McCourty's sensational senior season certainly grabbed the attention of scouts. He's now primed to grab the national attention that has mysteriously eluded him since arriving on campus as a 175-pound freshman.
The statistical table does not really show the true measure of McCourty's importance or value to the Scarlet Knights' success. Since taking over as a starter as a sophomore, the defensive back has more than lived up to the challenge of shutting down his main pass coverage assignments. Always known for his punt- and kick-coverage ability, he added a wrinkle to his game, proving to be one of the more electrifying kickoff returners in the nation, evident by his average of 27.91 yards per attempt.
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.
Those same receivers averaged 33.84 catches for 430.05 yards (12.71 yards per catch) and 2.47 touchdowns per season vs. other cornerbacks they faced. Devin has proven to be an excellent press coverage defender, as his excellent field vision has seen him make plays on the ball 45.39 percent of the time outside his area, coming to the aid after a teammate had blown an assignment. He has jammed/rerouted those pass catchers away from 148 incomplete attempts (average of 3.84 per game), the most of any cornerback in the Division I ranks during that span.
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).
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