In the Pats system I believe BB looks for the following in a CB.
A.) Quickness/Speed. The CB must have decent speed, not track fast but still decent, and most importantly super quickness and change of direction. Quick Twitch muscle fibers.
B.) Ball Skills. Ability to know find the ball and make a paly on the ball.
C.) Taclking/Jamming. If you can't tackle then BB won't need you for long. The ability to Jam, especially bigger receivers at the line is important also.
D.) Intanglibles (Character, intelligence, discipline and a total committment to football.)
E.) Fundamentals. CBs must possess decent technical ability and most importantly the ability to take to coaching as BB refines and improves an athletes techinque. (ie: Smooth back pedal, decent turn and run ability. form tackling, etc.)
F.) Experience. Preferably in the best college conferences and preferably a multi year starter. Also includes ability to stay on the field as opposed to the training room.
Things that are not as important to BB as some would think.
- Decent Size. BB does not care if a CB is not six foot. However he seems to like them meatier, around 185 plus pounds. Probably because they hold up better physically as tacklers.
- Loose Hips. While a decent indicator of change of direction ability, loose hips are not a prerequisite for quick twitch athletes.
Based on the above, I would picture BB draft board on CB's as follows: (Note on scoring. each of the 6 criteria above are judged on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being the best.)
Hall (A=4, B=3,C=5,D=4,E=4,F=5) Total Score = 25.
Revis (A=3,B=5,C=4,D=4,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 24.
Ross (A=3,B=3,C=4,D=4,E=4,F=3) Total Score = 21.
Wilson (A=5,B=3,C=4,D=3,E=3,F=3) Total Score 21.
Wade (A=4,B=3,C=3,D=4,E=4,F=3) Total Score 21.
Irons (A=3,B=3,C=3,D=4,E=4,F=3) Total Score 20.
McCauley (A=5,B=3,C=3,D=1,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 20.
Houston (A=4,B=3,C=2,D=3,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 20.
Bennett (A-3,B=3,C=2,D=4,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 20.
Based on these results, this draft has two guys that would fit very well in the pats system and then 7 guys that are all bunched together each with a wart or two in their game.