Earlier this offseason, Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson engaged in a back and forth with Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman over Sherman’s oft-stated belief that he is the best cornerback in the NFL.
Peterson’s teammate Antonio Cromartie also has some thoughts on the matter and, as you might expect, he doesn’t believe Sherman deserves the No. 1 spot in the pecking order. He’s not voting for Peterson either, though.
During an appearance on NFL Network, Cromartie was shown results of a fan poll that showed Sherman as the top choice at cornerback over Peterson, Joe Haden and Cromartie’s former teammate Darrelle Revis. Cromartie expressed surprise that his name wasn’t on the list and said that it was “fine and dandy” to go off a couple of seasons, but that his complete body of work was better than his younger peers.
“To me, right now, it’s either me or [Revis]. You got three guys that’s up and coming, but right now it’s either me or this guy -- when we’re healthy,” Cromartie said. “And when we’re healthy we know what we can do on the football field. We’ve both shown it in a Rex Ryan defense with zero help. We tell that safety to roll up to the other side. ... I want these guys to be on an island by themselves and play zero coverage. They [haven’t] done it yet. They [haven’t] done nothing that me and Rev have done in Rex Ryan’s defense.”
The reference to playing with zero help was directed at Sherman, with Cromartie noting that the Seahawk plays with two All-Pro safeties and that he’s likely to hear a response from Sherman about his opinion. If he does, Sherman might point out that Cromartie has had some very strong seasons over the course of his career but that he hasn’t been nearly as consistent (due to injuries or other reasons) as the other players whose names came up for discussion.
However things shake out on lists of top corners, the Cardinals will be quite happy if Cromartie turns in the kind of work we saw from him in 2012 as it will give them a pair of top corners to throw at opposing offenses.