2024 Best NFL cornerbacks: Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain Jr. lead rankings

National Football League

Updated Aug. 14, 2024 6:50 p.m. ET

FOX Sports NFL Staff

Training camps have reached the dog days, preseason is underway and Week 1 is arriving soon, so it’s time to roll out our annual NFL positional rankings.

Last week we started off with off-ball linebackers, and now we’ll dive into cornerbacks. Members of the FOX Sports NFL staff listed their 10 best in order heading into the 2024 season. A first-place vote merited 10 points in our methodology and descended from there, down to a single point for 10th place. We then combined the scores to determine our rankings.

While this year’s linebacker list saw nine players from 2023 make it again, cornerbacks was a completely different story, with only four from last year’s rankings making it again this year.

New York’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and Denver’s Patrick Surtain Jr. finished in the top two in six of our seven writer ballots, with Gardner in first in four rankings and Surtain taking the top spot in two.

This position is also dominated by younger players, as six of the top 10 are 25 years old or younger — Gardner, Surtain Jr., Jaylon Johnson, Trent McDuffie, DaRon Bland, and Devon Witherspoon.

We’ll continue to roll out the best players at other positions between now and the start of the season. For now, here are the NFL’s best cornerbacks.

2024 Top NFL Cornerbacks

1. Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, New York Jets

Henry McKenna: The NFL is a quarterback league — not a cornerback league. But it says something that the Jets — with their ongoing quarterback disaster (See: Wilson, Zach) — have finished 7-10 in the last two seasons. Those wins are a credit to the defense in which Gardner might just be the centerpiece, even more important than Quinnen Williams, C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams.

Gardner finished his 2023 season with 51 targets. He allowed 29 catches for 251 yards and one touchdown, according to PFF. In the league’s most prolific passing era, Gardner has reduced his opponents to WR1s from a triple-option offense.

2023 rank: 1st

2. Patrick Surtain Jr., Denver Broncos

Ben Arthur: One of the only things Surtain can be faulted for is being in Denver, which faces plenty of change and uncertainty. The issues around him defensively contributed to the dip in his numbers last season. But the 24-year-old is still everything you want in a big, long, No. 1 outside cornerback. He’s an incredible technician. In three seasons, Surtain has already been a first-time All-Pro selection and two-time Pro Bowler. He’s had double-digit pass breakups each year of his career. And expect him to bounce back in a big way in 2024. He’s in line for an extension that should make him one of the highest-paid — if not the highest-paid — corners in football.

2023 rank: 2nd

3. L’Jarius Sneed,Tennessee Titans

Arthur: Sneed announced his arrival as one of the NFL’s elite cornerbacks last season, helping the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowls (many league observers will point to his terrific goal-line forced fumble against Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers in the AFC Championship game). His aggressive style sometimes gets the best of him — he was flagged 18 times last season, leading all defensive players, according to NFLpenalties.com — but it’s an asset much more than it’s a liability. Traded this offseason to the Titans, who gave him a big-money extension, Sneed was one of just four qualified cornerbacks last season to not allow a touchdown, per Next Gen Stats. He also tied for second in coverage success rate and EPA allowed per target, third in passer rating allowed when targeted and fourth in completion rate allowed.

2023 rank: unranked

4. Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears

Dave Helman: Jaylon Johnson might’ve been left off the NFL Top 100 list, but we’d never do that to him. How could we when he was arguably the best cover corner in football last year? Johnson had one of PFF’s best coverage grades in the league, as he allowed a mere 150 receiving yards and one touchdown on 50 targets. He also had the ball stats to match that type of ability. Johnson has been a solid corner for most of his four-year career, but prior to 2023 he had just one interception to show for it. Last year, he managed four picks to go with that elite coverage ability, so it was no surprise to see him named a second-team All-Pro. Those efforts earned Johnson a $76 million extension this offseason, so the expectations in Chicago will be high for more than just Caleb Williams.

2023 rank: unranked

5. Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns

Greg Auman: Ward, 27, made his third Pro Bowl in 2023, as a key part of a Browns defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL in total defense (270 YPG) and pass defense (165), No. 1 on third downs and No. 2 in yards per pass attempt. He could stand to get more interceptions — 15 in six years, with either two or three in every season — but he’s the second-highest-paid cornerback in the league behind only Jaire Alexander, making $20.1 million per year. He’s only played in two playoff games in his career, both losses, so any kind of postseason run for Cleveland can help elevate his standing. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus doesn’t love him, ranking him as the league’s No. 61 cornerback in 2023.

2023 rank: 7th (+2)

6. Charvarius Ward, San Francisco 49ers

Eric D. Williams: Entering his seventh NFL season, Ward had his best year as a pro in 2023, developing into San Francisco’s top cover corner and finishing with career highs in interceptions (5) and pass breakups (23). Ward earned an invitation to the Pro Bowl for his effort. Now, can the 28-year-old defender do it again, helping the 49ers return to the Super Bowl?

Ward should benefit from the addition of edge rusher Leonard Floyd to San Francisco’s already potent pass rush, along with the eventual return of Pro Bowl safety Talanoa Hufanga from ACL surgery in the back end defensively. However, Ward surely will be tested throughout the season, and will find out if he can remain healthy for a full, 17-game season for a third straight year.

2023 rank: unranked

7. Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs

Carmen Vitali: L’Jarius Sneed got a lot of the shine in the Chiefs secondary last season, but McDuffie deserves his due, too. He was named a First-Team All-Pro in his second year in the league. It helps that McDuffie plays on one of the best defenses in the league with a ton of push up front to make his job easier, but standing out among those stars and getting the All-Pro nod is no easy task. He has primarily operated as Kansas City’s slot corner, which had him all over the field. McDuffie forced five fumbles, registered three sacks and 80 combined tackles. He had nine quarterback hits and seven pass breakups, too. The Chiefs look like they are about to test his skills on the outside with Sneed gone, which could plateau his progress a little, but they wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t think he’d be their best shot on the outside. If he can manage it, I don’t think there’s much of an argument that there’s a new best corner in the league.

2023 rank: unranked

8. DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys

Ralph Vacchiano: It would’ve been impossible to leave Bland off this list after what he did last season. The Cowboys looked to be in big trouble when they lost Trevon Diggs to a torn ACL. But then Bland, in just his second season, stepped up with nine interceptions and an NFL-record five returned for a touchdown. His 14 picks over the last two years leads the league. All of that is great, and if he can maintain some consistency, he could be stellar. But he plays a risky, go-for-the-ball style that not only can lead to big plays, but can also lead to big misses. He ends up giving up a lot of yards that could’ve been prevented by sitting back just a little. That’s not his style, though. So far, his aggressiveness has worked more than it hasn’t. We’ll see how long he can keep that up.

2023 rank: unranked

9. Jalen Ramsey, Miami Dolphins

McKenna: It’s remarkable that he’s been on this list for so long. His first Pro Bowl and All-Pro season was 2017. Just when you think he’s out — whether it’s an injury or a team change or a new system — he remains a shutdown cornerback. The 29-year-old held together an improving but still unimpressive Dolphins defense last year. Miami is hoping Ramsey will help them build upon that competence in 2024. And maybe they’ll win a few playoff games. But Ramsey is tough, feisty and technically sound. He should be even better with the full offseason to get better from his meniscus tear that held him out for the first half of last season.

2023 rank: 5th (-4)

10. Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks

Williams: A surprising selection by Seattle at No. 5 overall last year, the Illinois product already has emerged as one of the most physical and best blitzing defensive backs in the NFL. Witherspoon finished with 79 tackles — including eight tackles for loss — three sacks and an interception returned for a touchdown. He was a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year, and also earned Pro Bowl honors.

Witherspoon is versatile, with the ability to play both on the perimeter and inside at slot defender. According to Next Gen Stats, Witherspoon’s 16 defensive run stops was No. 1 among cornerbacks in 2023. He also finished with seven pressures from the slot during the 2023 season, which was tied for No. 4 in the NFL. Witherspoon should make another jump in development and production in Seattle under head coach Mike Macdonald’s new scheme.

2023 rank: unranked