Of all the players on the San Diego Chargers defense, there is one man who will be far and away the most important piece of a successful 2016 season. In fact, other than Philip Rivers, it would be easy to argue that Jason Verrett is the guy the Bolts most need to have a monster year.
The third-year cornerback is coming off a Pro Bowl season where he had three interceptions and 12 passes defensed in 14 games. What was really impressive was the way he handled some of the best wide receivers in the game.
Just ask Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown and Chicago’s Alshon Jeffery how frustrated they got when they ran in to Verrett in a pair of Monday Night Football meetings. Verrett held Brown to three catches and 45 yards, Brown’s second-worst statistical game of the season. The Bears game against Jeffery was even more telling.
Through a quarter and a half Chicago QB Jay Cutler only threw at Jeffery three times with Verrett in coverage. Two of them were incomplete and the third was picked off and returned 68 yards for a touchdown. But Verrett injured his groin and had to leave the game. After his departure Cutler targeted Jeffery 13 times, completing 10 of them for 151 yards in a 22-19 comeback win.
The advanced statistical website Pro Football Focus had Verrett ranked as the 5th-best corner in the entire NFL in 2015, ahead of Seattle’ Richard Sherman and Arizona’s Patrick Peterson. That is the level Jason Verrett can play to when he’s healthy. If he’s able to stay on the field for all 16 games he is going to make every Sunday like Christmas morning for Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano.
Having a true shutdown corner is the dream of any defensive play caller. When you can take the other team’s best receiving threat and neutralize him with one guy you have lots of options. You don’t need to worry about moving a safety to help over the top of committing a linebacker to lend a hand underneath. So you know what you can do with those guys instead?
Blitz them. Or use them to help other corners who need it. Part of the Chargers problem in stopping the passing game in recent years is the safeties and linebackers had to spend so much time assisting the corners in coverage they couldn’t help the under-talented defensive line put pressure on the quarterback. No pressure on the QB gave him more time to find a breakdown in coverage. It was a vicious cycle of futility.
Verrett can help change all that. If he’s able to corral the other team’s WR1 then Pagano can get creative in his schemes to get after the QB. But this is not going to be easy. Verrett is going to be tested just about every week in the 2016 season. Here’s the list of wideouts he’ll face this year:
WEEK 1 at CHIEFS:
Jeremy Maclin = 87 catches, 1,088 yards, 8 TD
WEEK 2 vs. JAGUARS:
Allen Robinson = 80 catches, 1,400 yards, 14 TD
WEEK 3 at COLTS:
T.Y. Hilton = 69 catches, 1,124 yards, 5 TD
WEEK 4 vs. SAINTS:
Brandin Cooks = 84 catches, 1,138 yards, 9 TD
WEEK 5 at RAIDERS:
Amari Cooper = 72 catches, 1,070 yards, 6 TD
WEEK 6 vs. BRONCOS:
Demaryius Thomas = 105 catches, 1,304 yards, 6 TD
WEEK 7 at FALCONS:
Julio Jones = 136 catches, 1,871 yards, 8 TD
WEEK 8 at BRONCOS:
Thomas again or perhaps Emmanuel Sanders = 76 catches, 1,135 yards, 6 TD
WEEK 9 vs. TITANS:
A rare light week but don’t sleep on Dorial Green-Beckham = 32 catches, 549 yards, 4 TD as a part-time rookie starter
WEEK 10 vs. DOLPHINS:
Jarvis Landry = 110 catches, 1,157 yards, 4 TD
WEEK 11 BYE
WEEK 12 at TEXANS:
DeAndre Hopkins = 111 catches, 1,521 yards, 11 TD
WEEK 13 vs. BUCCANEERS:
Mike Evans = 74 catches, 1,206 yards, 3 TD
WEEK 14 at PANTHERS:
Kelvin Benjamin = Missed 2015 with an injury but his 2014 numbers catch your eye: 73 catches, 1,008 yards, 9 TD
WEEK 15 vs. RAIDERS:
Cooper Part 2
WEEK 16 at BROWNS:
Unless Josh Gordon is reinstated by the NFL there’s nobody on the Cleveland roster of note
WEEK 17 vs. CHIEFS:
Round 2 against Maclin to bookend the season (Remember it was Verrett who snapped Kansas City QB Alex Smith's streak of 312 straight pass attempts without an interception when he picked off a ball intended for Maclin last December. Smith was 46 shy of Tom Brady's NFL record)
That makes for a 1,000-yard receiver in every week except two. In 2015 the NFL only had 22 wide receivers top 1,000 yards and this year Verrett will line up against 12 of them. His ability to keep those guys from running wild and forcing Pagano to use resources to help him out will be vital to the Chargers defense improving enough to put San Diego back in the playoff hunt.
