As minicamp rolls on, Patriots still sorting out their secondary
Who will start opening night is anyone’s guess
You knew this was coming.
The departures of Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard signaled the beginning of a brand new era for the New England Patriots in the secondary. Now, we are watching the beginning of that new era during mandatory minicamp.
If the Patriots seem unsure of exactly what their starting secondary will look like, that’s probably because they are. There’s been a revolving door at nearly every cornerback spot. On Wednesday, there were at least 10 different combinations of cornerbacks that earned time together on either the first- or second-team defense.
That’s a stark contrast to 2014, when Revis and Browner were locked in as the top two cornerbacks on defense with a number of other corners rotating in and out depending on the matchups.
We’re likely to see a continuance of these habits in training camp and the preseason, and the Patriots have shown they’re not scared to keep the rotation going into the regular season. This situation hearkens back to last year’s offensive line, where the Patriots were experimenting with different combinations from May through September before finally settling on a starting lineup in Week 5.
It would make more sense to go with that plan at cornerback than it did on the offensive line; at least in the secondary, mixing-and-matching is not exactly a foreign concept. Plus, the Patriots have shown they like to spin the dial on defense and switch up their coverage looks frequently to keep opponents guessing, which would only be aided by continued shuffling on the back end.
There are, however, a few names to watch who could be a much bigger component to the secondary than others. Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler and rookie Darryl Roberts have all been given a lot of opportunities to claim a starting spot of their own. Bradley Fletcher, Robert McClain and Daxton Swanson have earned some opportunities as well.
Those six are undoubtedly the front-runners for roster spots at the moment, but there may only be five spots for cornerbacks on the final roster. That means someone is going to end up either on the practice squad or the waiver wire.
One thing these players can do to help their stock is to contribute on special teams; in that respect, Roberts, Butler, McClain and Swanson are all being given opportunities to prove that they are a more complete value and more of a total package than their teammates.
For now, though, the Patriots will continue rotating their cornerbacks in and out of the lineup while finding the group that gives them the best chance to win.
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