While offense wins games, defense wins Super Bowls.
As such, all NFL teams are constantly in the hunt for shutdown cornerbacks.
With that in mind, one fan asked former NFL star Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson to name his top cornerbacks in the game.
1. P2
2. Stingley
3. Denzel Ward
3. Sauce
5. Jaylon Johnson
6. Trent McDuffie
7. Jaycee Horn
8. Christian Gonzalez
9. Whitherspoon https://t.co/tiNILRobPK— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) July 28, 2025
Unsurprisingly, he had reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II at the top spot.
Surtain is the most dominant shutdown defensive back in the game, and it’s not particularly close.
Then, he gave the nod to Houston Texans star Derek Stingley Jr.
Stingley overcame some early doubts and has established himself as the most promising CB in the game.
Then, he chose Cleveland Browns star Denzel Ward, who rarely gets the kind of credit he deserves.
While he’s not the most proficient player in terms of forcing turnovers, no one is better than him at breaking up passes.
The former Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver rounded up his list with Sauce Gardner, Jaylon Johnson, Trent McDuffie, Jaycee Horn, Christian Gonzalez, and Devon Witherspoon.
Of course, wide receivers and quarterbacks often get most of the credit and the highlights in today’s game, but true football fans can always appreciate a big play on the other side of the field as well.
There’s plenty of talent at the position right now, and with young players like Travis Hunter or Cooper DeJean also looking to make a name for themselves in that regard, it’ll be interesting to look back on this list at the end of the season.
