2023 NFL Breakouts: Second and third-year defensive players ready to explode ft. ft. Drake Jackson, Daxton Hill and more

#7, Martin Emerson, Cleveland Browns (Cornerback)

Cincinnati Bengals v Cleveland Browns

A three-star recruit in 2019, Emerson may have only defended two passes as a part-time starter in his true freshman season, but one of those was a pick-six. Over the next two years, he would be one of the most productive tackling corners in the nation (121 total stops) and even though he didn’t intercept any other passes, he broke up another 14 across those 23 games.

The Browns drafted him in the middle of day two (68th overall) despite already having two first-round corners starting for them and he quickly surpassed another second-rounder in Greedy Williams as the third man in nickel packages (started six of 17 contests).

Playing 782 total snaps, he continued to be a reliable tackler, missing only six of 69 total attempts. He held his own despite being tested extensively (91 targets), breaking up 15 of those and holding opposing to a completion percentage of just 50.5% and a passer rating of 77.6. He was responsible for 490 yards and three touchdowns on the year, spending exactly 500 snaps in coverage.

Averaging those numbers out, Emerson was responsible for just 5.4 yards allowed per target, with an average of 2.4 of those after the catch on average. Those are up there with the elites at the position despite being targeted like some scrub out there. For comparison, Sauce Gardner – who some people say is already the best corner in the league – was at 5.3 yards per.

Emerson also received a PFF coverage grade of 75.1, which ranked 17th among CBs with 300+ coverage snaps and 23rd overall, even if you take away that qualifier. This young man shows a ton of confidence in his athletic skill-set to be patient with sort of catching receivers in soft-press and landing his hands at the near-pec or shoulder of the side that guy is releasing towards.

He effectively shuffles sideways in order to stay in front of receivers releasing inside of him and makes sure to sustain contact with receivers working across the field. If his man does take a wider path initially, Emerson doesn’t overcommit, as he understands that the route probably breaks the other way ultimately and he stays locked in on the hips, ready to plant likewise.

You rarely see him overrun the break-point like many other bigger/taller CBs. Emerson had an outstanding performance against the Bucs’ Mike Evans, where other than a ticky-tack pass interference call (where he read the back-shoulder fade perfectly, but Tom Brady threw the ball out in front and to the ref it might’ve looked like the corner held up the receiver), he allowed the perennial Pro Bowler to catch just one pass for four yards on seven targets.

You already see Emerson not just turn his butt to the sideline and sit there as a flat-defender in cover-two, but disguise what they’re doing by starting in a straight press alignment and then sinking with the guy across from him to a certain depth.

He doesn’t look worried about getting run by in a half-/three-quarter turns playing cover three and gaining ground as receivers are pushing at him, while having the afterburners to not allow separation.

As he’s capping over the top of wideouts in quarters, he doesn’t allow those guys to take advantage of the inside access he has to concede, by not wasting really any time redirecting and eliminating that space.

In terms of run defense, Emerson has a way of swiping by blockers and even though it looks like there’s a ton of force behind his hands when trying to engage with bigger bodies, he’s typically able to fend them off. There were several one-on-one tackles against the back bouncing out to the corner littered all other the way, which makes his missed-tackle rate of just 8.7% even more impressive.

You’re also not going to throw slip or tunnel screens to your wideout when Emerson is in press-man alignment, because he doesn’t wait for the receiver to work back towards the ball.

On a more negative note, Emerson was penalized six times as a rookie, including one defensive holding call and the rest being pass interferences (for 53 total yards). That number and zero interceptions (compared to 15 PBUs) illustrate that he would much rather face-guard receivers and play through their hands, in favor of than taking advantage of opportunities to actively make plays on the ball.

Reading the eyes of the intended target and working on his ability to locate the ball accordingly should be his biggest focus this offseason. Along with that, Emerson could certainly do a better job of squeezing down passing windows in front of him as a deep zone defender and maintaining vision on the receiver pushing at him, to not have to turn nearly 180 degrees in order to drive on the route and disrupt the catch-point on stop/curl routes.

Just in general, he doesn’t have the quickest change of direction trying to stick with those in man. Pro Football Focus gave him a run defense grade of just 51.3 last season. His length to lock out and tackling in space are excellent, but you’d like to see him close down that space to the edge of the line and disengage from blocks more proactively.

At 6-foot-2, 195 pounds with 33-inch arms, Emerson adds the profile of a long, physical corner capable of dictating terms to opposing receivers early on in the route.

He’s maybe not the fluid coverage talent to consistently lock up the twitchier number-one receiver we see the NFL shift towards, but looking at what the Browns asked of him (and in hopes that Denzel Ward can bounce back in 2023) he’s an excellent matchup piece to shadow the more big-bodied types we see in the AFC North (in the 1B category such as Tee Higgins, George Pickens and Rashod Bateman).

Despite being part of a man-heavy scheme at Mississippi State, he adapted quite well to more split-safety coverages in Cleveland. His length makes it tough to throw over his head down in the flats and for a bigger corner, he eats up that cushion he has to give in quarters quicker than you’d anticipate.

Where I believe the breakout could happen is the Browns' defenses getting into a lot more third-and-long situations thanks to the overhauled defensive line setting them up to stop the run more effectively. If he works on locating the football in the air, he could capitalize on those opportunities to come down with the ball himself, while opposing quarterbacks are now aware that they shouldn’t go after him in isolated coverage nearly as much.