The CB Radar Chart

What is a radar chart?

A radar chart is a way to quickly and effectively present information, especially when showing how a player compares across multiple statistics and their percentiles in those statistics. It has become one of the default ways of showing player stats in the other football (soccer) for how easily it conveys data, and was popularized by Ted Knutson and the team at Statsbomb.

Why use them?

Radar charts give a quick and easy look at the kind of player you are looking for. The statistics represent different CB archetypes. Do you have a man coverage specialist, a zone coverage specialist, or an all-rounder? Does the CB play a high or low variance game?

However, there are a few things to remember when looking at these charts. All this represents is statistical output, and if you had players on other teams or in different situations, it would most likely affect all the numbers.

This is only a tool to help evaluate players and add extra context to a holistic evaluation.

The Stats and the Data Set

The data is all sourced from PFF and includes all CBs who played FBS football from 2015 to the present with at least 100 snaps, and compares the CB against their draft year, unless otherwise specified. These stats were chosen because I believe they best exemplify what type of CB a prospect is.

1. Man Coverage % – The percentage of a cornerback's coverage snaps spent in man coverage.
2. Man Coverage Grade – A proprietary PFF rating evaluating a cornerback's effectiveness in man coverage — mirroring routes, maintaining leverage through breaks, and contesting at the catch point.
3. Zone Coverage % – The percentage of a cornerback's coverage snaps spent in zone coverage.
4. Zone Coverage Grade – A proprietary PFF rating evaluating a cornerback's effectiveness in zone coverage — pattern matching, driving on routes into their zone, and maintaining awareness of multiple receivers.
5. Forced Incompletion Rate – The percentage of targets where the cornerback directly forced an incompletion, whether through a pass breakup, contested catch, or tight coverage that caused the quarterback to miss.
6. QB Rating Against – The passer rating allowed by a cornerback when they are the primary coverage defender on a targeted pass. Lower is better.
7. Tackle Grade – A proprietary PFF rating measuring tackling technique and effectiveness in the run game and after the catch.
8. Missed Tackle Rate – The percentage of tackle attempts that were missed, as graded by PFF. Lower is better.

Charts!