27. Devin McCourty, CB Rutgers
Players left: WR Demaryius Thomas, WR Dez Bryant, CB Kyle Wilson, DE/DT Jared Odrick, OLB Jerry Hughes, OLB Sergio Kindle
Pros:
- McCourty has #1 corner potential.
- He can immediately contribute on both sides of the special teams ball (kicking and receiving).
- He will be a nickelback on day 1, at a minimum, which still plays 50% of the plays over the season.
- Had the best combine numbers out of all the cornerbacks in the draft.
- Had, arguably, the best college numbers out of all the cornerbacks in the draft.
- Great against the run.
- Doesn't give up the big play.
- Fantastic speed and recovery.
- Beat a cornerback run in the first and second rounds.
- Physical cornerback.
- The Patriots traded down from #22 to #27 and picked up the #113th overall selection and changed our #119th pick into the #90th pick and still grabbed McCourty.
- Excellent college experience.
Cons:
- Cornerback isn't as big of a need as other positions that we left the respective top players on the board.
- The level of competition he played against may not be a good representation of how he will perform in the NFL (Big East isn't that strong...then again, Revis came from the Big East).
- Needs to work on his jumping, or else he'll get beat a lot in the red zone.
Summary: I think the Patriots made the smart move grabbing McCourty over players like Kindle and Bryant. While each player they passed over has versatility issues, McCourty has the ability to contribute immediate in multiple facets of the game. Hughes can't play the run, Kindle may have surgical issues, Thomas and Bryant are pure offensive players, Odrick isn't a 4 down player.
Final Player Grade: A-. He has some concerns in the red zone, which is why I won't give him an A, but I think he'll be a better player than Kyle Wilson and, in my opinion, will be better than Joe Haden.
Final Draft Pick Grade: A. We got fantastic value, trading down from 22 to 27 and picking up #113 overall (Aaron Hernandez) and moving up from #119 to #90 (Taylor Price). For the value of #22, we grabbed a #2 corner and a #3 receiver as rookies. They can only go up from there.