Xavier Rhodes reveals his top three NFL wide receivers

The Minnesota Vikings veteran cornerback recently revealed the three wide receivers from around the NFL who he believes are the toughest to face.

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes has been tasked with going up against the absolute best wide receivers in the NFL during the majority of his career. And for the most part, Rhodes has performed exceptionally well in these difficult matchups.

Over the last few seasons, the Vikings corner has been able to contain some of the league’s elite pass catchers like Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans, and DeAndre Hopkins.

But for Rhodes, there are three specific NFL receivers who he believes are the toughest to cover out on the field today.

The Minnesota All-Pro cornerback recently sat down with NFL analysts Brain Baldinger and Ron Jaworski and he revealed that Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons, Antonio Brown of the Oakland Raiders, and Davante Adams of the Green Bay Packers are currently his top three wide receivers in the league.

Despite Rhodes listing these three as the guys who present him with the toughest matchup, he’s done pretty well when going up against each of them.

During his last matchup against Jones in 2017, Rhodes held the Falcons receiver to just two catches for 24 yards. That same year, the Vikings corner also held Brown to just five receptions for 62 yards during their Week 2 showdown.

Adams is a player that Rhodes typically goes up against twice per season since the Packers are a divisional opponent. Even though the Green Bay receiver hasn’t finished with more than 69 yards in either of his last four matchups with Minnesota, he’s still managed to catch a touchdown during each of these games.

However, only two of Adams’ last four scores against the Vikings have come with Rhodes being the guy in charge of covering him.

Conveniently, these receivers will be the first three guys that the Minnesota cornerback has to go up against in 2019. The Vikings kick off the upcoming season against Jones and Atlanta, then they head out on the road to take on Adams and the Packers, and then their third matchup of the year comes against Brown and the Raiders.

Rhodes’ performance last year wasn’t his best work and he knows that. But with the receivers he has to face during Minnesota’s first three games of 2019, he has a great opportunity to prove that he is still one of the top cover corners in the NFL today.