PFF: A.J. Bouye top cornerback against the slant
A.J. Bouye being the top corner against the slant only helps his free agent value.
Eliot Crist of Pro Football Focus has come up with a list of the top cornerbacks in the NFL according to each route type.
Houston Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye came in as the top corner against the slant route.
Here’s what Crist wrote:
"Bouye was targeted on slants 15 times, allowing five catches for 130 yards and one touchdown, but intercepting three passes. His three interceptions were tied for the lead league with Nolan Carroll. Six of the 10 incompletions were due to Bouye breaking up the pass. These numbers ranked him third among all corners, with a QB rating against of 48.6, and he earned PFF’s highest coverage grade versus the slant. Bouye was beaten once by Cincinnati’s Brandon LaFell, resulting in an 86-yard touchdown with 82 yards after the catch. Excluding this one play, Bouye gave up only 44 total yards on 14 passes for an average yards-per-target of 3.14, and just 4.75 YAC per completion. Bouye was in a cover-1 defense on 14 of the 15 slants, and he lined up on the right side on 12 of the 15 slants. Only one of the 15 targeted passes was on a play where the QB was under pressure, so the rushers can’t get credit for his outstanding performance. Bouye dominated the opposing receiver, making QBs pay when they tried to attack him with the slant."
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Bouye was obviously very successful when it came to taking chances on slant routes last year. He was either really lucky or did a great job of watching film and reading the tendencies of opposing offensive players. I’ll go with the latter.
I have to imagine that Bouye’s ability to identify slant routes and be able to either break the play up or come up with an interception will play a big part in helping him get paid as a free agent this offseason.