Malcolm Butler is a building block for Patriots secondary
COMMENTARY
The New England Patriots had a lot of questions at cornerback this offseason, but Malcolm Butler was never one of them.
The second-year, undrafted cornerback out of West Alabama was always going to factor into the equation in a big way in 2015, whether it was as a complementary piece to two starters or as one of the building blocks of the secondary.
Butler immediately went from the former to the latter with the departures of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner.
“His role is that he’s out on the field for almost every defensive play, so that’s a big change from where it was last year,’’ said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “Malcolm is a good football player and he’s played very well for us both last year and this year, but just given where we are in the secondary and the level of improvement, I think no matter who we had on our team that he would be playing a lot of football for us. So that’s really a credit to him and how much he’s improved from last year to this year.’’
So far, his time as a No. 1 corner has had its ups and downs. He allowed completions on 10 of the 11 throws into his coverage in Week 1, but in the three games after that, he let up just four combined receptions on 11 throws.
Aside from his opening day showdown with Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, Butler hasn’t had any real stiff competition. Week 6 finally changed that, when he had to break up passes from Colts quarterback Andrew Luck while in coverage of receivers Donte Moncrief and Philip Dorsett.
Butler held his own, allowing just seven receptions on 13 throws into his coverage and notching three pass-breakups on the way.
He gave up a touchdown, but only by the narrowest of margins, and not without an intense fight for the ball.
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Butler was within inches of breaking up a goal-line fade on 4th-and-1 with 7:21 remaining in the first quarter. He might have been successful if he had timed his jump just a little differently. He was successful in making the catch as difficult as possible for Moncrief.
Considering the fact that the back-shoulder fade is one of the toughest throws and catches to defend, Butler’s near-perfect defense of the throw is worthy of plaudits.
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Butler might have also had his second interception of the season, were it not for Moncrief turning into a defensive back and breaking up the pass. With 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Moncrief ran an out-route 15 yards downfield, but Butler had perfect position the entire time.
He ran with Moncrief stride for stride downfield, and as soon as Moncrief broke toward the sideline, Butler stayed with him. He cut off the path between the quarterback and the receiver, and reached up above his head for an interception, but was thwarted by Moncrief’s attempt to pin the ball against his chest.
Butler opened up the game in coverage of T.Y. Hilton, but did not stay there for long, as safety Patrick Chung spent most of the night on Hilton in the slot.
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Luck threw just one pass to Hilton with Butler on him in coverage, and sure enough, Butler was in position to prevent it from being completed.
Butler did a nice job of bumping Hilton off his route, forcing him to run closer to the sideline. He did an even better job of turning into a receiver at that point, tracking the ball in flight as Luck attempted a deep fade to Hilton.
All Butler had to do was reach over his head and swat it away, but he wanted that pick. The only reason he didn’t get it was because of Hilton’s flailing hands of panic knocking it away.
Butler would have been an important part of the Patriots secondary regardless of his role, but week after week, he’s validating the Patriots’ decision to put one of the most important roles in the secondary in his hands.
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