NFList

Madison, Surtain rank as NFL’s top CB tandem

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
As published in print Oct. 22, 2001

Dolphins CB Sam Madison

A lot of teams have one good to very good cornerback, but very few have two top guys. We asked NFL insiders to name the team that has the best set of cornerbacks in the game. All comments were made anonymously.

1. Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain / Dolphins — "Both are top cover guys who make plays on the ball. The only negative is they don’t have great make-up speed."

2. Chris McAlister and Duane Starks / Ravens — "With a little more consistency and a little less bravado at times, they would be the best, hands down."

3. Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor / Eagles — "Two big cornerbacks who can match up with the bigger receivers. Quick, little guys can give Taylor some problems."

4. Charles Woodson and Eric Allen / Raiders — "Woodson is as gifted as anyone, and Allen has great instincts."

5. Aaron Glenn and Marcus Washington / Jets — "Glenn can be a Darrell Green type of player with his great closing speed, and Washington is your prototype big corner. However, they may be hurt by the cover-2 Tampa Bay-type scheme the Jets are playing now."

6. Champ Bailey and Fred Smoot / Redskins — "Bailey is really special, and Smoot can be almost as good, but they need to be set loose to play more bump-and-run and tight man-to-man instead of the system they are in now."

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