Who'll have a better career? McCourty, Butler

[CheeseMonkeys]

Which young corner back will have a more successful career for the Patriots? There really isn't much evidence at this point to answer this so it will be more of a guess.

I realize that McCourty hasn't played a down in the NFL but he was our first round pick this year at pick 27 and was a productive college player. Darius Butler was chosen 41 in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft. Butler showed last season that he has potential to be a good corner in the NFL. I also expect McCourty to have a decent rookie season, but who will be more successful for the Patriots in the upcoming years?

I think that McCourty will be a productive player on special teams at first and develop into a good corner within the next couple years. I also believe that Butler will be a starter soon to come and immediately be productive.

 

[Rob0729]

McCourty was a shutdown CB in college (granted not in the toughest conference, but Butler came from the same conference). He has the potential of being an elite CB. He may never get close to that, but I think his ceiling is higher than Butler's.

 

[Kasmir]

McCourty was a shutdown CB in college (granted not in the toughest conference, but Butler came from the same conference). He has the potential of being an elite CB. He may never get close to that, but I think his ceiling is higher than Butler's.

Revis also played in the Big East.

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

Darius Butler. I'm not a big McCourty fan.

 

[jsull87]

i am going to say butler mccourty is too much of an unknown for me at this stage i am sure he is a great prospect but atm i have to give an edge to butler but hope i get proven wrong

 

[Rex Ryan's Gut]

I think McCourty should be good, but it really puzzled me that three teams passed on Kyle Wilson.

He will be the best cover cornerback in the draft.

That being said, it's way too early to determine who will be better [DMC or Butler]. Butler showed some promise last year, but we've yet to see McCourty even play a preseason series.

 

[italia44]

I think McCourty should be good, but it really puzzled me that three teams passed on Kyle Wilson.

He will be the best cover cornerback in the draft.

That being said, it's way too early to determine who will be better [DMC or Butler]. Butler showed some promise last year, but we've yet to see McCourty even play a preseason series.

More spin from the NJ swampland.......get this straight,skippy....Kyle Wilson will make a good nickleback.In college,he had better ball skills than McCourty,but that's it.McCourty is an actual cornerrback......much better coverage skills,faster and will be a stud on special teams.

Once Belichick got done fleecing the league with his masterful trades in the first round,he had numerous offers to trade the 27th pick and get another 2nd or 2011 pick......He didn't...He wanted McCourty.....not Wilson,McCourty.When he did,you could hear and feel the air go out of the Rex Ryan,zeppelin-like gut.

The NY papers wanted McCourty...as did Ryan and your GM....little tannenhauerburgermeister.

ESpn and the Nfl network agreed ....pre-draft,not this post-draft swill by the spinmeisters on jetsinsipid.com.

You seem fairly reasonable,Gut......however, this
Jenkins>Wilfork,Harris>Mayo,Sanchez>Henne,Cromartie>Bodden
are just friggin' embarassing to anyone older than 14.......and don't get me started on Shonn 'Fumbles" and Mr Classy.

All of you jesters need to go back and look at what Belichick did to you.....The Second Time...ya know,without the crowd noise.

Win something,then talk.....otherwise,you're just another pretender,like the Chargers.
Lesson over....learn from it,please.:rocker:

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

More spin from the NJ swampland.......get this straight,skippy....Kyle Wilson will make a good nickleback.In college,he had better ball skills than McCourty,but that's it.McCourty is an actual cornerrback......much better coverage skills,faster and will be a stud on special teams.

Once Belichick got done fleecing the league with his masterful trades in the first round,he had numerous offers to trade the 27th pick and get another 2nd or 2011 pick......He didn't...He wanted McCourty.....not Wilson,McCourty.When he did,you could hear and feel the air go out of the Rex Ryan,zeppelin-like gut.

The NY papers wanted McCourty...as did Ryan and your GM....little tannenhauerburgermeister.

ESpn and the Nfl network agreed ....pre-draft,not this post-draft swill by the spinmeisters on jetsinsipid.com.

You seem fairly reasonable,Gut......however, this
Jenkins>Wilfork,Harris>Mayo,Sanchez>Henne,Cromartie>Bodden
are just friggin' embarassing to anyone older than 14.......and don't get me started on Shonn 'Fumbles" and Mr Classy.

All of you jesters need to go back and look at what Belichick did to you.....The Second Time...ya know,without the crowd noise.

Win something,then talk.....otherwise,you're just another pretender,like the Chargers.
Lesson over....learn from it,please.:rocker:

I don't know if all that Rex Ryan wanted McCourty stuff was all that true. Could've just been smokescreens they were throwing up to make it seem that way. It seemed all along Wilson was a better fit for the Jets, IMO, because of his ability to excel in man-press coverage.

I admit I didn't see McCourty play much as I watch more SEC and ACC football so I will defer to others on evaluating his play, but I saw him at the combine and thought he would be overdrafted due to his 40 time and didn't think he was as clean in transition as some other corners. It's also not too promising when the first thing both Mayock and Kiper/McShay said about him was that he's a special teams ace instead of talking about his ability as a corner.

Those were just my pre-draft/mid-draft perceptions of him. I'd actually have to see him on the field in game action to make a final judgment, but as of right now I think Butler will be the better CB down the line.

 

[Calciumee]

I might give an answer once McCourty plays

 

[stinkypete]

If both players reach their potential, I think McCourty will be the better all around corner.

 

[upstater1]

McCourty was a shutdown CB in college (granted not in the toughest conference, but Butler came from the same conference). He has the potential of being an elite CB. He may never get close to that, but I think his ceiling is higher than Butler's.

From watching both of them closely over 4 years, Butler was more of a shutdown corner. People threw at McCourty. They never threw at Butler. Now, that might be because of the style of play going against UConn and Rutgers defenses. So we can't draw too many conclusions, but I'd say Butler had the better college career.

And, as for the BE, you need to take a look at the WRs in that league. Mardy Gilyard, DJ Woods, Armon Binns, Carlton Mitchell, Marcus Easley, Terrence Jeffers, Harry Douglas, Mario Urrutia, Jonathan Baldwin, Dorin ****erson, Tim Brown, Mohammed Sanu, Kenny Britt, Tiquan Underwood, Mike Williams, Darius Reynaud...

I'd put those guys up against any league.

 

[Big-T]

I don't know who will be the better of the 2, but I think if they both reach their potential teams won't be doing much passing against the Patriots.

 

[Rob0729]

From watching both of them closely over 4 years, Butler was more of a shutdown corner. People threw at McCourty. They never threw at Butler. Now, that might be because of the style of play going against UConn and Rutgers defenses. So we can't draw too many conclusions, but I'd say Butler had the better college career.

And, as for the BE, you need to take a look at the WRs in that league. Mardy Gilyard, DJ Woods, Armon Binns, Carlton Mitchell, Marcus Easley, Terrence Jeffers, Harry Douglas, Mario Urrutia, Jonathan Baldwin, Dorin ****erson, Tim Brown, Mohammed Sanu, Kenny Britt, Tiquan Underwood, Mike Williams, Darius Reynaud...

I'd put those guys up against any league.

There was a statistical breakdown for McCourty here after he was drafted and QB's success rate throwing in his direction was abismal. QBs may have thrown in his direction, but they rarely made completions at least on the breakdowns I saw.

I found this from a scouting report on McCourty:

In the last 38 contests, Rutgers has allowed the opposition to complete 572-of-1,038 passes (55.11 percent) for 7,144 yards, 36 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. Against McCourty, the Scarlet Knights opponents attempted 249 throws, completing just 88 (35.34 percent) for 684 yards and only two scores, an average of 7.77 yards per pass completion. He has allowed just 2.75 yards per pass attempt, the lowest figure of any active player in the Big East Conference.

While those figures are very impressive, they do not tell the entire story of this shutdown cornerback's ability. Against his main pass coverage assignments, McCourty has held those receivers to only 42 receptions for 386 yards on 158 passes targeted into his area, meaning that quarterbacks have completed just 26.58 percent of those tosses and their intended targets were limited to 9.19 yards per pass completion and 2.44 yards per attempt.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/563691

Allowing 35.34% completions and 26.58% when the ball was thrown to his main pass coverage assignment and only 2.75 YPA (2.44 YPA against his main coverage assignment) is pretty shutdown to me. I think perceptions on the guy may be off because he did allow some big passes and didn't have a lot of INTs. Those two things probably overshadowed how well he shutdown opposing WRs.

 

[upstater1]

There was a statistical breakdown for McCourty here after he was drafted and QB's success rate throwing in his direction was abismal. QBs may have thrown in his direction, but they rarely made completions at least on the breakdowns I saw.

I found this from a scouting report on McCourty:



Devin McCourty, Rutgers, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com

Allowing 35.34% completions and 26.58% when the ball was thrown to his main pass coverage assignment and only 2.75 YPA (2.44 YPA against his main coverage assignment) is pretty shutdown to me. I think perceptions on the guy may be off because he did allow some big passes and didn't have a lot of INTs. Those two things probably overshadowed how well he shutdown opposing WRs.

Very impressive much better than I thought. I'll have to step back though and say that these stats on the college level--for both Butler and McCourty--mean little. If they were just BE stats, I'd pay a lot more attention. Unfortunately, the BE only has 7 league games per team a year, and some teams like Rutgers fill the schedule with multiple 1-AA games. You can compare Rutgers opponents to the teams that UConn plays (last year UConn played the Big-12, ACC and Notre Dame, and this year, Michigan, SEC and ACC) to Rutgers... well, one team may find it a lot easier to pad the stats.

Time will tell. I hope McCourty is really that good.

 

[Rob0729]

Very impressive much better than I thought. I'll have to step back though and say that these stats on the college level--for both Butler and McCourty--mean little. If they were just BE stats, I'd pay a lot more attention. Unfortunately, the BE only has 7 league games per team a year, and some teams like Rutgers fill the schedule with multiple 1-AA games. You can compare Rutgers opponents to the teams that UConn plays (last year UConn played the Big-12, ACC and Notre Dame, and this year, Michigan, SEC and ACC) to Rutgers... well, one team may find it a lot easier to pad the stats.

Time will tell. I hope McCourty is really that good.

All we can go on is college stats and production for McCourty at this point. If Rutgers played tougher competition, McCourty probably would have been a top 15 pick. I just think based on his college career, he has the ability to be a shutdown CB in this league. But there are players who showed more promise than him who went nowhere and players who showed less and became superstars.

 

[Deus Irae]

McCourty hasn't played a down in the NFL, and Butler hasn't shown any level of consistency, so (IMO) it's impossible to fairly evaluate either player's career at this point. Also, the Patriots' system seems to result in a lot of wear and tear on the CBs, so the ability to handle pain and injuries over the course of time is something else we'll need to see before we can really come to a strong conclusion.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Generally speaking, I like to wait until guys have played in actual games and stuff before trying to answer these questions.

 

[RichSeymour]

McCourty's much more talented in my opinion.

 

[Kasmir]

There was a statistical breakdown for McCourty here after he was drafted...

Another claim I loved reading from that report was this:

While developing his shutdown cornerback skills, McCourty is not only a top-notch coverage defender, but has also excelled playing inside the box. He made 91 of his 236 tackles in run support (38.56 percent) and has proven to be a drive-killer, as he registered an incredible 94 third-down stops and 33 more on fourth-down action (38.60 percent of his plays made resulted in killing the opposition's series).

38+% series ending plays sure sounds like a play maker at CB. Tackling receivers short of the down markers is obviously a rather important skill.

 

[patriot lifer]

Go wilhite!!