- The Chiefs place four players in the top 10: Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson and Jaylen Watson all got physical in coverage at high rates this past season.
- New Buccaneers cornerback Kindle Vildor was the NFL's most physical coverage defender: He got his hands on opposing receivers more than 50% of the time in a part-time role with the Lions in 2024, although it was mostly to his detriment.
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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Last year, PFF introduced a new metric that helps determine the most physical coverage defenders in the NFL. At the most basic level, it's based on the number of times a defender makes contact with an opposing receiver running a route.
2023’s top 10 featured cornerbacks only, and nothing changed in 2024. The Atlanta Falcons‘ A.J. Terrell paced the league at 40.9% in 2023, but that mark would have ranked eighth in 2024. Players became significantly more physical in 2024, which will be something to monitor in the coming years.
1. Kindle Vildor, Detroit Lions (50.5%)
Vildor was extremely physical in 2024 with the Lions in a part-time role. Mostly seeing action in dime packages and when the defense started suffering injuries later in the year, Vildor got his hands on opposing receivers more than 50% of the time — but mostly to his detriment.
He was called for four penalties on 100 coverage snaps where he made contact with the opposing receiver and also allowed six first downs and 1.54 yards per coverage snap on those plays, resulting in a 29.1 PFF coverage grade.
2. Tyson Campbell, Jacksonville Jaguars (48.8%)
The first pick of the second round in the 2021 NFL Draft, Campbell hasn’t quite lived up to his draft status, with just one season grading above 64.0. In 2022, Campbell earned an 80.7 PFF coverage grade, in large part due to his 203 snaps where he was physical with the opposing receiver.
2023 was a down year, as he reduced his physical snaps to 116. He reasserted himself in 2024 with 218 but couldn’t replicate the success of 2022, posting a 55.7 PFF coverage grade and allowing 1.31 yards per cover snap.
3. Tariq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks (44.8%)
Woolen ranked 19th in PFF's cornerback rankings ahead of the 2025 season after forcing 10 incompletions and allowing just 0.90 yards per coverage snap when getting physical with opposing receivers. His 10 forced incompletions were the second most in the NFL when making contact. He allowed just 0.8% of plays to gain 15 or more yards, the fourth-best mark in the NFL.
Tariq Woolen's Career PFF Grades
4. Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs (43.6%)
After logging 300 “physical” coverage snaps across 2022 and 2023, McDuffie tallied 327 in 2024 alone. As a result, he allowed just a 47.5% completion rate while forcing nine incompletions.
McDuffie has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL since entering the league in 2022, but it hasn’t been due to making contact with opposing receivers, as he grades better without contact.
5. Montaric Brown, Jacksonville Jaguars (43.0%)
The second Jaguar to make the list, Brown became significantly more physical in 2024 compared to the previous year. After making contact with opposing receivers just 81 times in 2023, he upped that number to 223 snaps in 2024. It led to mixed results, as he allowed 1.42 yards per cover snap but forced a career-high 10 incompletions.
6. Carlton Davis III, Detroit Lions (42.3%)
Our second Lion to make the list, Davis heads to New England after one season in Detroit. He doubled his physical-snap total in 2024 from the previous two seasons when he played with the Buccaneers. He allowed a 40.6% completion rate and has surrendered just one touchdown the past three seasons when making contact with opposing receivers.
7. Joshua Williams, Kansas City Chiefs (41.5%)
A theme is developing in which a few teams are dominating this list; the Lions, Jaguars and Chiefs clearly were coached to make life difficult for opposing receivers. The Chiefs upping the ante on their physicality hurt Williams’ grade, as he posted a 54.1 PFF coverage grade when making contact with receivers in 2024.
8. Nazeeh Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs (40.2%)
Drafted in the 2022 seventh round, Johnson saw the first action of his career in 2024 and did so with a ton of physicality. His play wasn’t entirely helped by the contact, as he allowed a 60% completion rate while earning just a 49.9 PFF coverage grade on such plays. He allowed 1.63 yards per coverage snap when making contact with receivers.
9. Sauce Gardner, New York Jets (40.0%)
Gardner is PFF's top-ranked cornerback heading into 2025 and the only repeat cornerback on this list from last year. His 81.0 PFF coverage grade when getting physical in 2024 ranked third in the NFL. Gardner’s 36.7% forced incompletion when making contact with receivers led the NFL, while his 0.57 yards per cover snap placed sixth.
Gardner excels regardless of whether he makes contact with opposing receivers, but a large part of his ability to shut down receivers is through his physicality.
Sauce Gardner's Career PFF Grades
10. Jaylen Watson, Kansas City Chiefs (39.2%)
Despite missing most of the 2024 season due to injuries, Watson is the fourth Chiefs player to make this list. He allowed a paltry 35.7% completion rate and just 0.88 yards per coverage snap when making contact with receivers this past season. His 28.6% forced completion rate on such plays ranked sixth in the NFL.
Watson has been excellent the past two years when physical, as his 81.4 PFF coverage grade ranks sixth and he has let up just a 26.5% completion rate.
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