Who'll have a better career? McCourty, Butler

[BradyFTW!]

I hate the repeated post of: "I won't have an opinion about rookie x until I see him play." Why even post? With regard to rookies all we have are predictions or projections, anyway.

/ran over

With all that said I think Butler is a playmaker who will at some point jump ship like Asante. Just my opinion of the guy through the internet and TV. I think he will have a better NFL career but McCourty will have a better Patriot career.

I think it's more a statement of "why are we even bothering to try to stake a claim at this point?" Do you also care to tell us which high school senior in the current class will have the greatest NFL career? Until a guy steps out on the field and plays against other pros, there's only so much you can say about him, which makes this entire premise kind of an exercise in futility. It's not even a matter of opinion, for the most part, since most people here have no basis for having an opinion on McCourty.

 

[PatsCanDoIt]

I think it's more a statement of "why are we even bothering to try to stake a claim at this point?" Do you also care to tell us which high school senior in the current class will have the greatest NFL career? Until a guy steps out on the field and plays against other pros, there's only so much you can say about him, which makes this entire premise kind of an exercise in futility. It's not even a matter of opinion, for the most part, since most people here have no basis for having an opinion on McCourty.

Why post in a speculative thread unless to contribute insight of your own? By saying speculating on rookies is an "exercise in futility" you are insulting almost everyone on here. During the off-season that's the only thing to discuss. That or the hold-out potential of player x. Oh, that's also speculation. In a week we will have training camp but until then most here will talk about potential. To me offering nothing to the conversation is an exercise in futility.

 

[CheeseMonkeys]

The point of the thread is to strike up conversation during the deadest part of the off season. We can all guess and use whatever evidence we have of Butler and McCourty from past production to athleticism. This will be a good thread to look back upon in a couple years as these players progress. I hope that both turn into shutdown corners.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I am going to guess on this but I suspect that McCourty is more fleet of foot than Butler but Butler is more of a thumper.

Neither has the hands of Ty Law which is something the Patriots desperately need...

 

[BradyFTW!]

Why post in a speculative thread unless to contribute insight of your own? By saying speculating on rookies is an "exercise in futility" you are insulting almost everyone on here. During the off-season that's the only thing to discuss. That or the hold-out potential of player x. Oh, that's also speculation. In a week we will have training camp but until then most here will talk about potential. To me offering nothing to the conversation is an exercise in futility.

There's a lot to discuss that doesn't require projecting the long-term potential of someone that we've never even seen play against NFL competition. Feel free to offer all the insight you want, but I'm going to do the same, and my insight is that nobody has any idea at all how McCourty's going to end up in the long term, and we won't until we actually see him play. It's hard enough to project what they'll do this season, let alone five years from now. If that makes you angry for some reason, then I dunno what to tell you.