Patriots Flag Football: Alec's First Pick

We're only in the first round of the 2014 Patriots Flag Football Draft, and the chips are already starting to fall my way. This was the first year that I didn't have the first overall pick, and to be honest I was a little worried about what Greg was going to do; the last thing I wanted was for him to steal away my coveted guy. Luckily for me, Greg chose Darrelle Revis, leaving me free to pick who I wanted without having to worry. While I'll admit that Revis is an extremely solid pick, as he is incredibly athletic and the best cover corner in the game, I don't know if his skills will translate quite as well onto the flag football field as Greg thinks they will, which is why I had Devin McCourty at the top of my draft board from the very start.

This now marks the third year in a row that I've been able to draft McCourty, and I for one couldn't be happier about it. Not only is McCourty one of the best, if not the best, athletes on the team, he is also an All-Pro at two separate defensive positions. He has transitioned from DB to safety beautifully and is now one of the premier players at the position; however, he is still more than capable of locking down receivers and playing press coverage when necessary. It's that kind of positional versatility that makes him a huge asset to team Shane, as this game is all about physical ability and being able to wear multiple hats. McCourty has both skillsets in spades. I'll most likely be using him as my #1 corner to shut down anyone Greg or Rich tries to line up against him, which should give my all-time defensive player Dominique Easley plenty of time to count to the standard 5 Mississippi before making Tommy B's life very, very difficult. However, I can just as easily place McCourty at safety and essentially eliminate all big plays that my opponent may try to slip by me, depending on how this draft shakes out. In McCourty, I have a solid rock on defense who can not only play multiple positions very well, but has the sheer athleticism to be a contributor pretty much anywhere.

On offense, I have every intention of utilizing McCourty as my speed receiver and deep threat. McCourty is lighting fast, is used to fielding deep passes, and possesses great knowledge of effective route-running due to the nature of his position. Receiver obviously isn't his natural role, but he has shown both his speed and his pass-catching as an interceptor numerous times, and after almost every pick he has proven himself elusive and difficult to bring down, which bodes well for some serious YACs once he gets the ball in his hands. I would also be a fool to say that McCourty would be able to shake Revis as a receiver - but I'm hoping that my draft will pan out so that Revis will find himself very, very occupied elsewhere, which will leave McCourty to burn anyone else that tries to match up with him. At the end of the day, flag football is all about getting the fastest, most athletic guys on the field as possible, and now that I have McCourty, my entire playbook just opened right up.

Welcome back, Devin. Glad to have you on the winning side.