The 2011 season was a disaster for St Louis at cornerback as starter after starter ended the year on IR, so when Jeff Fisher had a chance to reunite with Cortland Finnegan, a player he had drafted in Tennessee it was a move many saw coming. Finnegan was our third ranked CB last year (+15.8), playing well against both the run (+6.4, equal second) and in coverage (+9.6, equal sixth) which will be a welcome release for the Rams who fielded Justin King (725 snaps, -22.6) and Josh Gordy (698, -8.9) for large parts of the season. It is expected that Finnegan will partner Bradley Fletcher (who played four games this year before being placed on IR), who had a solid 2010 recording 4 interceptions and +1.7 overall grade. Finnegan will replace Ron Bartell as the teams #1 corner as Bartell has now been released and signed on a one-year deal by Oakland.
Rams fans should be excited to know that Finnegan has played 16 games in five of his six years in the league and played to a Pro Bowl calibre in 2008. He has fourteen career interceptions, with five in consecutive years in 2008 and 2009. He has also returned three for touchdowns, as well as a 92-yard fumble return in 2006-07, showing his ability to make game changing plays for the defense. He has also supported these highlight reel plays with solid tackling numbers, averaging 78.8 total tackles a season and only failed to break 70 total tackles in his injury shortened season (by three games) in 2009.
Fantasy Spin:
Finnegan has been on the radar of IDP gamers for several years now, putting up CB1 numbers in 2008, 2010 and likely in 2007. Although I don’t have the records to confirm his CB1 status in 2007, Finnegan would have scored enough fantasy points that year to be a CB1 in every year since. In his shortened season in 2009 he was a low-end CB2/high-end CB3, but he would have been a top 5 cornerback had he played a full quota of games at the rate he was scoring fantasy points. Finnegan’s worst fantasy year of his career came in 2011 (only a CB3), but the presence of Jason McCourty (targeted 117 times) opposite him meant he had less opportunities than in previous seasons, so I wouldn’t be worried about a decline in his skills.
Finnegan has been signed to be a true #1 cornerback for the Rams and will be tasked with matching up to Larry Fitzgerald, Sidney Rice and Michael Crabtree (or Randy Moss?) twice a season, a task that will not faze the feisty former-nemesis of Andre Johnson. Finnegan should re-establish himself into high-end CB2 status thanks to his tackling ability, but it will have to be his turnovers that push him up into the rarefied air of CB1 with the likes of Woodson, Tillman and Thomas.
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