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[epicSocialism4tw]

This guy says that teams target Bailey.

And then he contradicts his claim with his own numbers.


Teams don't shy away from Bailey
By KC Joyner
ESPN Insider
(Archive)


Champ Bailey is by far the top cornerback in the NFL. His 4.7 yards per attempt total last year was the best of any cornerback in the four years I have been breaking down tape. Since Bailey is always the best cornerback on the field no matter who lines up on the other side of him, it seems logical offenses would stay away from him under any circumstances.

May 22 Glossary
YPA (Yards Per Attempt): A quick barometer of a quarterback/wide receiver/tight end's efficiency.
• Complete Glossary


However, Bailey was thrown at 65 times in 2006, while Darrent Williams, the starter opposite Bailey for 14 games last season, had only 73 passes thrown his way. Bailey had 4.1 passes thrown at him per game, versus 5.2 for Williams.

Interestingly enough, Bailey and Williams were but one example of a number of odd cornerback pass distributions:

• Chris McAlister (7.3 YPA) had 97 passes thrown at him, versus 83 for Samari Rolle (10.1 YPA).

• Antoine Winfield spent the 2006 season lining up opposite a revolving door of cornerbacks on the other side of the field, yet still had 89 passes thrown his way, the seventh-highest total in the league.

• DeAngelo Hall isn't as good as many pundits suggest, but he played opposite Allen Rossum and Jason Webster, both of whom posted YPA totals over 10 yards. Despite the obvious weakness on the other side of the field, Hall had 87 passes directed at him.

Those aren't the only top cornerbacks who had a lot of passes thrown their way. In fact, the top-20 list of the most targeted cornerbacks from 2006 includes a slew of big names.

1. Anthony Henry, Dallas Cowboys -- 100
2. Chris McAlister, Baltimore Ravens -- 97
3. Charles Tillman, Chicago Bears -- 96
4. Carlos Rogers, Washington Redskins -- 96
5. Rashean Mathis, Jacksonville Jaguars -- 95
6. Quentin Jammer, San Diego Chargers -- 94
7. Antoine Winfield, Minnesota Vikings -- 89
8. DeAngelo Hall, Atlanta Falcons -- 87
9. Antrel Rolle, Arizona Cardinals -- 86
10. Fred Smoot, Minnesota Vikings -- 86
11. Fred Thomas, New Orleans Saints -- 86
12. Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- 85
13. Dunta Robinson, Houston Texans -- 84
14. Samari Rolle, Baltimore Ravens -- 83
15. Dre' Bly, Detroit Lions -- 83
16. Brian Williams, Jacksonville Jaguars -- 82
17. Asante Samuel, New England Patriots -- 82
18. Drayton Florence, San Diego Chargers -- 81
19. Daven Holly, Cleveland Browns -- 80
20. Will Allen, Miami Dolphins -- 80

(continued here)
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=2878571

[Atlas]

Hilarious! WTF?? That is funny he says team don't shy away from Bailey but yet every CB he lists was thrown at more then him.
That's funny don't editors read these first?

[Los Broncos]

Hilarious! WTF?? That is funny he says team don't shy away from Bailey but yet every CB he lists was thrown at more then him.
That's funny don't editors read these first?

Yeah really

[Tredici]

He also conveniently forgot the picks Champ had as a result of him and Darrent switching sides when coming out of the huddle.

Chump don't know Champ.

[Kaylore]

He's right about DeAngelo Hall being overrated. He really struggled in several games last year. However part of the reason they are targeted more is because they are covering the number one receiver and generally most of your pass plays are designed for them to get the ball which means more balls thrown at the number one corner who is usually covering them.

And I agree that he makes the article seem like Bailey is targeted a lot and then he doesn't even crack his top twenty. There are second corners who are more targeted than Bailey on that list. What a joke.

[Kaylore]

I sent the guy an e-mail. Hopefully he reads it.

This message is for Mr. KC Joyner in regards to a recent article he wrote that was posted on ESPN Insider. In the article, Joyner asserts that contrary to popular belief, Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey is not avoided in games, as many believed last year. I found this assertion puzzling having watched every game and so decided to read further. As I read the article, Joyner proceeded to point to evidence that seemed to contradict the conclusions he drew from his own observations.

First he points out that Bailey was not targeted as often as Darrent Williams. Somehow in his analysis he missed that the Denver tandem might have been the only one where the number one corner saw a fewer number of balls than the number two corner. This is largely because the number one corner is defending the opponent's best receiver, and as most pass plays are designed to get the ball to their best receiver, those corners are targeted more despite being exceptional defenders. Champ was an exception as his play was so good that people avoided him entirely.

Then KC presented a list of players and the number of times they were targeted:

1. Anthony Henry, Dallas Cowboys -- 100
2. Chris McAlister, Baltimore Ravens -- 97
3. Charles Tillman, Chicago Bears -- 96
4. Carlos Rogers, Washington Redskins -- 96
5. Rashean Mathis, Jacksonville Jaguars -- 95
6. Quentin Jammer, San Diego Chargers -- 94
7. Antoine Winfield, Minnesota Vikings -- 89
8. DeAngelo Hall, Atlanta Falcons -- 87
9. Antrel Rolle, Arizona Cardinals -- 86
10. Fred Smoot, Minnesota Vikings -- 86
11. Fred Thomas, New Orleans Saints -- 86
12. Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- 85
13. Dunta Robinson, Houston Texans -- 84
14. Samari Rolle, Baltimore Ravens -- 83
15. Dre' Bly, Detroit Lions -- 83
16. Brian Williams, Jacksonville Jaguars -- 82
17. Asante Samuel, New England Patriots -- 82
18. Drayton Florence, San Diego Chargers -- 81
19. Daven Holly, Cleveland Browns -- 80
20. Will Allen, Miami Dolphins – 80

Bailey isn’t even in the top twenty. In fact there are second-tier corners that were more targeted than Bailey. Wouldn’t that suggest that he is, in fact, not thrown at very much at all? I’d suspect that if the list were to continue, that you would find nickel-backs who were targeted a greater number of times than Bailey was.

I’m also curious what the target to interception ratio is. I would suspect it is one of the best the league has seen in maybe fifteen years. Asante Samuel had ten interceptions but was targeted 82 times which equates to an interception for every eight and a half targets. Bailey is looking at one for every six and a half. 15% of all passes thrown to him were intercepted. That is remarkably high.

My point isn’t to point out that Champ is a great corner, because obviously he is. Rather, it is that KC Joyner should have his work looked over by an editor first if he is going to try and make assertions about something only to give evidence that speaks to the contrary.

Thanks,
Khan (I didn't actually sign it Khan)

[broncocalijohn]

Hilarious! WTF?? That is funny he says team don't shy away from Bailey but yet every CB he lists was thrown at more then him.
That's funny don't editors read these first?


It must be offseason football for them too!

[SoCalBronco]

Great e-mail, Khan.

I'd like to see how he defends his position now.

[DeusExManning]

Please send his response.

[bronco610]

Sick him Kaylore! Great email but I doubt he responds.

[epicSocialism4tw]

I know Mediator12 had put together a nice statistical package regarding Bailey over the span of last season. It would be cool to get that type of information over to this guy Joyner.

[Beantown Bronco]

I don't think he contradicted himself at all. If you read the article again, what he seems to be saying is NOT that people are throwing at Bailey all the time; he's saying simply that there wasn't a huge difference between the amount of time Bailey was thrown at versus DW. And he's right....there wasn't. As a result, Darrent was also in the same ballpark as far as not being thrown at very much.

This leads to two possible conclusions: either (1) the Broncos were not thrown on very much in general or (2) opposing teams threw more to their TEs, RBs and #3 WRs (in other words, anyone other than the guys that Bailey and DW were covering) against the Broncos more than they did to most other teams in the league. I think it's #2.

[Kaylore]

I don't think he contradicted himself at all. If you read the article again, what he seems to be saying is NOT that people are throwing at Bailey all the time; he's saying simply that there wasn't a huge difference between the amount of time Bailey was thrown at versus DW. And he's right....there wasn't. As a result, Darrent was also in the same ballpark as far as not being thrown at very much.

This leads to two possible conclusions: either (1) the Broncos were not thrown on very much in general or (2) opposing teams threw more to their TEs, RBs and #3 WRs (in other words, anyone other than the guys that Bailey and DW were covering) against the Broncos more than they did to most other teams in the league. I think it's #2.

Both would suggest that he is targeted well below the norm for a number one corner. I'd be curious what kind of passes the plays people did make on him were. They are probably a lot of underneath stuff and quick slants - safe stuff that isn't going to get much. This also speaks to how dominant Bailey was last year.

[watermock]

The article is so lame that it doesn't even run down the full list to get to Champ, stopping a full 15 plays short. Kaylore also makes a good point about his INT ratio, often saving TD's. I'll take bad field position to a TD anyday. He was the closest we had to a goal line defense. Finally, Khan makes another good point that Bailey was always on the #1. Again finally, we wound up on the field on defense too long, too many times.

[epicSocialism4tw]

The article is so lame that it doesn't even run down the full list to get to Champ, stopping a full 15 plays short. Kaylore also makes a good point about his INT ratio, often saving TD's. I'll take bad field position to a TD anyday. He was the closest we had to a goal line defense. Finally, Khan makes another good point that Bailey was always on the #1. Again finally, we wound up on the field on defense too long, too many times.


I made a remark on another thread somewhere that when Bailey wasnt changing the game, this team was losing. He has really carried the team for the past two seasons.

A DB carried us to the AFC Championship game. That's how good Champ is.

There has never been another DB who could make claims like that.

[listopencil]

Meh. Passes Defensed can be subjective.