We’re not going to call rookie cornerback Damarious Randall a stud yet because that would be overstating the matter. He had a very good season for the Green Bay Packers and that isn’t really debatable. However, the real star rookie cornerback is Quinten Rollins.
You just don’t know it.
You don’t know it because Randall got all the snaps. The only time Rollins got extensive playing time was when Sam Shields was injured.
Randall finished the season with 889 snaps, while Rollins got just 368.
You can see who the real badass is when you look at what these guys did with those snaps.
Randall finished the season with 58 tackles, 14 PD and 3 INTs.
Rollins finished the season with 31 tackles, 6 PD and 2 INTs. He also added a sack.
It isn’t hard to see that if you project Rollins’ statistics over Randall’s snap count, that Rollins comes out on top.
Although most people will remember Randall for things like the pass breakup at the end of the San Diego game and the interception return at the beginning of the Oakland game, he was actually fairly uneven all year. In other words, he played like a rookie. A pretty damn good rookie, but a rookie nonetheless.
A great example is that Oakland game. After that interception return, Randall went out and sucked it up for the rest of the game. He was primarily responsible for allowing Amari Cooper to put up six catches, 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Rollins wasn’t nearly as uneven.
Best passer rating allowed by any rookie CB to play 200+ snaps: Quentin Rollins: 58.4
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) January 21, 2016
PFF graded Rollins out at 82.1. Randall got a 68.9.
These are certainly not end-all, be-all grades, but even if you give Randall five points and take five away from Rollins, they still come out in Rollins’ favor.
This is in no way meant to disparage Damarious Randall. He’s a good cornerback and it looks like he’s going to be helping the Packers win ballgames for a long time.
It just appears that the Packers have a potential top-tier guy sitting around, waiting for playing time in Quinten Rollins.
And remember, Rollins played only one season of college football. He realistically still has substantial room to grow.
Is your mind blown yet?