James Bradberry is Not Worth The Money

James Bradberry was just released by the Giants. He is now a free agent and many teams with a need for a cornerback are expected to make a push to sign him. According to Spotrac.com Bradberry is projected to get a 3-year $36.5 million dollar contract with an average salary of $12.2 million dollars. This article will use my cornerback evaluation metrics to show the value of James Bradberry and compare his production to other cornerbacks making the same salary. James Bradberry according to my cornerback evaluation metrics was one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL in 2021.

James Bradberry 2021 Stats:

Production Per Coverage Snap-.27257 (87th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

Targets Per Coverage Snap-.1669 (24th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

True Cornerback Coverage Score-.00042309 (80th out of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

True Cornerback Coverage Score Version 2-.004549 (83rd of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

Production per coverage snap is a stat that takes yards, catches, and touchdowns a cornerback allows. It weights all of them and then divides them by the total number of snaps the corner had in coverage. James Bradberry was at the way bottom of the NFL among players who qualified in this stat. This means that the wide receivers he was matched up on were very productive against him. The next stat, targets per coverage snap takes the number of times a cornerbacks man they are guarding is targeted and divides it by the total number of coverage snaps a corner plays. The more a corner is targeted the worse a corner is playing since that means they are allowing their man to get open and the opposing corner is throwing in their direction. This metric is good to use along with production metrics since sometimes corners get away with poor performance. For example, a cornerback could get beat by a wide receiver but then the quarterback overthrows the receiver. On a traditional stat sheet, the cornerback would not be penalized for this. Although looking at how much a corner is targeted per snap it could provide context that is not shown on the normal stat sheet. In this stat, Bradberry was one of the more targeted corners in the NFL. Both the production per coverage snap and targets per coverage snap work together to determine the value of an NFL cornerback. My true cornerback coverage score metric takes both production per coverage snap, targets per coverage snap, and QBR when targeted, and combines them all with weights. The final metric shows an accurate representation of how well a cornerback covered their man. In this metric, James Bradberry ranked 80th of 98 players who played over 280 coverage snaps. This places him at the bottom of the league amongst starting NFL cornerbacks. Even if you take QBR out of the metric which I did in my second version of my cornerback coverage score Bradberry still ranks at the bottom of the league. One critique that the stats I created always receive is that each team's cornerback one on the depth chart will always do worse since they are guarding the opposing team's best player. I agree, with this critique so it is important to compare players to other players in the same situation. Among starting cornerback ones in the NFL Bradberry ranks bottom 5 in true cornerback coverage score versions one and two. Needless to say as a cornerback one last year with the Giants James Bradberry was one of the worst in the NFL. Fans have tried to make the argument that he will be a cornerback two on the next team he goes to. The money Bradberry is projected to get paid is similar to William Jackson and Charvarius Ward. Both corners signed 3-year $40.5 million dollar deals to be cornerback ones on their respected teams. James Bradberry is projected to sign a 3-year $36.5 million dollar deal which is very similar. Due to the level of investment that a team is required to give Bradberry in this market, he will likely have to be the cornerback one. In my metrics, Jackson and Ward were significantly better than Bradberry.

William Jackson 2021 Stats

Production Per Coverage Snap-.2283 (49th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

Targets Per Coverage Snap-.1336 (80th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

True Cornerback Coverage Score-.000306 (49th out of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

True Cornerback Coverage Score Version 2-.00305 (41st of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

Charvarius Ward 2021 Stats

Production Per Coverage Snap-.2234 (45th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

Targets Per Coverage Snap-.1729 (17th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

True Cornerback Coverage Score-.0003068 (50th out of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

True Cornerback Coverage Score Version 2-.003846 (68th of 98 qualifying starting cornerbacks)

By looking at Ward and Jackson's numbers it is proved that they were significantly better than Bradberry as cornerback ones in 2021. It does not make sense how the market is projecting Bradberry to make similar money to these cornerbacks who are better than him. Teams need to not give in and sign Bradberry for this cost. They will be either paying for a below-average cornerback one or overpaying for a cornerback two. This type of money should be given to players who are at least league average as cornerbacks one. Not bottom half of the NFL as a cornerback one or a cornerback two. If you do not support the metrics I created I advise you to look at Pro Football Focus player evaluations. Pro Football Focus is a company that analyzes the film of every single snap a player gets and then gives them scores accordingly. According to Pro Football Focus, last year James Bradberry was the 58th best cornerback in the NFL. My stats line up with what the film says as we both agreed that James Bradberry was not good in 2021. I hope that teams listen to my statistical evaluation along with Pro Football Focus's scores and do not make the mistake of overspending on Bradberry.

Full Cornerback Evaluation Spread Sheet-