Why Carolina Panthers star Jaycee Horn has a problem with Pro Football Focus

To make it as an NFL cornerback, having a chip on your shoulder is pretty much a non-negotiable part of the job. In addition to playing the most physically demanding position in the modern game, corners also have the rules being set against them to contend with. The league's lon-standing refusal to change how they call DPIs on underthrown passes is the worst of it, but there's a lot of nonsense corners face that no other position has to.

Perhaps thats why so many of them seem to take it personally when analysts dismiss their prowess or rank them lower than they should be. It sounds like you can count Jaycee Horn from the Carolina Panthers among them. Even though he's coming off a Pro Bowl year, Horn was only ranked 25th on the recent list of the league's top 32 cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus.

Here's how Horn reacted to that ranking when speaking with reporters earlier this week at Panthers minicamp.

Jaycee Horn said he had “nothing for PFF” after the site ranked him 25th among corners. Horn also said he dealt with similar disrespect at South Carolina. pic.twitter.com/FxC8T1SPlN
— Joe Person (@josephperson) June 10, 2025

Throw a rock and you'll hit a DB who feels disrespected by the media, but Horn has a point in this case. While PFF seemed to go against their own numbers when the ranked Bryce Young No. 20 at QB, For whatever reason, they just weren't that impressed by what Horn put on tape last season. Not only did Mike Jackson grade out higher (67.2 overall), but a total of 55 other corners around the league earned better grades than Horn (65.4) in 2024.

While Horn earned high marks for his run defense (80.9) and pass rushing (86.9) his overall grade got dragged down by a low mark in coverage (59.1).

These ratings are obviously somewhat subjective, but it's really hard to make a case that there were 55 cornerbacks in the NFL who were better than Horn last year. Based on their blurb, PFF also appears to be holding his injury history against him.

"Horn is talented but has struggled with injuries in the NFL. Despite being the league's second-highest-paid cornerback, Horn ranks only 23rd in PFF advanced coverage grades over the past three seasons and 23rd in standard PFF coverage grade (79.6) across the past two."

To be fair, there are other odd spots in PFF's cornerback rankings - such as Jalen Ramsey only coming in at 14th and Seattle's talented but inconsistent Riq Woolen at 19, two spots higher than long-time star Darius Slay.

Oh well - it's one more item of bulletin board material for a Carolina unit that should have as much motivation as any defense in NFL history to prove themselves.

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