Oh man. Please, please, please keep this duo.

[ALP]

butler/Devin are about on par to Sherman/Thomas honestly

 

[1960Pats]

I'm all for the conservative, wait-and-see approach, but to be clear Gilmore is much better than Logan Ryan.

Ryan is a decent starting CB who did a couple things well, and who benefited a ton from the Pats' defensive scheme covering up his many weaknesses. I thought that when he was here and I was glad when we let him walk.

I can't judge Gilmore until I see him play with the Pats. Everyone looks bad against Brady and the Pats.

I thought that Ryan was underrated but not a top CB.

I saw a ranking of the free agents from last year (PFF I think) and Ryan was rated ahead of Gilmore.

 

[Tuck]

Listed height for Butler? 5'11". ?Gilmore 6'0"?

Anyone who has played football at high school level and above will tell you the height and weight stats listed on the team roster are ********.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

butler/Devin are about on par to Sherman/Thomas honestly

In coverage ability yes, but Sherman/Thomas are much more physical.. Butler is really physical, but that isn't exactly a known characteristic of McCourty's game

 

[goheels22002]

Gilmore, Rowe and Butler is a terrific threesome at CB. Rowe was as good as Browner in the last third of the season and in the playoffs. Cyrus Jones has the goods to be a very good corner with plenty of veteran help to play his position properly. With Harmon, McCourty and Chung behind them, this is the best secondary since 2003 and 2004 teams.

Bringing back Hightower and Branch was very important to this defense being a cohesive unit to bribg together the youth in the front seven with the experience of the secondary. If Ealy and the rookie DEs amount to a decent edge, this will be a great defense.

 

[Kdo5]

Gilmore, Rowe and Butler is a terrific threesome at CB. Rowe was as good as Browner in the last third of the season and in the playoffs. Cyrus Jones has the goods to be a very good corner with plenty of veteran help to play his position properly. With Harmon, McCourty and Chung behind them, this is the best secondary since 2003 and 2004 teams.

Bringing back Hightower and Branch was very important to this defense being a cohesive unit to bribg together the youth in the front seven with the experience of the secondary. If Ealy and the rookie DEs amount to a decent edge, this will be a great defense.

I thought Rowe was a weak link and that luck of overthrows and drops saved him from appearing mediocre.

He did show some nice coverage in the Super Bowl, including against Julio Jones who still made the grabs. Hoping he improves. A lock to be on the roster I assume.

 

[borisman]

This link was posted in the Past Local Newsfeed:

Where do Patriots' Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore rank among top NFL cornerback tandems?

It's relevant to this thread. I would think we should be ahead of NYG & SD but it's close but not that close. While the other teams CB's either had inconsistent seasons in the past (Heyward) or are still too young (Eli Apple) to be rated ahead of the Pats. I also think Denver should be ranked first though they have had plenty of help from their pass rush.

Edit: Also, it says "tandem" yet 2 teams have 3 CB's listed. That's not a "tandem". Each team should have a duo or a trio. Not a 3rd CB in parenthesis.

 

[neuronet]

I think this will be the best secondary we have had since maybe 2003.

Secondary in 2014 was pretty damned good. Revis, Butler, Browner, etc.. [Butler was a no-name then I realize!]

Hopeful, but withholding judgment until I see some regular season snaps.

Here was the secondary in 2014:

• 25 Kyle Arrington CB
• 39 Brandon Browner CB
• 21 Malcolm Butler CB
• 23 Patrick Chung SS
• 43 Nate Ebner SS
• 30 Duron Harmon FS/SS
• 32 Devin McCourty FS
• 24 Darrelle Revis CB
• 26 Logan Ryan CB
• 27 Tavon Wilson SS/FS

an amazing group if ya' ask me!

 

[Nunchucks]

I think one thing that is important to factor in is safety play. This can really solidify the play of the corners. Trusting that a safety will be in the right place can give corners the confidence to jump routes or reroute receivers.

 

[patfanken]

This "should" be an excellent CB duo, but it will never come close to the combo of Haynes and Claybourn back in the 70's. I don;t think even Pats fans realized just how good that combination was.

That being said, I doubt even THAT CB group as a whole had the depth that this year's edition has going into camp. This is what is going to make this years secondary so special. The only question that remains is IF the front 7 is going to be able to create the pressure necessary to maximize the talent of the secondary. There isn't much in the way of gtreat individual talent in that group, so Matty P is going to have to be very creative to helpt it overcome that issue.

As to signing Butler LT. It would be nice if it happened, but first lets see how this all looks in real life rather than on paper, because what looks great on paper often doesn't tranlate to the field.