Does Devin McCourty belong at FS?

[voluntarysaftey]

I will start out by saying I actually like the way McCourty has played this season. T Smith was playing with an emotional level that could never be duplicated on Sunday and I am not going to fault a CB for not being able to catch because anyone who has ever played the game of football knows if a CB could catch he'd be a WR.

Listening to Curran today on WEEI he once again made the statement that McCourty looks more like a safety.

So I ask you all where would McCourty be best off playing?

He had 8 picks as a rookie and was near shutdown -- he somehow knew how to cover the wr and catch the ball.
Players should improve in years 2 & 3.
He seems to have regressed and no one knows why -- other than it doesn't seem to be a confidence issue based on his mic'd up talk during game 1.


I'd want to give him a shot at safety, but the problem is there's no one to take his place.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I'd rather give him this season to see if he can be an effective CB again. So far the Gregory/Wilson convo has been solid at FS, without McCourty and Dowling unable to get on the field that leaves a hole at CB unless someone like Dennard is ready to step in.

 

[ATippett56]

2013 NFL Draft New England Patriots Needs (Defense):

Defensive End
Defensive Tackle
Cornerback
Safety

Considering the New England Patriots only have five draft picks in the 2013 NFL Draft, this does not leave any room for offensive draft prospects.

 

[Rob0729]

In all honesty, does this board need yet another McCourty thread? These arguments have been discussed multiple times in three or four other threads.

There is no agreement from fans or so called experts on how McCourty played this past Sunday. You have some writers saying he played very well most of the game (Bedard) and others blaming him for the loss (Curran). You have some former players with a career of studying CBs say he played well (Zolak) with others saying he sucked (Law). Heck you have different talk show hosts on the same station who give diametrically different views on his play this past Sunday.

McCourty is a polarizing player. I personally don't get the attention on just McCourty when other CBs got beaten like rented mules all game on Sunday like Arrington and Moore, but I have come to realization that these threads are pointless with the same arguments being rehashed over and over.

 

[Sciz]

2013 NFL Draft New England Patriots Needs (Defense):

Defensive End
Defensive Tackle
Cornerback
Safety

Considering the New England Patriots only have five draft picks in the 2013 NFL Draft, this does not leave any room for offensive draft prospects.

1. Those aren't all NEEDs.
2. They can fill some holes in free agency.

 

[ATippett56]

1. Those aren't all NEEDs.

That's your opinion.

2. They can fill some holes in free agency.

The Jonathan Fanene and Trevor Scott unrestricted free agent acquisitions resolved the New England Patriots defensive pass rush inadequacies.

 

[Avenger]

We'll probably look to add WR, OT, DT, DE, CB in the draft and FA next year. S too if Chung leaves. We really need a #3 OT and a WR if Welker leaves. Kick Cannon inside to G, Loves is developing into quite a player but Wilfork isn't getting any younger, Brace and Deaderick could fill that role, we'll have to see how they progress this year. A second DE opposite Jones would be good to have. Arrington is likely leaving in FA, hopefully we have our answer at CB with McCourty, Dowling and Dennard so a 4th/5th corner would be needed along with Moore to fill out the back end of the CB depth chart, if we have more struggles in the secondary we might be looking for a corner a little higher.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The Jonathan Fanene and Trevor Scott unrestricted free agent acquisitions resolved the New England Patriots defensive pass rush inadequacies.

Neither did drafting Bequette, so... what's your point?

 

[ATippett56]

Brace and Deaderick could fill that role, we'll have to see how they progress this year.

Ron Brace and Myron Pryor will both be unrestricted free agents in 2013.

 

[ATippett56]

Neither did drafting Bequette, so... what's your point?

Back to the NFL Draft drawing board.

 

[Sciz]

That's your opinion.

Thanks for clearing that up.

The Jonathan Fanene and Trevor Scott unrestricted free agent acquisitions resolved the New England Patriots defensive pass rush inadequacies.

Not all free agents work out, but the Pats definitely filled some holes with free agents this offseason.

 

[ATippett56]

Not all free agents work out, but the Pats definitely filled some holes with free agents this offseason.

On defense?

 

[Deus Irae]

Thanks for clearing that up.


Not all free agents work out, but the Pats definitely filled some holes with free agents this offseason.

1.) Lllllllloyd
2.) Gregory (meh, but giving the benefit of the doubt)


Done


Considering all the signings, and all the hope that came along with this particular group, it's really been hugely disappointing overall, although I'm still loving the Lllllllllllllloyd signing.

 

[VrabelJr]

We didn't lose to the Ravens because of McCourty or anybody in our secondary for that matter. We lost to the Ravens because Mayo, Spikes, Hightower and Ninkovich were no where to be found.

Ninkovich got shut down by a rookie RT and our entire Linebacking corps didn't make a play all game.

 

[jnug]

Very disappointed in how the backers got blown off the ball and for the most part "handled". Once Rice got going in the running game, the Pats were forced to make adjustments in order to stop him and the defense was never the same after that.

The backers were in my view much more critical to the outcome in this game than the D-line was. Flacco made plenty of mistakes in the passing game even if they were not the result of pressure from the D-line. However once Rice started to eat up big chunks of yardage we were in trouble.....backers especially Nink were getting blown off the ball so bad that they were ten yards from scrimmage before they finally regained their balance.

If we see anything like that two weeks in a row.....watch out.

 

[PatsFan2]

Ron Brace and Myron Pryor will both be unrestricted free agents in 2013.

And both are made of glass...as they Tackle or sack a someone they end up on IR.

 

[Ring 6]

Ron Brace and Myron Pryor will both be unrestricted free agents in 2013.

Pryor has almost never played for this team. You may not notice if he leaves as a FA

 

[Patriot Missile]

I don't get all the hate for McCourty. Take the refs out of the game and he was solid. My biggest surprise was he was getting his head turned and getting himself in position to make plays on the ball like in his rookies campaign.

I'm thinking with his improved mechanics he is going to have a pretty good season. Throw in the refs returning and it could be stellar. I don't know what people were watching Sunday but there were a lot of factors that played into some of those so called bad plays. Refs, pass rush, safety help to name a few. Bottom line we are 1-2 and everyone knows we should be 2-1 and that's not on the scape goat many have created here.

 

[Kontradiction]

McCourty has improved tenfold in playing press from where he was last season. Unfortunately, he needed to improve twentyfold coming off his wretched 2011 campaign so he still has a ways to go. From what we saw last season, he doesn't seem to be best fit at FS either.

 

[kudzif]

The Simple and short answer on whether McCourty is a decent cb is answered repeatedly by opponents.When Flacco needed plays he went after McCourty not Arrington even though he is bad as well.This was the situation the whole of last season.How this is not obvious to all is beyond me.His rookie season is irrelevant because the Nfl history is filled with players that had flukey great seasons never to be repeated so stop with rehashing that season. His first two games this season were against a green Qb and in the Arizona game he had safety help over the top against Fitzgerald the whole game so please stop with the he has played great this season. McCourty against decent QB = disaster for patriots .