Joey007

Taking a look at the corners that are likely to make the roster next year, we have:

Devin McCourty-Coming off of big sophmore slump, but will still be slated as our #1 corner.
Ras-I Dowling- Will likely play at the #2 CB spot next year. Has huge potential, but has big injury concerns.
Kyle Arrington- Although he tied the league lead in picks last year, will likely move to the slot position, fits well into that position.
Will Allen- While it may not mean much, Allen did play FS in OTA's recently. If he stays as corner, I don't see him being more than 4th on the CB depth unless someone goes down and he beats out Dennard and Moore for the spot. Not even 100% he'll make the roster, but we'll see.
Alfonzo Dennard-Was a very interesting pick in the 7th round and could become the steal of the draft. He may have character concerns, but like I've said before- Didn't Randy Moss punch a cop earlier in his career? He worked out...for the most part.

Now, the interesting guy here is Sterling Moore. I don't quite know where he'll fit in. Whether he'll stay at corner, or move to FS. Most likely scenario to me is one of Will Allen and Sterling Moore move to FS, the other stays at corner and likely take the 4th CB spot.

What I'm unsure about here is what should the expectations be for Moore?? We may have saw him play exeptionally well in the regular season finale vs. Buffalo, and saw him, of course, make the play that helped us reach the SB. But before that, I saw mediorcre play by him at safety. If he were moved back to safety, would he play as well as he did at the end of the year last year, or would he struggle??

Basically, Moore is a huge wild card in our secondary, I don't know what we'll see out of him. I don't even know what position he'll play. He certainly should be an interesting guy to watch next year, we could have a real gem in our hands.

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Stevan Ridley. Bringing back the art of running the football back to New England since 2011.

Simple Jack's Brother

I'd rather see them stick Will Allen at FS like they did in OTA's because i believe he 1) has lost a step, and thus wouldn't be as effective in man coverage on the line, 2) is much more disciplined than i believe Moore would be back there.

I really liked what i saw from Moore towards the end of last year. Here's a kid who doesn't get drafted, cut from the original team that picked him up, battled his way to stick on the team (aka not Ross Ventrone), and actually looked like our best COVER corner at times. His week 17 game versus Buffalo really stood out not just because of the interceptions, but because of the way he anticipated the throws and SEIZED the opportunity when they came his way.

Also, don't forget he didn't start playing football until his senior year of high school!

New England Patriots Defense steps up vs Bills Week 17 2011 - YouTube

Marqui

I think he will have a break out season this year.

patsfan13

I have him making the roster and playing in sub packages barring injury. I could se us keeping 6 CB and having 4 S on the roster, with Allen being 1 of the Safeties. M Coles displacing S Brown.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Calciumee

Defensive Player of the Year!

But seriously, I think he could have a decent season for a player that is a few notches down the depth chart!

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PATRIOTSFANINPA

No Sterling Moore last year = Loss to Ravens and SB trip


I like the kid and he is by far the most intriguing player on defense this training camp......he could be cut or fly up the depth chart.

I actually think he could give Arrington or McCourty a run for thief money this season if he sticks.

I am not so up on Dowling as I am Moore.

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PATRIOTSFANINPA

I don't expect this young defense to rival the 85 Bears but I also don't think they will be as pathetic against the pass as last year either.....realistic expectations should hope for somewhere in mid pack ranked D,not a lights out D but not so generous either.

All I can say is thank god we got rid of Molden who sucked.

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Gumby

Actually, I believe the "wrong" 12th man on the field that play was good old "Alex Silvestro"; who was only on active team cause BB cut Tiquan Underwood to make room. (in retrospect maybe should have played underwood instead of Ocho & silvestro)

letekro

Hard to say, if you watch the play it looks like he might have been passing him off to chung and guarding against the comeback. I like his aggressive style of play

DEVIOUS 1

If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me, but I believe the person stripping the ball out of the recievers hands was none other than Sterling Moore.

Not putting anybody in trhe Hall of Fame, but I'm rooting for this kid to make the roster. He showed up, and flashed allot of ball skills late in the year. Couple picks against Buffalo.....Had a nice swat of the ball away from a Denver reciever in the first playoff game.....Saved our bacon in the Ravens game......Made a few nice plays in the Super Bowl.

You can't teach ball skills. You either got it, or you don't. He seems to have a knack for it.