I was pissed at first, but now I'm cooling down, and I'm more okay with the pick than I was before. Post-2004, this is a pass-first league, and winning is no longer just about controlling the LOS. It's about having the defensive talent to harass teams, kill drives, and create turnovers, all in open space. If Belichick thinks that McCourty + whoever he can get later will help more than Hughes + whoever would have come later, then I can live with that. I don't like passing on Dez Bryant, who I think would have solved our WR problems for the remainder of the Tom Brady era, but, once again, if McCourty turns out to be as good as he's being projected, then I can live with it.
Say what you want about Rex Ryan, but the man knows defense. He and Belichick both went into the draft with two bonafide starters at CB, and then drafted a third. That tells you something about where the league's at.