Fascinating discussion. I've read every post ....well at least most of them. Some comments on the comments
1. I enjoyed the discussion Andy started. Lots of good back and forth. I'm now more confused than ever, and will probably change my mind several times on how the Pats should configure the Pats secondary before they actually wind up doing whatever they plan.
2. I join the minority who think that McCourty is STILL probably the best CB we have on the team as well as their best overall DB. That versatility makes him (IMHO) an exceptional asset. I applaud Andy for repeating the stats that conclusively disprove the misnomer that he was a bust at CB. Some people here have a Felger-like monomania and can't get past his down 2011 season.
3. However I completely disagree with Andy on the overall value of he safety position, as well as how Adrian Wilson should be used. As of this moment, when I look at the current DB roster, I still feel that McCourty will best serve the Pats as a FS for the following reasons.
q. I wrote a post a while back that talked about the increasing importance of the safety position in the NFL as passing offenses continue to evolve. The latest evolution has seen teams become more active throwing the ball between the numbers. No longer can teams afford the true run stopping SS. More and more safeties need to have virtual CB coverage skills;\
b.This team hasn't had a safety with the kind of range McCourty has since Roland James. And with the rapidly increasing number of big, fast WR's, having a safety who can get to sideline to help CB's in coverage is a huge advantage to a defense. McCourty can be that kind of a safety. Also do not underestimate how much improvement we should see in his 2nd year, with a full TC, and a thousand more reps.
As someone who experienced it, I can't tell you how different it is to see the field when you are playing from the outside (in my case as an OLB) to seeing it playing in the middle (in my case as a SS) If you liked him last season at S, you'll love him this season,
4. I don't see AWilson as being the kind of 3 down safety that Andy and some people envision. All the reports about his problems in coverage in recent years. make me wonder about the wisdom of that. That being said, I LOVE the signing. I love it because I can seen a couple of invaluable uses for Wilson that we haven't had since Rodney left.
First his physical presence in the secondary. At 6'3 230 he is a monster who would dwarf Rodney, and as the first down SS he'd be superb.
Second, his reported leadership skills, lockerroom presence and experience is desperately needed by this young secondary.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, as more and more teams follow the Pats lead with the TE passing attack, Wilson is IMHO, the perfect guy who can come in a play coverage LB and cover those TE's up the seam from the underneath position when they are in cover 2, or man to man. He has the size, and while he might be slowing down as a DB, I imagine he's still much faster than most LB's.
Give him that role and on passing downs have your 2 coverage S's to protect deep and cover short more athletically.
4. Another reason I currently favoring keep McCourty as S, is the fact that like Andy's minority position on McCourty. I hold a minority position on Dowling. I feel he can be a significant contributor to the secondary, especially at his size and arm length. While he could beat out Dennard, even if he doesn't, he could be so valuable in certain match ups that we haven't had, when we play bigger and strong receivers. Here's my prediction. DON'T sleep on Ras-I. He's going to be a factor in this secondary either as a starter or contributor.
5. Just like we all underestimated how low Welker's market was going to be, the contract BB gave Kyle Arrington should show us that we have vastly underestimated HIM. We all quickly forgot that he was the starting CB on a superbowl team and lead the league with 7 picks (and had another in the playoffs IIRC).
Now I'm not saying he is a shut down CB, or even a guy you want starting every game on the outside So before you reach for the keyboard to call me out. What I am saying is that he's shown to be a better than average slot corner, excel on special teams, and a CB who won't kill you on the outside if he had to start short term
BB's commitment confirms that he's a dependable guy and one of those versatile non-starters who is great to have around and in that regard, really valuable. And I'd advise those who are concerned BB overpaid for him,to wait until the details of the contract comes out. I bet it will alleve your anxiety.
6. As it stands right now this is the most talented and deepest secondary we've had since 2004. If not now it could be by mid season. And while we talk about the individual talent, we don't talk enough about the EFFECT it will have on the REST of the defense. Here are just a few.
a. AWilson give us a DB who is a quality blitzer, something we haven't had since Rodney.
b. We probably have more players capable of playing man defense than at any time in the BB era. Even in during the superbowl wining era we were predominantly a zone team. The new reality of NFL offenses require new skills and now we have them.
c. Now we can go from a team that can comfortably blitz only 10-15% of the time to one that can do it up to 30%. That alone will increase the pressure we put on QB's regardless of any personnel changes
d. Because we can create so many secondary match ups and configurations, we can FINALLY be more creative with scheming our front 7. Things like zone blitzes, overload blitzes, and DLmen stunting and stemming will all become regular parts of our playbook that teams will now have to prepare for. Things we have too rarely done in recent years.
e. Playing different defenses each week based on the match ups, used to be one of the signatures of a BB defense. Not so much recently. Now I think it can be again.
I know this was a lot of stuff, but this was a great thread with lots to talk about.
