New England Patriots projected defensive starters

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Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots free safety

Devin McCourty

(32) celebrates an interception during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Secondary:

LCB: Malcolm Butler, SS: Patrick Chung, FS: Devin McCourty, RCB: Bradley Fletcher

This secondary will be a totally new look secondary in New England. To me the cornerback position is open for taking if one of the cornerbacks can perform well in the preseason and early in the season. Ultimately, I believe Malcolm Butler and Bradley Fletcher will be the starting cornerbacks with Logan Ryan playing as the slot corner. Butler has upside and Bill Belichick seems to really like him, as was made obvious last year when he chose him over Alfonzo Dennard as the fifth corner. Bradley Fletcher is coming off his worst year of his career, but prior to that he was actually quite a solid corner and the Patriots hope he can bounce back into that shape.

I really hope the Patriots consider adding Tarell Brown to their secondary as he could be a solid contributor at CB, because I would not feel all to comfortable with who they currently have if I were Bill Belichick. The safeties will be the same as last year. McCourty is one of the best in the came and will try to hide the shortcomings of the cornerbacks that are bound to occur. Chung played very well last year, but I think he will struggle more this year, because the weaker cornerbacks will not allow him to play as far in the box as last year. This might open up some snaps for Jordan Richards or Duron Harmon

Overall the Patriots defense will not be as good as last year, but how much worse they will be will depend on the cornerbacks. They are the big question mark. The front seven is good, though they could consider adding another big guy up the middle like Kevin Williams. I don’t expect Butler to have too much success as a starting CB, as he was frequently burned last year by players like Emanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace. The Patriots offense will likely have to put up a lot of points against teams like the Colts and the Broncos in order to win, as this secondary will simply be overmatched.

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