Does McCourty start the season at LCB?

[PatsBoy12]

If Reiss voted, he'd probably vote a yes.

McCourty flashes unique skills - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

If he keeps making plays like that, in addition to playing the ball as well as he has in coverage, it's going to be hard for the coaching staff to remove him from the lineup.

 

[Kontradiction]

McCourty will be better than Revis, especially if Revis continues to hold out. Best corners in the league?

That's awfully premature, I would say. Let's let McCourty develop on his own without weighing him down with comparisons to one of the best CBs in the league.

 

[pdangle]

Kinda of agree it doesn't really matter who is the "Starter" on a NFL team especially the Pats. But since the question was posted, and I'm a betting man, if you gave me 50/50 odds today, I'd say Nyet.

On the other hand, if I was making the odds, factoring injuries, improvement, scheming and whatnot, I'd give him about a 20%-25% to start game 1 defensively as a rookie. Which is still great obviously. Good pick BB!

 

[zoogies]

All I know is our top 4 corners are Bodden, Butler, McCourty, and Wilhite. I think Wilhite is in the slot and McCourty is the top backup on the outside. And that we'll see all four of them a good amount this year, as often as we have to be in the Nickel.


Agree on the 'starter is irrelevant.' We should see some rotation to give our top two guys some breathers.

 

[patchick]

Man, it seems only yesterday that this board was ready to riot because the Pats took McCourty over Sergio Kindle. Ah, memories!

With all the usual "it's SO early" caveats, what I love most about McCourty is that there so much to love. Good size, excellent athlete, equally strong in coverage and run support, a special teams student, and a high-character, high-effort guy -- a totally well-rounded pick.

What's more, almost the entire defensive backfield is signed for 2011 (McGowan's the only exception). Stocked and stable. Ahh.

 

[QB12]

If Wilhite is one of our top 4 corners, we're not as deep as I thought.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Nope, Butler and Bodden.......

D-Mac is the CB of the future though, and I bet he is starting mid-season, and excelling by the end of the year.

I think he can be HUGE, this year even.

 

[zoogies]

If Wilhite is one of our top 4 corners, we're not as deep as I thought.

Really? Who else?

Wilhite's been athletically well suited to a slot corner spot, while Wheatley - the only other contender there I guess - has underwhelmed since arriving as a 2nd round pick, and is fighting to stay on the roster.

 

[The Dynasty]

If Wilhite is one of our top 4 corners, we're not as deep as I thought.

Yeah, I am not sure who you were thinking is the 4th corner? It's either Wilhite or Wheatley and I think Wilhite has the edge on Wheatley. Kyle Arrington's pretty much a ST player only.

 

[Rob0729]

McCourty is making a strong case for him to start. Will he? It is too early to tell. The Pats play a lot of nickel and other sub packages. So he will see a lot of the field no matter what.

 

[Bostonian1962]

It will all depend on the final two preseason games along with the practices. McCourty sure looks good. I'm guessing yes, but they could hold off a while.

 

[mgcolby]

If Butler continues to be late on his reads he will not be starting. But to be fair, McCourty has made mistakes as well. Against the Falcons he had contain on a screen and jumped inside trying to get around the blocker allowing the runner to pick up additional yardage on the outside.

My guess is that Butler "starts" on the outside in the base defense, and then slides into the slot with McCourty taking the outside in the nickel and dime packages.