All-NFC South Team of the 2010s: Drew Brees nemesis joins cornerbacks

Some of the biggest passing seasons in NFL history happened during the 2010s, and almost all of them fell inside the NFC South. New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees still owns an NFL record for the most 5,000-yard seasons in NFL history after pulling off the feat in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and his Atlanta Falcons counterpart Matt Ryan were named back-to-back league MVPs in 2015 and 2016. Jameis Winston closed out the decade with a 5,109-yard season on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, too. But it's not like these guys were putting up big numbers against opponents who didn't belong in the NFL. Here's a look at the division's best cornerbacks of the 2010s.

Methodology

One key stat we're relying on is Approximate Value from Pro Football Reference, which PFR defines as "an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year." In practice, that means giving higher numbers to player who start more games, play more snaps, and do more to help their team win by racking up yards, scoring touchdowns, creating turnovers and sacking quarterbacks, and so on. We're also assigning point values to being named a first-team All-Pro (ten points), second-team All-Pro (five points), and Pro Bowler (three points). And then we're adding those numbers together. Remember, these are all-decade teams for the NFC South, which didn't exist until 2002, and only contributions on the four teams in the division factor into our formula. So Drew Brees earning a Pro Bowl nod with the San Diego Chargers in 2005 doesn't help him, for example.

First team: Desmond Trufant

• Teams: Atlanta Falcons (2013 to 2019)
• AV: 39
• Awards: Pro Bowler (1)
• Score: 42

Trufant lived up to his billing as a former first-round pick, starting all 99 games he played in for Atlanta and putting up some impressive stats: 13 interceptions, 81 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles and 7 recoveries. He was one of the NFC South's most reliable cornerbacks during a decade of all-time-great quarterback play from division rivals like Drew Brees and Cam Newton.

First team: Josh Norman

• Teams: Carolina Panthers (2012 to 2015)
• AV: 24
• Awards: All-Pro first team (1), Pro Bowler (1)
• Score: 37

Norman was almost a Saint, but Washington beat them to the punch when the Panthers abruptly rescinded his franchise tag days before the 2016 NFL Draft. It's easy to see why they coveted him so badly: altogether, Norman stacked up 7 interceptions and 40 interceptions to go with 4 forced fumbles and 3 recoveries across 58 combined regular season and playoff games in Carolina. While Norman didn't meet expectations in the back half of his career, he was a perfect fit in the defense the Panthers wanted to run.

Second team: Brent Grimes

• Teams: Atlanta Falcons (2010 to 2012), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016 to 2018)
• AV: 29
• Awards: Pro Bowler (1)
• Score: 32

Grimes played his best football after leaving the NFC South -- he earned three consecutive Pro Bowls with the Miami Dolphins in-between his stints in Atlanta and Tampa Bay. But don't tell Drew Brees that. Grimes is tied with Patrick Surtain (the elder) for the most career interceptions off of Brees in his NFL career, having picked him off four times (though one of those was nullified by penalty). Between 20 interceptions and 100 passes defensed with 3 forced fumbles and 3 recoveries over 102 games in the NFC South, Grimes played much bigger than his listed 5-foot-10, 185 pounds and consistently gave No. 9 fits.

Second team: Marshon Lattimore

• Teams: New Orleans Saints (2017 to 2019)
• AV: 21
• Awards: Pro Bowler (2)
• Score: 27

Lattimore didn't get extra points for winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, but it's still worth mentioning. His Saints career started off with a bang; Lattimore's first three years in the NFL included 10 interceptions, 50 passes defensed, 5 forced fumbles and 4 recoveries across 48 combined regular season and playoff games. But you won't find his biggest contribution on the stats sheet. It speaks volumes that Julio Jones never caught another touchdown pass against the Saints after they drafted Lattimore.

Honorable mention: Robert Alford

• Teams: Atlanta Falcons (2013 to 2018)
• AV: 25
• Awards: N/A
• Score: 25

Alford was the definition of a steady starter for Atlanta, racking up 85 passes defensed across 88 games during this decade (plus nine PBU's during five playoff games). He also had 10 interceptions and a fumble recovery in the regular season to go with a clutch 82-yard pick-six and another fumble recovery in the playoffs. The Hammond, La. native may not have been a CB1 for the Falcons but he did his role really well.

More All-NFC South Team of the 2010s

• Quarterbacks
• Running backs
• Tight ends
• Wide receivers
• Offensive line
• Edge rushers
• Defensive tackles
• Linebackers

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: All-NFC South Team of the 2010s: Drew Brees nemesis joins cornerbacks