20) Brian Dawkins
A selection of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the heart of some consistently excellent Jim Johnson defenses.
A selection of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the heart of some consistently excellent Jim Johnson defenses.
I don't care whether he ends up a Hall of Famer, but Winfield is the best tackler from the cornerback position of this millennium and his coverage remains very good on the other side of 30.
The perfect Cover 2 corner in his prime, Barber made Monte Kiffin's defenses sing. His pick-six interception off Donovan McNabb en route to the Super Bowl remains the stuff of NFL Films legend.
Many are put off by his trash-talking ways or are swayed by Roddy White's long touchdown in the playoffs last year, but make no mistake that Sherman is now challenging Revis Island for the top cornerback around — regardless of the injury — which seemed impossible at this time last year.
An NFL 2000s All-Decade Team selection at safety, Sharper's nose for the ball (63 interceptions) and the end zone (11 pick-sixes) made any defense he joined instantly more dangerous.
While 2012 might not have been his greatest season individually, it was great to see Ed Reed finally grab that elusive Super Bowl title this February. The best free safety of this millennium.
Of course I'm going to throw the pre-Super Bowl era some love. The list's eldest member, the late, great "Night Train" Lane still holds the league's single-season interception record that he set back in 1952.
I fully expect Lynch to eventually enter the Hall of Fame. Until then, he can take pride in being nine-time Pro Bowler and the hardest-hitting safety of his generation.
Woodson replaced "The Tuck Rule Play" with the "Halftime Speech" as his most memorable moment when he delivered words of encouragement — after having left the game injured — during halftime of the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl win. His versatility, skill and leadership made the late-aughts Packers defense play above itself.
The great underrated cornerback of his era, Williams earned an NFL 1990s All-Decade team selection despite being hidden out in the desert on many terrible teams.
His incredible range and quick-twitch ability made Haynes the best cornerback of the 1980s and a member of the NFL 75h Anniversary All-Time team.
Green made his diminutive size as a 5-9, 184-pound cornerback work with blazing speed — NFL's fastest man in his prime — and ball-hawking savvy, earning a 1990s All-Decade Team selection.
Woodson made an excellent case for best defensive back on this list and may just be the greatest safety of all time, as his NFL Defensive Player of the Year season in 1993 remains a clinic in secondary play.
I know Redskins fans are trying to block the Clinton Portis trade out of their mind, but how could you? Bailey's a first-ballot Hall of Famer and remarkably still playing at a high level out in the Rockies.
Known as the hardest-hitting cornerback of the 1970s, Blount was also an interception machine and equally critical to those Steel Curtain defenses his linebacker counterparts.
Law ascends up the list of greats due to his ability to rise on the big stage against the league's best quarterbacks and receivers. Just take a look at those Super Bowl triumphs, or the way he smothered Peyton Manning and Co. in the postseason time and again.
One could make a great case for Lott as the best defensive back in history, but I'll settle for best pre-1990s peak. Lott's latter-years play wasn't too shabby either, making both the 1980s and 1990s all-decade teams.
Some will fault me for not including his defensive coordinator, Dick LeBeau, on this list, but combining Polamalu's instincts and LeBeau's zone-blitz scheme created the perfect chaos en route to two Super Bowl titles and counting.
A great showman and greatest cover man, "Neon Deion" gave the NFL its only true shutdown corner — that was until a man who could combine this with refined tackling came along....
This is not recency bias. Revis is quite often regarded as the best defensive player in the league when he's on the field, and until last season that was mostly the case. Interceptions stats and rankings here are pointless because it's usually crazy to throw at him. The man has his own island and allowed Rex Ryan to mark off large swaths of the field in creative defensive schemes. Revis is the most valuable element of any secondary in history, and it will be fun to see how he transitions down in sunny Florida.
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