The Cleveland Browns are well aware of how important cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson Jr. are to their defense.
Ward consistently ranks among the top corners in the league, garnering his third Pro Bowl selection after last season.
Emerson is entering the third year in the league, yet he was rated as one of the top coverage corners in the NFL last season.
It’s not just the Browns that recognize how good this duo is, however.
The Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton recently rated the top-10 cornerback duos in the league, selecting the combination of Emerson and Ward as the second-best duo in the NFL.
Only Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland of the Dallas Cowboys were rated higher than the Browns cornerbacks.
Moton praised Ward as an athlete who has recorded double-digit pass breakups in every NFL season he has played, noting the corner has 15 career interceptions.
Ward also has clamped down his receivers, allowing just above 48 percent of the passes thrown his way to be completed.
Last season, Ward finished with a 56.2 passer rating against him, the best mark of his career according to Moton.
Meanwhile, Emerson is a ballhawk according to the analyst.
He led the Browns with four interceptions and tied with cornerback Greg Newsome II in pass breakups with 14 in 2023.
Moton wrote that Emerson has Pro Bowl potential and is on track to garner his first selection soon, a fact that gives this tandem the edge over other cornerback duos on the list.
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