peterson, Revis, Champ Bailey, Rod Woodson, Ty Law were all top of the game corners who locked down one side of the field. Just some off top of my head
You guys are forgetting that the Raiders had two: Lester Hayes and Michael Haines. Probably the best cornerback duo ever, although if Herb Adderly had had just one or two more years on him when Dallas got him, the Renfro Adderly duo would have been tough. Renfro's shut down of Paul Warfield in Super Bowl VI was a classic, but watch Hayes and Haines simply eliminate the WRs in their Super Bowl.
 

Tenkamenin

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Deion hands down is the greatest corner to ever play the game. The whole nonsense of being the greatest cover corner as opposed to corner just doesn’t make any sense. The primary job of a Corner is to cover, I can care less if he doesn’t tackle like Ronnie Lott.

Also, Deion is the greatest Punt Returner of all time. The players ahead of Deion with PR TDs had more opportunities to return punts. No ST coach wanted to challenge Deion in his Prime.

 

blueblood70

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Agree or Disagree?

The only Shut Down Corner in the history of the NFL was Deon Sanders!

Can be annoying as a analyst, but one hell of a cover corner!
no theres been at least one in every era..Dion was great but he wasn't alone..his greatness came from being able to play ST as an exciting returner and on offense..he was special BUT no way he was the only shut down corner is 100yrs of football..

Green, Reavis and others would chime in with an argument..
 

Paradox

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Agree or Disagree?

The only Shut Down Corner in the history of the NFL was Deon Sanders!

Can be annoying as a analyst, but one hell of a cover corner!

But I heard there was a whole island named after that guy Revis.
 

blueblood70

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The better question is would you rather have a shutdown corner like Bryon Jones, or a turnover machine corner who took risks like Revis.

Edit: Not saying Jones is a top notch shutdown corner but he definitely held his own, just never took risks and played it safe.
Jones was not a hsut down corner, he was solid in coverage but dude was not specail in any way..its why we let him walk..Ill take Reavis , Dion, or Green anyway.. daryl Green was one bad *** mofo hated him because he was our enemy but he played what 19years and still looked fast the day he retired..?
 

TwentyOne

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The only Shut Down Corner in the history of the NFL was Deon Sanders!

Can be annoying as a analyst, but one hell of a cover corner!

Deion to me was the greatest Cover corner. The last true shut down corner. He did not only cover his guy, QBs didnt even look at his half of the field.

He did it not only for 1 year. He came out of college and changed the game. That, with 3 different teams over a decade.

The only two sports athlete. The great Michael Jordan tried it but never made it in baseball to the ML (played only AAA and was medicore there). Deion played in the MLB and was good at it. That should show how great an athelete he was.

One of only a very few who really played two ways and that very successfull and not only as a decoy.

But not only a great athlete he was. He put a lot of work in the study. I remember when he was in Dallas he even coached our coaches. Explained them tendencies etc...

You can think whatever you want about his personality. He is a showman and likes to talk a lot. I am not so much a fan anymore of him now. But i never found a teammate who not talks good about him. He never is arrogant. He is helpfull and always positiv. He has his negatives but who hasnt.

I like him. Loved him as a player. He was a joy to watch evertime he was on the field.

To me besides Bo Jackson he is the greatest athlete there was. Deion to me is the best defensive player to ever play the Game. Maybe even the best overall.
 

Kingofholland

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There's not a ton of guys over the last few decades you would consider in this category.

Darrell Green, Rod Woodson, and Charles Woodson were outstanding corners, along with Sanders. Champ Bailey, and Ty Law were pretty amazing corners too. Then guys like Everson Walls and Eric Allen had some excellent seasons too. Think at one point any of these guys can get into the discussion.
 

TwentyOne

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Wow.

Deion was the best corner ever, and Everson couldn't even stand in the same room.

Nobody could beat Deion. He literally got bored and coaches receivers during games on how to run routes. Isaac Bruce says he learned the position during games from Deion.

I didn't like him personally, but he's probably the best player I ever watched other than Jerry Rice.

Yeah he did that.

I remember a WR gave an interview after the game. He said Deion told him, listen i gonna let you catch 2 or 3 shorter Routes the next one i will take to the house. So we both are satisfied. It came exactly as deion said.
 

TwentyOne

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There's not a ton of guys over the last few decades you would consider in this category.

Darrell Green, Rod Woodson, and Charles Woodson were outstanding corners, along with Sanders. Champ Bailey, and Ty Law were pretty amazing corners too. Then guys like Everson Walls and Eric Allen had some excellent seasons too. Think at one point any of these guys can get into the discussion.

Champ bailey may be the last true cover corner the league has seen. But all those players aint no competition when it comes to sanders.
 

Redball Express

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Agree or Disagree?

The only Shut Down Corner in the history of the NFL was Deon Sanders!

Can be annoying as a analyst, but one hell of a cover corner!
If you let Sander speak in the 3rd person..

then yes.

He will vote for me, myself and I.

That's Sanders.

Mel Renfro would be my choice.

He was an All Pro CB, returned kicks and in 1966 Landry started Renfro at HB and he did very well until he got hurt.

Then Dan Reeves stepped in as a rookie and the rest was history.

So no..you were just born to soon as a Cowboy fan.
 

Super_Kazuya

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Isn’t “lockdown” corner an archaic concept that applied to a small era of the NFL? Does the modern NFL care if you stick your best cornerback on one side, never move him and pretend you’re locking down “half” of the field? Think about how smart route combinations attack man vs. the way offenses ran back on the 80s and 90s.
 

Redball Express

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Isn’t “lockdown” corner an archaic concept that applied to a small era of the NFL? Does the modern NFL care if you stick your best cornerback on one side, never move him and pretend you’re locking down “half” of the field? Think about how smart route combinations attack man vs. the way offenses ran back on the 80s and 90s.
I always thought of that term 'lockdown' as another word for a CB who could blanket you with his coverage, denying your skills to the offense.

Failing a 'lockdown CB' DCs did it with different packages using different combos of players with different schemes.

Some teams would move their best CB to follow the best WR. And teams then used TEs and slot receivers to attack the defensive methods.

Lockdown Corner evolved into Lockdown Coverage.

Now it's all about who can make something new and make it work. Finding a LBer who can tackle and blitz well. Or one that covers receivers or back well and terrorize the opposition.

Until somebody can attack that strength.

Always changing. Never ending.
 

Doomsday

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Thanks for sharing.
i could name some true shutdown coverage CBs, Sanders of course,along with, Mike Haynes, Lester Hayes
- BTW, remember how Lester the Molester Hayes and Mike Haynes totally shutdown that hated " Fun bunch" Charlie Brown and Art Monk in the super bowl ?

But besides being the most flamboyant ,showboating CB, Prime Time had a tremendous knack for " baiting" the QB into thinking that WR he want to
throw to is open...he feint and give so much cushion in front of him that QBs think there's a big opening and the moment he unleashes his throw, Sanders
immediately jumps the route, picks off the ball ....and takes it the other way for a quick six.
i've never seen a CB do that to a science and art the way Deion did that.
That's what further adds to his repertoire as a pure shutdown coverage CB, and the very Best in History of NFL, imo.

i wasn't there back in the old school dayz of Diiccckk Night-Train Lane, Mel Blount or our own Cowboys' Mel Renfro, so i dunno what his return INT for TD skill set was like, .. but i was to see how the the likes of Deion, Lester, Mike Haynes, Darrell Green, etc.

In terms of pure man shut- down coverage, this is MY particular top 10 all time list:
1 Deion Sanders
2 Mike Haynes
3 Darrell Revis
4 Lester Hayes
5 Darrell Green
6 Richard Sherman
7 Rod Woodson
8 Aneas Williams
9 Patrick Peterson
10 Ty Law

Best of the Rest: Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson, Albert Lewis, Hanford Dixon, Frank Minnifield, Louis Wright, Josh Norman

Champ Bailey has to be in the top 10 in my opinion. I would take him over Sherman, Peterson and Green
 
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