MIN Minnesota Vikings · DB· #23
65
Overall grade
3rd of 96 cornerbacks
Elitewell above average; 50 is average
Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days
James grades well above average among cornerbacks so far, with no number far from the middle.
Written from his numbers, not from film. 5 games are behind the season figures.
Every graded stat at a glance, against all the cornerbacks in the league.
Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying cornerbacks. Faded bars are still small samples.
Where he has ranked among cornerbacks after each week, and every game behind it.
Season rank climbed: 75th to 93rd percentile since Wk 2.
The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.
| Week | Opponent | That game | targets | Season rank after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vs GB | 6.8 | 4 | – |
| 2 | vs CHI | 3.5 | 4 | 75th pct |
| 3 | vs TB | 3.0 | 3 | 91st pct |
| 4 | vs MIA | 0.0 | 1 | 93rd pct |
Lower is better for this stat. One game is a small sample: a single stat over 3 targets can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.
Each one against every cornerback with at least 10 targets. Right on the strip is better.
4.2lower is better
8th of 96 cornerbacks · top 9%
The yards the receiver he is covering gets each time he is targeted. Fewer is better.
The box score: Interceptions are rare and say little about the hundred plays where he is just covering.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, teams won 72% of the time when their cornerback was in the best third on yards allowed per target, and 55% when he was in the worst third.
44lower is better
2nd of 96 cornerbacks · top 3%
The passer rating of quarterbacks throwing at him. 158.3 is perfect for the passer, so lower is better for the defender.
The box score: Not in the box score.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, teams won 72% of the time when their cornerback was in the best third on passer rating allowed, and 53% when he was in the worst third.
42%lower is better
6th of 96 cornerbacks · top 7%
The share of passes thrown at him that are completed. Fewer is better.
The box score: Not in the box score.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, a good or bad game on completion rate allowed from a cornerback has not lined up much with his team winning (64% wins in the best third, 53% in the worst).
25%
6th of 96 cornerbacks · top 7%
How often a pass thrown at him ends with him breaking it up. A cornerback does this far more often than he intercepts.
The box score: Passes defended are counted, but never against how often he was tested.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, a good or bad game on passes defended per target from a cornerback has not lined up much with his team winning (60% wins in the best third, 68% in the worst).
0%lower is better
1st of 90 cornerbacks · top 2%
The share of his tackle chances he missed. Fewer is better.
The box score: Tackle totals reward the player who gets the most chances, not the one who finishes them.
Does it show up in winning? Across 168 games league-wide, teams won 55% of the time when their cornerback was in the best third on missed tackles, and 43% when he was in the worst third.
Tendencies: how his game differs from the cornerbacks around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.
12.1 yds
Is tested deep, more than most cornerbacks. A typical one is 10.6 yds.
How far downfield the passes thrown at him travel on average. It shows whether he is tested deep or underneath, which is a role, not a grade.
He has played in 4 of his team's 4 games with snap counts, on the field for about 35% of the team's defensive plays when he plays.
Each column is a game: the share of his team's defensive snaps he played. 80% means about 8 of every 10 plays. “Out” means he did not play; a question mark means snap counts are not posted yet. Shaded games are the recent stretch.
Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.
| Game | Result | Snaps | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sacks | Press | PBU | Int | Missed | Yds/target | Rating against | Comp % against | PBU/target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 vs GB | W 39–22 | 34% | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6.8 | 32 | 50% | 50% |
| Wk 2 vs CHI | W 9–3 | 35% | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 58 | 50% | 25% |
| Wk 3 vs TB | W 23–16 | 41% | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 42 | 33% | 0% |
| Wk 4 vs MIA | W 15–10 | 31% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 40 | 0% | 0% |
| Wk 5 vs NO | W 23–13 | – | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
The traditional totals, with where each ranks among cornerbacks. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.
| Stat | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Tackles | 12 | 75th of 96 |
| Solo tackles | 10 | 59th of 96 |
| Assisted tackles | 2 | 75th of 96 |
| Tackles for loss | 0 | 51st of 96 |
| Sacks | 0 | 11th of 96 |
| Pressures | 0 | 25th of 96 |
| Passes defended | 3 | 34th of 96 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 3rd of 96 |
| Missed tackles | 0 | 75th of 96 |
The cornerbacks whose grades are closest to his across the same stats. Similar means similar numbers, not the same style of play.
NE DB
Overall 67 · 2.4
IND DB
Overall 64 · 5.4
LAR DB
Overall 71 · 2.0
LV DB
Overall 61 · 6.3
Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.
Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.
