Ike Taylor is no stranger to being on an island. The former Steelers cornerback helped Pittsburgh win two Super Bowls during his 12-year career. In this series, Taylor will feature one pertinent cornerback on "Ike's Island," where he breaks down the player's on-field play and significance heading into the coming week. In addition, he lists his updated top-10 cornerback rankings.
Featured on Ike's Island this week ...
Casey Hayward, San Diego Chargers
We saw another display of the Chargers' surging ballhawk on Sunday when Hayward picked off Jameis Winston. He's one of the hottest cornerbacks in the league heading into the last quarter of the season, leading the NFL in interceptions with seven (for 102 return yards and one touchdown), having snagged a pick in four of the last five games. Hayward's seven picks are the most by a Chargers player since 2011, when Eric Weddle notched as many. The fifth-year pro has added 17 passes defensed and 48 tackles in 12 games (10 starts), while yielding with 44 catches on 84 targets (52.4 completion percentage) for 551 yards (12.5 yards per catch) and a 61.2 passer rating allowed in coverage.
Hayward has been able to make plays partly because understands weak concepts. He lines up on the right side of the defense and is often on an island. On the back side, the cornerback sometimes receives help at the beginning of the play, but if the help doesn't immediately move your way, you're on your own. There's a lot of pressure to not get beat because it's hard for the OLB or safety to get to the receiver once the ball is thrown. However, Hayward has handled his business in one-on-one coverage and plays routes well, including a comeback route (when the QB delivers the ball at the same time the receiver turns to catch it), dig route (when a receiver runs a few yards and turns toward the middle) and go route (when a receiver runs straight upfield).
Hayward spent four years in Green Bay, a team that prefers bump-and-run coverage to better disrupt timing. So naturally, Hayward is great at pressing but his weakness is off coverage -- though he's improving and certainly building his case for a spot in my top 10. With the way he's playing right now, I wouldn't be surprised if Hayward at least ties the Chargers' franchise record for INTs in a season (Antonio Cromartie with 10 in 2007).
Week 14 cornerback rankings: My top 10
Arizona's shutdown corner has played better than any other CB in the league in the last four weeks, limiting receivers Julio Jones and Stefon Diggs, among others. He cooled down Kirk Cousins and the Redskins' offense in the Cardinals' 31-23 victory at home, allowing two receptions on four targets for 20 yards. He concluded his outing with a diving, game-sealing pick (his third interception of 2016). Peterson's had two of the best INTs of the season in my opinion, including this one-handed grab in Week 3.
Arizona's second-ranked defense has allowed just 10 passing touchdowns this season (tied for fewest in the league), and Peterson's been a huge part of this production. When the Cardinals travel to Miami this weekend, I expect Peterson to continue his dominance against Ryan Tannehill and wideouts Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker, whom he is likely to follow Sunday.
After giving up a touchdown to Mike Evans and the Bucs in Week 12, Sherman was back on track in Sunday night's showdown with the Carolina Panthers. Sherman gave up just one catch on five targets for 11 yards. He's allowing a 60.0 passer rating in coverage and a 52.4 completion percentage with four games left in the regular season.
Sherman is tasked with slowing down Jordy Nelson on the road this week. This will be an interesting matchup to watch, as both are big-bodied playmakers. Nelson has had a TD reception in nine of 12 games, while Sherman has allowed two touchdowns and recorded four interceptions in coverage. The 'Hawks CB has notched one INT in four career games vs. Green Bay, including one playoff game. If Sherman wants to win the battle, he needs to execute bump-and-run coverage and put his hands on Nelson to disrupt the timing between him and Aaron Rodgers, as the Packers' duo likes to get in a rhythm while running a West Coast offense. But the biggest key for Sherman will be plastering when Rodgers, who held onto the ball for an average of 3.64 seconds in last week's game, scrambles.
ALREADY COMPETED: vs. Oakland Raiders.
Peters didn't have a great game against Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons, giving up six catches on 10 targets for 65 yards and a touchdown -- his third score yielded this season. I'm keeping him here, though, because he's still one of the biggest playmaking corners in the game with five interceptions (tied for second-most in the NFL), 16 passes defensed and a forced fumble.
Peters and the Chiefs have a huge divisional bout against the Raiders on Thursday night. In their first meeting of the season back in Week 6, Peters balled out. He gave up two catches for 16 yards to Amari Cooper and picked off MVP candidate Derek Carr. However, Peters has gone six games without an interception -- the longest drought of his career. He's going to have to watch out for double moves when facing Cooper and Michael Crabtree to be successful.
Sunday, Jones was targeted 15 times by Carson Wentz and the Eagles' offense -- that's six more targets than he's seen in any other game this year. Even with the extra attention, Jones held down his side of the field and allowed 11 catches for 77 yards (seven yards per catch) and zero touchdowns. For that, he's staying in the top five. But this week against the winless Browns, it's going to be crucial for the 5-foot-10 veteran to play big against Terrelle Pryor (6-4, 223 pounds).
Although Aqib Talib is Denver's most passionate corner and Bradley Roby is the most athletic, Harris is the most complete, displaying his balanced skill set week in and week out. He's a top-five corner depending on the week, and he completely dominated his matchups in Jacksonville. In 10 targets, Harris gave up just three receptions for 26 yards (8.7 yards per catch) and brought down his second interception of the season.
In contrast from Sunday, I don't expect Harris to get a lot of targets this week in Nashville. The Broncos boast the NFL's best pass defense, but their run defense sits in 28th. The Titans love to run the ball and will take advantage of Denver's struggles in that area.
The oldest cornerback in the league continues to impress. Last week against the NFC-leading Cowboys, Newman gave up one reception for -2 yards. He is so good at playing off the line of scrimmage and is a situational gamer because of his dedication to film study. I think Newman is going to get his second pick of the year this weekend against Blake Bortles and the Jaguars.
Joseph still has yet to give up a touchdown in coverage this season. While Aaron Rodgers picked on other members of the Texans' secondary in the snow, Joseph stayed the course and gave up two catches on four targets for 14 yards. Rodgers finished the game with a 108.9 passer rating, but had a 58.3 rating when targeting Joseph.
No receiver is going to take the top of Joseph because he keeps everything in front of him and has speed to cover deep routes. He's going to get tested this week when he faces T.Y. Hilton, who racked up 146 yards on nine catches against the Jets on Monday.
Talib had a solid outing in his second game back from injury, allowing two receptions on five targets for 20 yards against the Jaguars. The ninth-year veteran added three tackles and one pass defensed in the win. He continues to be passionate and a driving force for this Broncos team that sits in third in the AFC West.
Norman has had a front row seat on the struggle bus since the halfway point of the season. In the last four weeks, the first-year Redskin has given up three touchdowns -- after allowing just one in his first eight games. Oof! But he tackles well and that's keeping him on this list.
The problem I have with Rhodes lies in his lack of consistency. Sometimes, he plays lights out; other days, he's allowing touchdowns and missing tackles, which is the biggest knock against him. Last week, Rhodes gave up two catches for 15 yards and a touchdown to Dez Bryant on "Thursday Night Football."
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:Darius Slay, Detroit Lions; Brent Grimes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Janoris Jenkins, New York Giants; Bradley Roby, Denver Broncos; Casey Hayward, San Diego Chargers; William Gay, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Follow Ike Taylor on Twitter _@IkeSwagginU_.
