Island Livin

A cornerback must have confidence and control to shut down opposing receiver's in today's pass-happy NFL

- Charlie Broaddus

The NFL is very different today than it was 10 years ago. Back in 2006, there had been only one 5,000-yard passing season recorded in the league’s history, by Dan Marino. In the 10 years since, four quarterbacks have combined for seven 5,000-yard seasons. Passing has become the preferred method of moving the ball, which is why cornerbacks are more important now than they have ever been.

Cornerbacks are tasked with slowing down the NFL’s aerial movement. It’s difficult, but not impossible. Shutdown corners still exist in the NFL (despite the grumblings of some retired players to the contrary), but the job has changed. Corners are under more pressure than they once were because teams pass more often than they used to — seven of the top eight players in career pass attempts per game are active. (And the recently retired Peyton Manning is he eighth).

Even in today’s NFL, a corner will completely dominate a game every once in a while, shutting down all passes thrown his way.

This has come to be known as putting a receiver on an island. The Jets’ Darrelle Revis made the phrase famous in 2009 when his side of the field became Revis Island, because wideouts in that area felt stranded.

In the years since, many more islands have formed. Richard Sherman has helped make Seattle one of the stingiest defenses in the league. Patrick Peterson of the Cardinals has done the same in Arizona. This fall, look for an island to pop up in Washington. In the off-season, the Redskins made former Carolina Panthers star Josh Norman the highest-paid cornerback in history. Norman finished fourth in voting for 2015 NFL Defensive Player of the Year — the only cornerback to receive a vote. When quarterbacks dared throw in his direction, he made them pay, intercepting four passes and returning two for touchdowns.

CONFIDENCE IS KEY