19. Stephon Gilmore 

Team: New England Patriots

Position: CB

Experience: 7 Years

The Buffalo Bills selected Gilmore with the tenth overall pick in the first round of the 2012 Draft. Gilmore played 5 seasons for Buffalo earning one Pro Bowl nomination in 2016. His stellar performance wasn’t enough to catapult the Bills into contention, as the Bills best record with Gilmore was a measly 9-7 2nd place finish in the AFC East in 2014. However, his play didn’t go unnoticed by mastermind Head Coach Bill Belicheck. The Patriots went out of the norm, as they spent big money grabbing Gilmore away from Buffalo at the cost of 65 Million (40 Guaranteed) over the course of 5 years. 

As mentioned earlier, Gilmore did have some success in Buffalo. In  2016 he tied for the league lead in INTs with 5. Although the Bills had trouble manufacturing points, their defense was always stingy throughout Gilmore’s tenure, large in part to the terrific play of their secondary and pass rush. Gilmore turned into a whole new monster with New England. Will Belicheck’s schemes in place, he has been able to transform Gilmore into an even bigger threat for opposing QBs. 

Although Gilmore numbers dropped in his first season as a Patriot in 2017, his overall effect on the game was just as great. With a significant decrease in the number of balls targeted his way, offenses simply chose to avoid his 1 on 1 coverage on their #1 receiver. Gilmore is known for his exceptional bump and run coverage on defense, a strategy in which he lines up directly across from the wideout on offense and uses his great physicality and footwork to impede the receivers route. Gilmore has remarkably strong hands and impeccable timing in breaking up passes. 

Gilmore had a spectacular 2018 campaign. He suited up for all 16 games in the regular season for the Patriots. His primary role was to shadow the oppositions best receiver in 13 of the contests, in which he allowed only 42 catches on 90 targets for 466 yards. Gilmore led the league in forced incompletions (24) as well pass break-ups and interceptions combined (29).  His play earned him recognition from Pro Football Focus as the number one ranked cornerback of 2018. Gilmore added another Pro-Bowl to his collection along with his first selection to the All-Pro first team. 

Gilmore elevated his game to the next level in the 2018 playoffs. In the Patriots three game stretch facing Philip Rivers, Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff, Gilmore was targeted a total of 19 times. In these 19 attempts, the opposing QBs posted an astounding 38.2 passing rating, legitimately worse than every single pass landing out of bounds (Pat Thurman-PFF). Gilmore heads into 2019 as a Super Bowl Champion and arguably the best corner in the game. Paired with Bill Belicheck and the Patriots, Gilmore is peaking at the perfect time in his career.