In the 2019 NFL season, per Sports Info Solutions, there were 19,933 total quarterback dropbacks. Against those dropbacks, NFL defenses put four defensive backs on the field just 18% of the time (3,579 snaps), while nickel defense (with five defensive backs) ruled the league by far with 59% of all snaps (11,780). And if you want to know how much the NFL isn’t a base defense league anymore, consider this: Defenses lined up in dime coverage (six defensive backs on the field) on 20.9% of total dropbacks (4,091), which means that teams played more dime defense than base defense. The Seahawks were the only team to play base defense more than 50% of the time (67%), and the Cardinals finished second at 37%.
All this is to say that unless you’re the Seahawks, you’d better have some top-level slot defenders if you want to put a credible pass defense out there in a league where offenses are implementing more kinds of receiver sets and route combinations than ever before.
And it’s not as if the skill sets required to be a slot defender are the same as those for an outside cornerback. You might be up against a 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end on first down who can body you right out of the paint, and on the next play, you may have to deal with a small, speedy option-route receiver whose job is to juke you right out of your shoes. And as Richard Sherman once told me in his Seattle days, the thing about playing outside cornerback is that the boundary is your friend. That’s not the case when you’re in the slot, where you’re defending in space pretty much all the time.
So, which slot defenders were the most effective and valuable to their teams in 2019, and thus should be set up to do the same in 2020? With help from Pro Football Focus’ metrics, and a whole lot of tape study, here’s one list. To avoid small sample-size results, each of these defenders played at least 50% of their snaps in the slot.
Mike Hilton | Chris Harris Jr. | Jourdan Lewis | Tramon Williams | Mackensie Alexander | Nickell Robey-Coleman | Marlon Humphrey | D.J. Hayden | Brian Poole | K’Waun Williams | Tyrann Mathieu
11. Mike Hilton, Pittsburgh Steelers
Minkah Fitzpatrick was one of the NFL’s best slot defenders in his rookie season of 2018 for the Dolphins, so it was assumed that when the Steelers traded their 2020 first-round pick for Fitzpatrick early in the 2019 season, the Alabama alum would play a similar role in Pittsburgh. Instead, Mike Tomlin and his staff decided to turn Fitzptrick into one of the league’s best deep safeties (which worked out very well), while relying on Hilton as their primary slot man. Hilton played 510 slot snaps in 2019, allowing 34 receptions on 55 targets for 394 yards, 146 yards after catch, three touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 94.1.
Aggressive to a fault at times, Hilton can get gobbled up by smarter receivers running exact routes. But he also has the recovery speed to swoop in even after he’s beaten to deflect a pass and benefit his defense. He’s also a good blitzer who picked up 1.5 sacks and 10 total pressures in 2019.
10. Chris Harris Jr., Los Angeles Chargers
An undrafted free agent out of Kansas, Harris turned himself into the premier slot cornerback of his generation, though he has moved from the slot to outside depending on the season. Last year, in Vic Fangio’s defense, Harris played 937 snaps outside, and 40 in the slot. That’s a big switch from his 2018 season, when he played 440 snaps in the slot, and 264 outside.
Now with the Chargers after nine years in Denver, Harris has said that he will spend most of his time in the slot as part of one of the NFL’s most potentially dominant secondaries. What makes Harris the personification of the slot defender throughout his career? His short-area speed, change of direction ability, and toughness are all prototypical, but it’s his intelligence and awareness to discern what’s happening in the passing game before it happens that gives him a considerable advantage. The Chargers got a real bargain in Harris’ two-year, $20 million contract, but it’s interesting to see how Harris and Desmond King (who just missed this list) will co-exist in a defense that put more than five defensive backs on the field just 19% of the time in 2019.
9. Jourdan Lewis, Dallas Cowboys
Lewis played in the slot on 449 of his 590 snaps last season, allowing 27 receptions on 41 targets in that role for 372 yards, 181 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 90.7. The 2017 third-round pick out of Michigan has seen a serious transformation in his overall role since his rookie season, when he played 676 snaps at outside corner and just 46 in the slot.
Lewis has the ability to get right up on a receiver and trail him through a route, and he also has the field awareness to catch up to a target from off coverage. Lewis is also a sure run-tackler with 18 total stops in his 2019 season, and an excellent blitzer who gauged the gaps in opposing offensive lines for four sacks and five total pressures.
8. Tramon Williams, Green Bay Packers
How rare is it for a defensive back to play in the NFL at age 37? Exceedingly so. Per Pro Football Reference’s Play Finder tool, only 15 have done it in NFL history. Williams will become the 16th when he suits up for the 2020 season. Last season, he played 547 snaps in the slot and 181 outside for a Packers defense that played dime on 52% of its snaps, the highest rate in the NFL. And on those slot snaps, Williams allowed 30 catches on 48 targets for 385 yards, 198 yards after the catch, one touchdown, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 85.9.
Williams may not have the absolute recovery speed he once did, but he’s learned enough about the game in his 13 NFL seasons to decipher what’s coming from the opposing passing game, and he’s as smooth a route-runner as most receivers. This allows him to carry his targets from the first step through the end of the route, no matter what that route may be. That’s an incredibly valuable skill for any slot defender to have.
That said, Williams’ most impressive play in 2019 may have come as an outside cornerback. Either way, not bad for an older guy.
7. Mackensie Alexander, Cincinnati Bengals
To put it mildly, Minnesota’s cornerback situation in 2019 was a disaster. Outside cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes combined to allow 10 touchdowns to just one interception, and both are off the Vikings’ roster now. The Colts are taking a flyer on Rhodes, and the Bengals signed Waynes. Cincinnati also picked up Alexander on a one-year, $4 million contract, which could prove to be the best of the bunch. Last season, it was Alexander’s job to be the man in the middle, mitigating the preposterous difference between Minnesota’s transcendent safety play (courtesy of Harrison Smith and the criminally underrated Anthony Harris), and the aforementioned cornerback schisms.
Alexander did this well enough, playing slot on 468 of his 562 coverage snaps and allowing 40 receptions on 57 targets for 364 yards, 130 yards after the catch, one touchdown, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 85.7. An above-average technician capable of mirroring and matching routes and working to deflect at the right time, Alexander could be a serious contributor to Cincinnati’s defense if defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo can do a better job of matching scheme to personnel.
6. Nickell Robey-Coleman, Philadelphia Eagles
Though he’s primarily known as the instigator on one of the most infamous non-calls in recent NFL history, Robey-Coleman has been one of the league’s better slot defenders for a while now — he’s one of just three slot defenders (along with Chris Harris Jr. and Mackensie Alexnader) to make this list in both 2019 and 2020. Last season, Robey-Coleman allowed 32 catches on 52 targets for 272 yards, 144 yards after catch, one touchdown, and an opponent passer rating of 80.1.
Robey-Coleman brings excellent anticipation to his game — he can sniff out a screen and blow it up as the ball’s being thrown — and he’s also outstanding in man and match coverage with his pattern-reading and route follow-through. Robey-Coleman has played for the Rams over the last three seasons, but the Eagles picked him in free agency on an absolute steal of a deal — one year, $1.35 million. Along with Darius Slay, Robey-Coleman should do a lot to redefine Philadelphia’s secondary.
5. Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore’s first-round pick in 2017 out of Alabama, Humphrey found himself manning the slot more and more as the 2019 season went along, and certainly after the Ravens acquired Marcus Peters in a trade with the Rams last October. Humphrey had no issue filling that role, as he totaled 37 receptions allowed on 59 targets from the slot, for 347 yards, 152 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 83.1.
At 6-foot-0 and 197 pounds, Humphrey has the size and physicality to excel outside, but he also has the quick-twitch direction-changing ability and short-area speed required to take a slot receiver across the middle, close on the play, and shut it down.
4. D.J. Hayden, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Raiders selected Hayden in the first round of the 2013 draft, but injuries derailed what seemed to be a promising early career. After a stint with the Lions in 2017, Hayden signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Jaguars, and though he’s still missed time with injuries of late, he’s also been a revelation in the slot even as Jacksonville has engineered the deconstruction of what was a truly great defense a couple years ago.
In 335 slot coverage snaps last season, Hayden allowed 24 catches on 38 targets for 195 yards, 110 yards after catch, no touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 76.1. He has the quickness and route awareness to track the game’s best receivers from the slot, and judging by his two sacks, seven total pressures, 18 stops, and five tackles for loss, he’s more than just a coverage guy.
3. Brian Poole, New York Jets
The Falcons picked Poole up as an undrafted free agent out of Florida in 2016, and started him on a positive development curve as a slot defender. Poole was error-prone at times in that position, and would give up more touchdowns and big plays than was ideal, but after he signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal to replace Buster Skrine, things started to turn around. Last season, Poole allowed 32 catches on 51 targets for 237 yards, 131 yards after the catch, one touchdown, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 72.1 — the lowest opponent passer rating allowed by any slot cornerback who played more than 50% of his snaps inside. Now, he has another one-year deal, with the money going up to $5 million.
Poole has maintained his aggressiveness, but has also refined his mechanics to allow him to trail receivers through different routes. As he’s been able to combine backpedal speed with an elevated route sense and a fluid hip-flip (as well as defined footwork), Poole is now a top-level slot asset.
2. K’Waun Williams, San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers had a bit of an outside cornerback problem opposite Richard Sherman in 2019. One of the NFL’s best defenses last season would have been even better had Ahkello Witherspoon done something besides allowing touchdowns (six through the air), or if the defensive staff had been definitive about the fact that Emmanuel Moseley was the better option. Regardless, one thing defensive coordinator Robert Saleh didn’t have to worry about was the slot position, which is important when your defense lines up with five defensive backs on 70% of your snaps.
Williams, an undrafted free agent out of Pitt, spent 2014 and 2015 with the Browns, missed the 2016 season in an injury dispute, and ultimately landed on the 49ers’ roster in time for the 2017 season. He saw a lot of reps in 2017 and 2019, but 2019 was the season in which he became an indispensable part of a championship-level defense as an inside defender. Williams allowed 50 catches on 69 targets for 389 yards, 258 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 73.9.
He’s not the biggest guy at five-foot-9 and 185 pounds, but as is true of a lot of smaller defenders, Williams brings smooth and fluid movement skills to the field, as well as the speed and range to take everything from bubble screens to deep posts against some of the NFL’s best receivers.
1. Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City Chiefs
The more Mathieu got acclimated to Steve Spagnuolo’s system in his first season with the Chiefs, the more he became the defensive version of Patrick Mahomes — the field-tilting presence who just seemed to make things happen.
“This organization was blessed to have Eric Berry… a great leader, tough, all those things,” head coach Andy Reid said of Mathieu in January as the Chiefs went on their Super Bowl run. “Before that I was with Brian Dawkins. I’ve been lucky to be around some really good safeties. They’re all different in their own way but they’re all great football players with great instincts and good leaders. They lead a different way. This kid here, he’s a special kid. He’s not the biggest guy. You’re not looking at one of those huge safeties but, man, is he a good football player. He just gets it.”
Yes, he does — to the point that I believe Mathieu should have been named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. No disrespect to Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who won the award, but Mathieu did his work at a ridiculously high level everywhere on the field — 92 snaps on the defensive line, 388 in the box, 31 at wide cornerback, 205 at free safety, and 561 in the slot. When he was in the slot, there was no more effective defender in the league last season. Mathieu allowed 42 slot receptions on 61 targets for just 297 yards, 174 yards after the catch, one touchdown, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 69.1.
Mathieu is able to do so many things at such a high level because he has somehow managed to combine the ideal traits for multiple positions — he has the quickness to excel in the slot, the range to play two-deep safety, the aggressiveness to face up to the run in the box, and his diagnostic abilities make him nightmare fuel for receivers all over the field. If you want to see the ideal slot guy — not to mention the best five-tool pass-defender in the game — look no further than the Honey Badger.
