Peter King: McCourty the "new great defensive back"

[Fencer]

At 1:04 p.m. ET, Troy Polamalu picks off Colt McCoy in Cleveland.


At 1:05 p.m. ET, Ed Reed picks off Carson Palmer in Baltimore.


At 1:06 p.m. ET: Devin McCourty picks off Chad Henne in Foxboro.


Favre was leaving, and veterans were making plays, and the new great defensive back made one too, as if to say, "When you guys are gone, I'll be taking over.''

NFL playoff field, draft order set; coaching carousel begins to spin - Peter King - SI.com

 

[muslimman]

That is actually pretty sweet. I like where King is going with this...

EDIT: I know a lot of you aren't fans of MMQB but make sure you read the tidbit King has about the Baltimore long-snapper. Amazing story.

Also great quote:

I think this is everything that's wrong with the Pro Bowl, and the reason I pay it hardly any attention: Rodney Harrison played 15 years in the NFL as an enforcer safety. He and Ray Lewis are the only defensive players in NFL history with 30 career sacks and 30 interceptions. Brandon Meriweather has played four seasons in the NFL. He was benched twice this year for performance reasons. Still, Meriweather made the Pro Bowl this year, his second Pro Bowl berth. Harrison made two Pro Bowls in his career.

 

[Disco Volante]

Wow @ Ed Reed missing 8 games this season yet still leading the NFL in INTs.

 

[Nikolai]

Wow @ Ed Reed missing 8 games this season yet still leading the NFL in INTs.

Agreed. I feel Henderson gained the inside track on the Comeback POY award, but Reed would have been a nice outside-the-box vote. If only he didn't play for Balt, I think he'd be getting a lot more recognition. Instead he's in the shadow of Lewis, and lost in the caterwaul of Suggy-bear.

 

[Razor's Edge]

Devin McCourty will be outstanding, he's got a great career ahead of him

 

[AJD]

its interesting to note that joe haden has very similar stats to mccourty.

got to be rare for two rookies to have such success.

meanwhile the texans have been driven to distraction by jackson.

 

[Gwedd]

I have some serious issues with Peter King, but I make it a point to read his MMQB every week. He has some insights and contacts that are interesting, and sometimes presents info that you wouldn't otherwise get, or in a manner that you might not have though of.

 

[Froob]

The ravens longsnapper story was awesome. That guy has some guts. Classy move by Shaun Rodgers didn't see that coming.

 

[RayClay]

Obviously, BB knew something and we were all shocked he went CB in the first.

What's amazing is, he knew his draft position and had the confidence to set up that whole draft with the extra picks he gained with two trade downs.

That is brass balls.

 

[blackglass3]

I have some serious issues with Peter King, but I make it a point to read his MMQB every week. He has some insights and contacts that are interesting, and sometimes presents info that you wouldn't otherwise get, or in a manner that you might not have though of.

I like when he talks about coffee and when people annoy him on the airplane.


(I grudgingly read him every week also)

 

[reflexblue]

Since i don't pay attention when King posts his negative hack job articles about the pats, i'm not going to pay attention to him now.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I agree with the notion.

 

[patchick]

its interesting to note that joe haden has very similar stats to mccourty.

got to be rare for two rookies to have such success.

meanwhile the texans have been driven to distraction by jackson.

This has been a heck of a draft class leaguewide -- a remarkable number of rookies totally living up to their billing. Haden is going to be a good player for a long time too, but given a choice between the two you have to take McCourty, who is a much faster and smoother athlete.

And as draft picks, #7 overall for Haden vs #22 overall for McCourty + Aaron Hernandez + 2/3 of Taylor Price...

 

[seven]

Since i don't pay attention when King posts his negative hack job articles about the pats, i'm not going to pay attention to him now.

He does tend towards prissy, but he seems to be the echo chamber initiator. Never fails, I read him, then for the next two weeks listen to the "experts"
paraphrasing him.
It is like the next phase of conventional wisdom.

OT:
The thing that bums me the most this week from his column, he expressed what borders on despair, certainly a snarky bitterness regarding the coming CBA battle.
Must have mentioned it 6 times.
He is an "inside" guy, so the mood must be bad.
Hope they listen to Mr Kraft, who seems to be the only fellow with his priorities straight.

 

[AJD]

This has been a heck of a draft class leaguewide -- a remarkable number of rookies totally living up to their billing. Haden is going to be a good player for a long time too, but given a choice between the two you have to take McCourty, who is a much faster and smoother athlete.

And as draft picks, #7 overall for Haden vs #22 overall for McCourty + Aaron Hernandez + 2/3 of Taylor Price...

Definitely, if they redid the draft i wonder where mccourty would go.

Peter King gets some interesting stories around the league but KSK are right on usually in their weekly satire of him, hes an atrocious writer, he treats readers as though they have never watched a game in their lives and his name dropping is mind numbing.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

McCourty is already a pro-bowler and will only get better. After this season, he still has 4 seasons left on his rookie contract. He is going to be insanely underpaid for 4 years, hope that doesn't spark a holdout.

 

[The Scrizz]

I had stopped reading King but the quote piqued my interest so I read most of the article. Two things that stood out.

"10. New York Jets (11-5). There's not one thing they do great except maybe on special teams. But they were nine points stingier than New England on defense, and 6-2 on the road during the regular season, where they'll have to make hay if they're to back up the very strong words of Rex Ryan."

This is the kind of useless sentence that has stopped me from reading King. First of all, 9 points over a 16 game season isn't exactly statistically compelling, and two, how did they do down the stretch heading into the playoffs. King offers factoids with zero analysis.

"3. Troy Polamalu, S, Pittsburgh. It's not just some games that he makes a big play to help his team win. It's the vast majority of them. An interception in the first minute Sunday at Cleveland was the latest example. An amazing nose for the ball, and tremendous sense of knowing when a play needs to be made."

Interesting to note that Hair had probably the worst game I've seen him play against the actual MVP. He was literally guessing, trying to make a play and was guessing wrong every time.

 

[NEGoldenAge]

McCourty is already a pro-bowler and will only get better. After this season, he still has 4 seasons left on his rookie contract. He is going to be insanely underpaid for 4 years, hope that doesn't spark a holdout.

McCourty seems like a humble, team-oriented guy. I don't think he is the type to hold out. If McCourty stays healthy for a couple of years, I would expect New England to extend him and make him happy.

 

[D-cleater]

McCourty seems like a humble, team-oriented guy. I don't think he is the type to hold out. If McCourty stays healthy for a couple of years, I would expect New England to extend him and make him happy.

One would hope that the Pats extend him, but generally that is not how the Pats do business. They get the most they can out of a player in their rookie contract, and only consider extensions if the player is willing to take the "hometown discount", or otherwise below market. As for being humble and team oriented, that has nothing to do with business, as we've heard player after player say.

Enjoy having McCourty while we can, because he is going to command top dollar as a free agent and we all know the Pats pay anyone not named Tom Brady top dollar and that is what McCourty and his agent will be looking for in 4 years.

 

[D-cleater]

Agreed. I feel Henderson gained the inside track on the Comeback POY award, but Reed would have been a nice outside-the-box vote. If only he didn't play for Balt, I think he'd be getting a lot more recognition. Instead he's in the shadow of Lewis, and lost in the caterwaul of Suggy-bear.

Comeback POY? Not to go off topic, but aren't you forgetting someone? And no, I'm not talking about vick