Move over Chris Harris Jr. because Bradley Roby is the best in town.
OK, that may not fully be the case yet, and Harris is the unquestioned No. 1 cornerback going into this season, but Roby has an impressive stat to backup his play as of late.
According to Pro Football Focus, Roby allowed only 17.4 percent of passes to be caught when he contested them last year.
Bradley Roby allowed a catch rate of just 17.4 percent on the contested passes sent into his coverage last year. #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/1e3ZKneJSh
— PFF DEN Broncos (@PFF_Broncos) June 19, 2018
As the graphic says, that makes Roby a “lockdown” corner. The fourth-year stud plays with great instincts, and he’s backed them up as of late by studying film with Harris and the rest of the cornerback room. Those improvements in reading opposing teams’ defenses and plays has been easy to see lately, as he attacks the ball so often right when it gets there.
For Roby, it’s not just that number from PFF which illustrates how great he’s played.
He was rated overall a better cornerback last year, at 84.0, than even Harris (83.5). And while his coverage grade was slightly higher than Harris, too, the “old man” has Roby beat when it comes to stopping the run (84.3-61.0).
So, what do all these numbers mean?
Overall, Chris Harris is still the best, all-around, cornerback on the Denver Broncos. He’s better than solid in coverage, and he’s one of the best run-stopping corners in the NFL today (No. 10 overall). But, Roby may be the better ball hawk at this point in his career, which makes some sense because Roby is three years younger than Harris.
Either way, if and when Roby steps into that No. 2 cornerback role — as he battles with Tramaine Brock — the Broncos will be just fine at cornerback, even with Aqib Talib departing this offseason.
