Xavier Rhodes Is Playing Like One of the Top Corners In the League

After yet another strong-to-dominating performance, is it time add Xavier Rhodes’ name to the list of the league’s best cornerbacks?

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Rhodes is not a player you will see mentioned alongside Darrelle Revis, Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson, Chris Harris and the rest of the league’s top corners, but that might be about to change.

Over the last three weeks, Rhodes has performed at a level comparable to the best corners in the NFL. This graph shows his PFF scores over those three games.

Xavier Rhodes, three strong games on the bounce. That's encouraging pic.twitter.com/yGwqWSpAXX
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) December 1, 2014

Look at the receivers Rhodes largely accumulated those scores against. Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Kelvin Benjamin. All went up against Rhodes over that three game span, all came away frustrated.

Rhodes was especially dominating this past week against Carolina, allowing zero completions on 7 targets with 3 passes defensed. He should have had a pick but credit Kelvin Benjamin for ripping the ball loose on the play.

Two weeks ago against Green Bay Rhodes gave up just 2 catches for 18 yards. Rhodes’ fantastic game against the Packers was part of an overall strong effort in coverage against Aaron Rodgers and his great receiver corps (too bad the Packers were still able to run the ball effectively).

Rhodes was also fantastic three weeks ago against Chicago, locking down on Alshon Jeffery and picking off his first pass of the season. Unfortunately the Bears were able to tear apart Josh Robinson on the other side of the field.

Observers around the league are now beginning to take notice of Rhodes. SI.com’s Chris Burke singled him out for praise on Tuesday, noting his particularly strong work against top receivers Benjamin, Nelson and Jeffery.

Andrew Krammer of ESPN1500 called Rhodes a “cornerstone” in Mike Zimmer’s defense, and quoted Zimmer praising the second-year corner:

"“It helps a lot because you can do other things with other guys,” Zimmer said of Rhodes’ development. “I don’t know if he’s the most improved player that we have, but he’s improved an awful lot throughout the course of the season. I think it’s his confidence level, his technique and the way he competes.”"

It must be especially gratifying for Zimmer to watch Rhodes blossom, given the way things started for Xavier after Zimmer arrived in Minnesota.

Things were initially rocky for the rookie, who found himself on the wrong end of some tongue-lashings early in training camp.

In camp Zimmer talked about needing to dial it back a little bit with Xavier, but now Rhodes seems more comfortable with Zimmer’s “tough love” approach (via 1500ESPN):

"“I know I played good. So they just tell me what I need to work on, but they also tell me the good things I need to work on,” Rhodes said Monday. “I always had those type of coaches in my life. … I love that. That lets me know that they care and they want nothing but better, they want me to be better.”"

Early on there was some concern about Rhodes being able to adapt to Mike Zimmer’s system, which features a lot more press-man coverage than Leslie Frazier’s.

But Rhodes has not only adapted to Zimmer’s approach, he’s thriving under it. With more responsibility being placed on Rhodes to lock down his man, rather than merely drop into soft zone coverage and react to the ball, he is developing into a top cornerback.

Along with Everson Griffen, Sharrif Floyd, Harrison Smith and Anthony Barr, Rhodes is a huge building block for the Vikings’ defense. For the first time in years, the Vikes have an outside corner who can legitimtely compete with the big, strong, talented receivers in the division.

If Rhodes keeps playing the way he has the last three weeks, he will soon be in that conversation alongside Revis, Sherman, Peterson, Harris and the rest of the big-name corners in the NFL.

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