Earlier this week I posted an item about defensive back tackles, and a reader asked about defensive back takeaways. That information is below, and the timing is good. The Rams yesterday signed Eric Weddle, giving them three of the league's more productive players at recording takeaways in one secondary.
Over the last four seasons, Marcus Peters -- who the Rams acquired last offseason -- has been involved in more total takeaways than any other defensive back: 22 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries. Two of the other players involved in 10 plus are Weddle and Aqib Talib. Another of the best is a former Ram, Trumaine Johnson.
| DEFENSIVE BACKS AND TAKEAWAYS, 2015-2018 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tm | G | Int | FR | FF | TO | TD |
| Marcus Peters | tms | 61 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 4 |
| Mike Adams | tms | 60 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 1 |
| Josh Norman | tms | 62 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 2 |
| Reggie Nelson | tms | 59 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 0 |
| Trumaine Johnson | tms | 54 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 3 |
| D.J. Swearinger | tms | 58 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 0 |
| Malcolm Jenkins | PHI | 64 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 3 |
| Ha Ha Clinton-Dix | tms | 64 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 0 |
| Micah Hyde | tms | 62 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Malcolm Butler | tms | 64 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 1 |
| Darius Slay | DET | 60 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 1 |
| Damarious Randall | tms | 54 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| Harrison Smith | MIN | 59 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 1 |
| Glover Quin | DET | 64 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 2 |
| Bashaud Breeland | tms | 51 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 2 |
| Marshon Lattimore | NOR | 29 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 1 |
| Stephon Gilmore | tms | 56 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| Duron Harmon | NWE | 64 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Earl Thomas | SEA | 45 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 2 |
| Janoris Jenkins | tms | 55 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 2 |
| Reshad Jones | MIA | 52 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 5 |
| Jordan Poyer | tms | 51 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
| Eric Weddle | tms | 61 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 1 |
| Darian Stewart | DEN | 61 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| Eddie Jackson | CHI | 30 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 5 |
| Rodney McLeod | tms | 49 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 1 |
| Kevin Byard | TEN | 48 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Andre Hal | HOU | 55 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 1 |
| Kurt Coleman | tms | 58 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 2 |
| Brent Grimes | tms | 57 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 1 |
| Casey Hayward | tms | 64 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Shawn Williams | CIN | 58 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Tyrann Mathieu | tms | 56 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
| Chris Harris | DEN | 60 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 2 |
| Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie | tms | 52 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 2 |
| Landon Collins | NYG | 59 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
| Xavien Howard | MIA | 35 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Ron Parker | KAN | 63 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
| Tre Boston | tms | 61 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Marcus Williams | tms | 46 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Patrick Peterson | ARI | 64 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Bradley McDougald | tms | 64 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| Kareem Jackson | HOU | 58 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
| Kenny Vaccaro | tms | 52 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| Kyle Fuller | CHI | 48 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Marcus Gilchrist | tms | 61 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| Richard Sherman | tms | 55 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Aqib Talib | tms | 51 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 4 |
| Quintin Demps | tms | 30 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| Jeff Heath | DAL | 63 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| Chris Conte | TAM | 47 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| A.J. Bouye | tms | 59 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Jalen Ramsey | JAX | 48 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Xavier Rhodes | MIN | 60 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Damontae Kazee | ATL | 32 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Antoine Bethea | tms | 54 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Quandre Diggs | DET | 60 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Corey Graham | tms | 59 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Jason McCourty | tms | 48 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Darrelle Revis | tms | 34 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
As noted in the tackle-factoid, these defensive backs don't seem to generate much appreciation from their teams. The vast majority of these players have played for multiple franchises the last four years, and a good percentage of them are free agents as we speak. It's a buyer's market.
Anyway, the Rams have several of the good ones, and they're going to show up pretty favorably in the 2019 defensive rankings.
--Andy Richardson