For what its worth, the game charters at Football Outsiders are in agreement with Joyner on this. From the Texans chapter of their book Pro Football Prospectus 2008 (very interesting read, btw, although i liked the essays better last year):
Quote:
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Sometimes an injury - even to a key player - can have a silver lining. Such was the case with cornerback Dunta Robinson. The blow from his midseason injury was greatly softened by the wholly astonishing play of rookie Fred Bennett. Stepping into the starting lineup for Robinson in Week 9, Bennett not only outplayed the former first round pick he replaced - he outplayed most every corner in the league. Bennet led the league in Adjusted Yards per Pass and was second in Success Rate. He was at his best when covering the opposition's top reciever, allowing 4.0 Adjusted Yards per Pass with a 63 percent Success Rate (compared to 7.8 and 61 percent for Robinson, or 10.4 and 36 percent for Demarcus Faggins). He wasn't perfect - he needs to improve his tackling - but if Bennett's rookie performance is for real, and Robinson is able to return to full effectiveness in the second half of the season, the Texans will turn a historical weakness into a team strength.
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To put this into more context, Bennet ranked 2nd in the NFL last year in their success rate statistic and first among corners (just ahead of Nnamdi Asomoghua, who was targeted so few times they had to change their minimum numbers...talk about a shutdown corner) and Dunta ranked 9th, up from 20th in 2006 and 41st in 2005.
Additional note: they also note that "C.C. Brown was not a favorite of our game charters, who noted his tendency to get lost in zone coverage and his poor tackling form in run support - the latter being his supposed strength."