[OC] 2017 Record Watch- Part IV: Interceptions

We’re back to the records on the defensive side of the ball (including special teams). Every other week, on Wednesdays, Record Watch will focus on this side of the ball. As I’ve mentioned a few times before in other offseason posts, if I did this segment every Wednesday, then I’d run out of stats fairly quickly. There’s not as many stats on the defensive side of the ball as there are on the offensive side of the ball.

So, with that being said, let’s take a look at the next leaderboard stat- interceptions. We’ll start by taking a look at the leaderboard for the entire NFL, then go into team-specific records.

Part I: NFL Records

• Due to the era and Charles Woodson retiring, there’s not a whole lot to look at on the NFL leaderboard. DeAngelo Hall is the active leader in interceptions with 43, and that’s tied for 63rd, along with Kermit Alexander, Dre’ Bly, and Cris Dishman. Hall hasn’t recorded an interception since 2013. However, if he records 1 interception, he would jump to 61st all-time, tied with Steve Foley (44) and Warren Lahr. Two interceptions put him to 57th all-time, tied with Erich Barnes (45), Thom Darden, James Hasty, and Jim Norton. Three interceptions put him at 52nd all-time, four interceptions put him at 47th all-time, five interceptions put him at 42nd all-time, and six interceptions (his career high) put him at 40th all-time. If he records 7 interceptions, he would become just the 40th player in NFL history to record 50 career interceptions, and would be tied for 35th all-time.

• Terence Newman is currently tied for 72nd on the all-time interceptions list (41), along with Don Doll, Aaron Glenn, Spider Lockhart, Johnny Sample, and Charlie Waters. One interception puts him at 67th all-time, two interceptions put him at 63rd all-time, and three interceptions put him at 61st all-time, while four interceptions put him at 57th all-time. His career high in picks is five; should he reach that this year, he would be 52nd all-time with 46 interceptions, alongside Jack Christiansen, Goose Gonsoulin, Mike Haynes, Eddie Meador, and Dave Whitsell

• The next closest guy on the list that’s active right now? That would be Reggie Nelson, who has 35 interceptions. That’s 127th all-time in NFL history. That’s right- there are only 3 players inside the top 150 all-time in interceptions that are currently active right now. For Nelson to reach the top 100, he would need 3 interceptions; that would give him 38 interceptions and tie him for 91st all-time, alongside Donnie Abraham, Ray Brown, LeRoy Butler, Lindon Crow, Eugene Daniel, Eric Davis, Gary Fencik, Mike Harden, Sam Madison, Kevin Ross, Charles Tillman, and Rick Volk.

• If Nelson wants to reach the top 75 all-time, he would need 6 interceptions; considering he’s averaged 6.5 over the past 2 seasons, this is not impossible. Six interceptions would put him at 72nd all-time with 41 interceptions, alongside Don Doll, Aaron Glenn, Spider Lockhart, Terence Newman, Johnny Sample, and Charlie Waters. Note that if Newman gets an interception this year, that becomes a tie for 73rd all-time.

• The next closest guy after Reggie Nelson is Aqib Talib, with 33 interceptions (157th all-time). If he wants to enter the top 150, all he needs is one interception. If he wants to enter the top 100, though, he needs 5 interceptions, which he hasn’t done since 2010 when he was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Two other names to keep an eye on for the top 100 (38 interceptions) are Richard Sherman and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Both sit at 30 career interceptions, so both players need 8 to do it. However, Sherman has done that twice before, and Rodgers-Cromartie was second in the league in interceptions last season. Unlikely, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility

Part II: Team-Specific Records (AFC)

• Devin McCourty is currently 12th in Patriots history in interceptions (19). He needs 3 interceptions to tie Asante Samuel for 10th place (22), and needs 5 interceptions to tie Nick Buoniconti (24) and Ronnie Lippett for 8th place in franchise history. He’s only recorded 5 interceptions in the past 4 seasons combined, but he did record 7 in his rookie season

• Reshad Jones is currently tied for 15th in Dolphins history in interceptions (16), alongside JB Brown. He needs 4 interceptions to become one of just 13 players in franchise history to have 20 interceptions with the team. And with 6 interceptions, he ties Tim Foley (22) and Curtis Johnson for 10th place in franchise history. Having said that, his career high in interceptions is 5, and he only had one interception last year

• The Houston Texans have an interesting situation on their hands, since they are a young franchise with a good defense. Kareem Jackson is currently tied with Dunta Robinson (13) for the most interceptions in franchise history, so one pick by him and he has the record. However, Jonathan Joseph is in third place right now with 12 interceptions, so if he gets one, he’s guaranteed to be at least second, and if he gets one more than Jackson, then he will have the all-time lead. Meanwhile, Brian Cushing sits in 7th place (8 interceptions), and needs one to tie Quintin Demps for 6th all-time (9), while needing 2 to become the 6th player in franchise history with 10 interceptions, and 3 to tie Marcus Coleman and Aaron Glenn (11) for 4th place. Additionally, Andre Hal is currently tied for 9th in franchise history with 6 interceptions, alongside AJ Bouye. He needs 1 interception to tie Jason Allen (7) for 8th place, 2 to tie an active Brian Cushing for 7th place (8), 3 to tie Quintin Demps for 6th place (9), and 5 to tie Marcus Coleman and Aaron Glenn for 4th place (11). On top of all of that, if any Texan reaches 6 career interceptions this year, they will tie AJ Bouye for a spot in the top 10 with 6 interceptions.

Got all that? Here it is in table form, bolding the players who are active

• Paul Posluszny currently sits in 5th place in Jaguars history in interceptions (11). He needs 1 to tie Derek Cox (12) for 4th place, and 3 to tie Donovin Darius (14) for 3rd place. If he sets a career-high in interceptions and gets 4, he will tie Aaron Beasley (15) for 2nd place. As for other Jaguars, to enter the top 10, they need to get to 7 career interceptions, which would put them in a 5-way tie for 8th place alongside Jason Craft, Deon Grant, Marlon McCree, Reggie Nelson, and Dave Thomas. Getting to 8 career interceptions puts them in a tie for 6th place with Chris Hudson and Mike Peterson. Of the active Jaguars, Telvin Smith is the closest, with 4 career interceptions.

• Lardarius Webb currently sits in 6th place in Ravens history in interceptions (13). That is unlikely to change this year; he would need 7 interceptions to reach a tie for 4th place alongside Duane Starks and Rod Woodson (20). However, Jimmy Smith is climbing up the leaderboard; he currently is tied for 8th with 8 interceptions, alongside Antonio Langham, Samari Rolle, and Chad Williams. One interception would tie him with Dawan Landry for 7th place all-time, and two would make him just the 7th Raven ever to reach the 10-interception milestone. Terrell Suggs is just outside the top 10 with 7 interceptions, and CJ Mosley has 6.

• Adam Jones currently sits in 19th place in Bengals history in interceptions (11), alongside James Francis, Ray Griffin, Dick Jauron, Corey Sawyer, Brian Simmons, and Darryl Williams. His career high in interceptions is 4. However, if he sets a new career high and gets 5, then he will tie Deltha O’Neal and Reggie Williams (16) for 9th place, and enter the top 10 in franchise history. Six interceptions would tie Tommy Casanova (17) for 8th place. Dre Kirkpatrick would need 7 interceptions to reach the top 10; he currently has 9, and his career high for a single season is 3.

• Joe Haden currently sits in 15th place in Browns history in interceptions (19). One more makes him the 15th player in franchise history to reach 20 career interceptions. His career high in a season is 6; however, if he sets a new career high and gets 7, then he will enter the top 10 and tie Hanford Dixon and Felix Wright (26) for 10th place. Eight interceptions would tie him for 8th place alongside Ross Fichtner and Mike Howell (27).

• Chris Harris Jr. currently sits in 17th place in Broncos history in interceptions (14). His career high in a single season is 3, which he did back in 2012. However, if he finds a way to get six, then he would tie Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson (20) for 10th place in franchise history, and would become only the second Bronco of the 21st century in the top 10 in interceptions, joining Champ Bailey.

Part III: Team-Specific Records (NFC)

• Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie currently sits in 34th place in New York Giants history in interceptions (11), alongside Harry Carson, Lindon Crow, Scott Eaton, Beasley Reece, Aaron Ross, Everson Walls, and Gibril Wilson. He was second in the league in interceptions last year with 6 (a career-high), and if he somehow finds a way to get 9, then he would enter the top 10, tying Howie Livingston, Frank Reagan, and Corey Webster (20) for 10th place

• DeAngelo Hall currently sits in 10th place in Washington history in interceptions (23). He needs 1 interception to tie Ken Houston (24) for 9th place, 4 interceptions to tie Pat Fischer and Mark Murphy (27) for 7th place, 5 interceptions to tie Paul Krause (28) for 6th place, and 6 interceptions to tie Joe Lavender (29) for 5th place. Having said that, he hasn’t recorded an interception in 3 years.

• Thomas Davis currently sits in 6th place in Carolina history in interceptions (13), alongside Ken Lucas. He needs 1 interception to tie Doug Evans and Richard Marshall (14) for 4th place, and 4 interceptions to tie Mike Minter (17) for 3rd place. Seeing as he’s got 7 interceptions over the past 2 seasons, this is possible.

• Sticking with Carolina, Luke Kuechly is in 8th place in interceptions (12), and Kurt Coleman is in 9th place (11), alongside Charles Godfrey and Deon Grant. Whatever Davis needs, add 1 interception to find Kuechly’s spot in the standings, and whatever Davis needs, add 2 interceptions to find Coleman’s spot in the standings. Either way, all 3 of those players are in the top 10

• Lavonte David currently sits tied for 17th place in Tampa Bay history in interceptions (10), alongside Neal Colzie, Tanard Jackson, and Dave Lewis. His career high in a season is 5, so it’s unlikely; however, if he gets 7, then he will enter the top 10, tying Mark Cotney, Harry Hamilton, and Ricky Reynolds (17) for 9th place. Eight interceptions would tie him with Aqib Talib (18) for 8th place

• Glover Quin currently sits tied for 19th place in Detroit history in interceptions (16), alongside Ray Crockett, Bruce Maher, and Wayne Rasmussen. His career high in a season is 7, so it’s unlikely; however, if he gets 8, then he will enter the top 10, tying Jimmy Allen and Joe Schmidt (24) for 9th place

• Harrison Smith currently sits tied for 21st place in Minnesota history in interceptions (12), alongside Rip Hawkins, John Swain, Lonnie Warwick, Brian Williams, Roy Winston, and Jeff Wright. His career high in a season is 5, so it’s unlikely; however, if he gets 7, then he will enter the top 10, tying Karl Kassulke and Audray McMillian (19) for 10th place

• Patrick Peterson currently sits tied for 11th place in Arizona history in interceptions (20), alongside Cedric Mack, Tim McDonald, Jerry Norton, Billy Stacy, and Ken Stone. He can really climb up the leaderboard this season. If he gets 1 interception, he will tie Jerry Davis and Ray Ramsey (21) for 9th place and enter the top 10. Two interceptions would tie him with Norm Thompson (22) for 8th place, four interceptions would tie him with Kwamie Lassiter (24) for 7th place, and seven interceptions would tie him with Adrian Wilson (27) for 6th place. On the ambitious side, if he gets 9 interceptions, he would tie Pat Fischer (29) for 5th place, and if he gets 10 interceptions, he would tie Dick “Night Train” Lane (30) for 4th place

• And finally, in Seattle, Richard Sherman currently sits in 5th place in franchise history in interceptions (30). He needs 2 to tie Kenny Easley (32) for 4th place. Earl Thomas is in 6th place (23), and he’s not likely to change positions this year. Lastly, Kam Chancellor can enter the top 10 with a career season. He’s currently tied for 16th with 12 interceptions, alongside Patrick Hunter, Ken Lucas, and Reggie Tongue. If he gets 7 interceptions, he would tie Keith Simpson (19) for 10th place; however, seeing as his career high in a single season is 4 interceptions, entering the top 10 this year is unlikely