Why the Vikings need to bench Xavier Rhodes immediately
By Chris Schad
A look at Xavier Rhodes in 2019
If you recall, Rhodes was one of the league’s most dominant cornerbacks throughout the 2017 season. If you really want to go deep, you can see Rhodes starting to round into form back in 2016, when he made Odell Beckham Jr. throw a temper tantrum of his own on “Monday Night Football”.
Unfortunately, the temper tantrums have belonged to Rhodes lately as opposing quarterbacks have taken advantage of his every move.
Through the first 12 games of the year, Rhodes currently ranks fourth in the NFL in receptions allowed (53) according to Pro Football Focus. The number seems pretty rough to begin with, but it gets worse when you consider the numbers of the three players that are ahead of him in that category.
Tennessee’s Logan Ryan (62) and Detroit’s Justin Coleman (60) are tops in the league in catches allowed, but both players are also in the top two in targets with Coleman leading the league with 93 and Ryan right behind with 92. Chicago’s Kyle Fuller is just ahead of Rhodes with 54 receptions, but he’s also allowed those on 78 targets for a completion rate of 69 percent.
Meanwhile, Rhodes has allowed his 53 receptions on just 61 targets for an astonishing 86 percent completion rate. That number is just above the 85.7 percent clip that Los Angeles’ Desmond King and Carolina’s Javien Elliott have posted this year, but with far fewer targets. In fact, Rhodes’ 86 percent clip is the highest among cornerbacks that have at least 20 percent of the league lead of 513 coverage snaps this season.
To make matters worse, Rhodes’ play has been all-around bad with the fifth-highest quarterback rating when targeted (132.6), four touchdowns allowed (ninth in NFL) and 10 penalties, which is tied for the league lead with Tampa Bay’s Carlton Davis.