The cornerback position is one of the most interesting areas on the entire roster of the Denver Broncos.
Once a major strength of the team back in the ‘No Fly Zone’ days, the Broncos have been searching for the right combination of players at the cornerback position for the last several seasons.
The team tried many players at cornerback last year, including some guys the team never planned on having to use. This was largely due to the fact that the team’s big free agent signing, Bryce Callahan, ended up missing the entire season.
The Broncos also signed Coty Sensabaugh and he suited up for four games but played sparingly before being released before the season ended. He will not be graded here.
The team has players it will try to integrate into the defense next season along with Callahan, such as Cyrus Jones and Alijah Holder. But none of those players earned grades for the 2019 season, so let’s look back at the year for those that did.
Chris Harris
Stats
Tackles: 56
Tackles for loss: 1
Interceptions: 1
Pass deflections: 6
Forced fumbles: 1
Harris didn’t have terrible numbers last season, though he did only reel in one interception.
He has been a key component for the team’s defense for years and is one of the best cornerbacks in Broncos history. But last season, he didn’t seem to be the top-notch cover guy that we have all come to know.
Was that because of deteriorating skills or a lack of interest in playing for the Broncos any further? Those questions could be answered this offseason as Harris will be an unrestricted free agent and the growing belief among fans seems to be that he won’t be back.
Grade: B-
Isaac Yiadom
Stats
Tackles: 43
Tackles for loss: 1
Pass deflections: 4
Yiadom isn’t quite the third-round bust that former cornerback Brendan Langley turned out to be, but he certainly leaves much to be desired.
Yiadom may be able to develop into a guy the team can count on in sub-packages and to fill in at times in the future, but the team can certainly do better for a starting corner.
Grade: C-
Davontae Harris
Stats
Tackles: 35
Tackles for loss: 2.5
Pass deflections: 3
This would be one of those guys the Broncos didn’t plan on during training camp and preseason as he was signed after being cut by the Cincinnati Bengals just before the start of the regular season.
And he didn’t play that bad.
Harris suited up in all 16 games for the team and made some plays during the chances he was given on the field. It will be interesting to see what he can do for an encore.
Grade: B
De’Vante Bausby
Stats
Tackles: 13
Pass deflections: 3
The Broncos were excited about this guy after signing him following his performance in the failed Alliance of American Football, and he started the season well as the team’s No. 3 cornerback.
But a scary injury in early October ended his season prematurely. Despite the season coming to an end early, the projections for Bausby weren’t terribly high coming into the season, so we’ll grade him for the games he played in.
Grade: B
Duke Dawson
Stats
Tackles: 19
Pass deflections: 2
In late August, the Broncos sent a sixth-round pick to the New England Patriots for Dawson, a player the Pats had used a second-round pick on just the season before.
One had to wonder why the Patriots would give up on him so easily, but it was also a clear sign that Callahan wasn’t going to be ready to play and his injury was worse than originally thought.
But Dawson was only on the field for a little more than 32 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, despite the team having issues at the position. That was less than Davontae Harris, a fifth-round pick the Broncos grabbed off waivers and didn’t have to give up a future draft pick for.
Grade: C-
Overall grade
The cornerback position was definitely a work in progress for the Broncos in 2019 as the team was just looking for something that would stick. The fact that Callahan missed the entire season hurt the team about as much as anything last year.
Chris Harris may be looking to move on as a free agent and should that happen, it would leave a gaping hole in the team’s secondary. That is because even with Harris, the Broncos need to bolster the cornerback position this offseason whether that be through free agency or the draft.
Grade: C+
