Tramaine Brock among NFL leaders in lowest burn percentage

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tramaine Brock has had a rough couple weeks. He gave up two touchdowns to Larry Fitzgerald last week on Thursday Night Football, and the Sunday before, he gave up touchdowns to Terrance Williams and Brice Butler of the Dallas Cowboys. Those plays have remained firmly in our head.

Earlier this week, defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil was asked about the touchdowns, and specifically, how he might try and compensate with shifting coverage to help inside on those kinds of plays. O’Neil had this to say:

“Yeah, I know Brock’s been hit on a couple touchdowns and the one thing I’ll say is, a lot of times in our defense,Brock absorbs the hardest job play in and play out. He’s given up some, but he’s also made a lot of plays for us. So, I wish Brock would have made a couple of those plays, but again, he’s made a lot of plays for our defense. He’s going to continue to be a big part of what we do defensively. So, I’m not down on him at all.”

On Thursday night, noted former NFL personnel man and current NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt offered up an interesting stat:

According to Lance Zierlein, burn rate refers to completion percentage allowed on throws targeted at the defender. We have seen the high profile burns on those four touchdowns, but Brock has had his share of strong plays. Of course, there remains the concern about him having to stick to defenders deep down the field. While I see Rashard Robinson emerging as a strong presence in that regard, I think we’re seeing about what we can expect from Brock. He’s got a high enough floor, but a fairly limited ceiling. If Robinson is turning into a potential star corner before our eyes, Brock as a No. 2 suddenly looks better.