New England Patriots: Move Devin McCourty Back to CB?

By Dan Schmelzer | May 18, 2015

Deflated footballs aside, the biggest story of the New England Patriots’ off season is their loss at the cornerback position. With Darrell Revis and Brandon Browner leaving via free agency, the Patriots’ secondary will look a lot different in 2015.

Some combination of Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, seventh round rookie Darryl Roberts and free agent additions Bradley Fletcher, Robert McClain and Chimdi Chekwa will look to fill the void left by Revis and company. Expecting this combination of unproven and underwhelming options to replace the Patriots’ great cornerback play from last season would be foolish. Losing a guy the caliber of Revis will undoubtedly be felt by the defense.

Dec 7, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis (24) defends San Diego Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) during the fourth quarter at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

While the Patriots’ improved front seven has massive upside, and should help hide the deficiencies in the secondary, no matter how you look at it, the cornerback situation heading into the season is downright scary.

More from New England Patriots

The Patriots were able to re-sign free safety Devin McCourty this off season, as the two sides agreed to a five-year, $47.5 million contract. McCourty’s play at the free safety position will certainly help the Patriots with their cornerback issue, but I wonder if he could do more.

The Patriots selected McCourty as the 27th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. He entered the NFL as a cornerback, and started all 16 games as a rookie for the Patriots at that position. McCourty was very successful as a rookie, showing natural coverage skills. That season he was named a Pro Bowl selection, First-Team All-Pro by the Sporting News and Second-Team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

McCourty continue to play corner in 2011, before beginning his transition to safety in 2012. The last two seasons, McCourty has been a full-time free safety, and arguably the best player at the position in the entire NFL. McCourty has become a natural leader for the Patriots on the field, and he is a very smart player who does a great job of getting everybody in to position before the snap. McCourty has kind of become the quarterback of the Patriots’ defense.

With the loss of Revis and the others, the Patriots are certainly reeling at cornerback. Some combination of the players mentioned above could end up being a solid mix of cornerbacks, but they are all far from proven. Expecting a guy like Butler to go from undrafted free agent, to shut-down corner in one year is completely unrealistic.

This lack of talent and experience at CB makes me wonder whether the Patriots would be better off moving McCourty back to his original NFL position. He certainly had success as a cornerback earlier in his career, becoming one of the best zone coverage corners in the entire league. That being said, McCourty’s transition to safety has gone extremely well, and he is now considered to be one of the best safeties in the entire league.

If the Patriots choose to move McCourty back, their safety play will undoubtedly slip, but their play at cornerback will get much better. If you take McCourty out of the safety picture, Duron Harmon and Patrick Chung are the likely starters at the position. Not exactly a dominating duo.

Are the Patriots better off with Harmon starting at free safety, and McCourty playing cornerback, or McCourty at free safety, with Butler and Fletcher the cornerback duo? That question is incredibly difficult to answer, as all players involved except for McCourty are either average or unproven.

No matter how you look at it, the Patriots are going to have many weak spots in the secondary. McCourty is the only member of the secondary who they will be able to 100% count on heading in to the season. Moving him to cornerback would certainly help them on the outside, but it leaves a giant hole at safety.

The Patriots probably have a bit more depth at cornerback than safety. While unproven, they have a large mix of players with some upside at the position. Their options are not all that intriguing, but there are many more of them than safety options. There is at least a chance that a couple of them become solid cornerbacks for New England.

They are going to have to bite the bullet one way or another here. With McCourty playing safety the last two and a half seasons of his career, I think they are probably just better off leaving him at the position. His ability in at free safety will help cover mistakes made by the less-inspiring options at cornerback. This is a move worth discussing, but McCourty brings so much stability as a free safety, it would be hard to give that up.

Next: Look for Patriots' Opponents to Air it Out

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/New England Patriots