Desmond Trufant has the 10th best rate of receptions allowed in the NFL

It would be fair to say that I’ve been on a bit of a kick defending Desmond Trufant of late, probably because the gap between the perception of his play and his actual play has been so wide thus far in 2017. I’m not above marshaling statistics and rankings to my banner, and I’ll do again this morning. Happy Saturday.

Here, we learn that Trufant is a top ten cornerback in yet another metric, this one having to do with the number of catches he’s actually allowing, on average, one catch every 17 or so snaps. Considering he plays 50 some odd snaps per game, that’s an average of three receptions per game, typically against #1 receivers.

If Trufant has allowed a couple of uncharacteristic catches on his watch this year—and that’s an argument I’m at least receptive to—he’s made up for it by gluing himself to opposing receivers and largely taking them out of the game. Your best cornerback should either be an eraser who quiets down great receivers, a ballhawk who can turn the game around in an instant, or some combination of the two. With Trufant getting two picks already this year (albeit one that was called back) and typically excellent coverage, he still fits the bill for Atlanta.