Personally, I had a special feeling about Devin McCourty from the time that training camp started and I read in the newspaper about how McCourty was practicing against future Hall of Famer, Randy Moss. During every practice, every play, McCourty was stuck covering the fastest and most wildly talented receiver possibly in NFL history. This was not a punishment but rather a blessing for McCourty, who in his rookie season, would go on to have a 7 interception season, second most in the NFL.
In the NFL, it is not enough to master your own position; you have to master the position you’re playing against as well. Randy Moss, who was traded in week 4 of the 2010 season, gave that opportunity to McCourty, teaching him all of the tips and tricks to covering the most elite wide receiver in a Cover 1 defense that coach Belichek wanted to use McCourty for. Cover 1 is a simple concept, but nearly impossible in today’s game as the athletes are becoming faster and more explosive every year. It basically means that no matter what, if you are in a Cover 1 defense, then the man in front of you is the man that you cover, and you will follow him out of the stadium if the play calls for it. Below is an example of Cover 1 defense.
Let’s say that “X” is the defensive player and “O” is the offensive receiver in the diagram below:
X
O
The solid line between them represents the line of scrimmage, where the play starts. In a Cover 1 defense, typically, the concept is that each defensive player (X) is responsible for an offensive player (O). Seeing as there are equal players on the field for both the offense and the defense (11 on each side), there should be no problem to contain the offense’s progression. As shown in the diagram below, each “X” is responsible for covering each “O” to prevent a pass from being completed to them.
X→→→→→
→ →→→→
↑
O
The blue arrows represent the offensive player’s movement and the red arrows indicate the defensive player mirroring the offensive player. The closer that “X” stays to “O” during the play, the more of a deterrent it is to throw the ball to that player because it raises the chances that a player like McCourty can get another interception and give the ball back to the Patriots.
This is what Randy Moss helped to teach McCourty: how to stay close to the man he is defending, no matter what move is attempted. That is the difference between McCourty and other defensive backs in the league: His ability to stay glued to his assignment. Let’s take the league’s leader in interceptions last season, Ed Reed. The safety for the Baltimore Ravens had 8 interceptions last season, one more than the Patriots’ McCourty. Yet McCourty was just as, if not more effective as an overall defensive player. According to ESPN, McCourty had 17 pass deflections (knocking down an airborne pass to a receiver), 1 more than Reed. Even more significantly, Reed, who as a safety has the ability to roam the field and simply find the ball carrier, only had 37 tackles, while McCourty, who was assigned to one person every play, registered 82 tackles with ESPN. The reason McCourty more than doubled Reed’s production in tackles is because of his ability to stay close to his target and not allow any separation, making sure that the ball wouldn’t come that way and if it did, that he was right there to prevent it from getting any further.
The disadvantage of Cover 1 only is found in the raw physical attributes of each player. If one player is significantly faster or stronger than another, it would prove to be difficult to cover them “man to man.” This is an exception in the case of McCourty, who, is of average speed for a NFL cornerback (4.48 seconds in the 40 yard dash) and is fairly short compared to many NFL receivers (McCourty is 5’11, in comparison, Randy Moss is 6’4). Still however, McCourty is able to stick to his target flawlessly and showed it throughout the 2010 season.
This is not the only thing the young cornerback sticks to though, as his unique experience at Rutgers College Rutgers with McCourty, plays cornerback, and is currently playing for the Tennessee Titans. Their connection is that of typical brothers, comical and competitive, as they compare each other’s stats on a game to game basis, but also on a practical level, as each brother will provide advice to the other on a weekly basis based on the receiver they will be playing against. The two brothers grew were born and raised in Nyack, New York, only 1 hour away from their future scholastic home, Rutgers University. While at Rutgers , Devin McCourty did not put up the all impressive stats that we are familiar with from his rookie season in the NFL. In his senior year at Rutgers , McCourty recorded 80 tackles but only had 1 interception and 10 pass deflections. While these statistics were enough to get him selected to the All Big East team (kind of like the college form of the Pro Bowl), it is evident that his production as a cornerback was significantly greater during his rookie NFL season than during his college career. This in itself shows just how much working against receiver Randy Moss did for the young McCourty, even if they only worked together in training camp for a short few weeks. While McCourty had a better year than his brother in the NFL, Jason McCourty still looks like he will be a solid cornerback for the Titans for years to come.
McCourty will be back this year as the number 1 cornerback for the Patriots, meaning that again he will be taking on the league’s most elite receivers “mano a mano”. Looking forward, some of these players include Colts receiver, Reggie Wayne, Giants receiver, Hakeem Nicks, and the speedy Eagles receiver, Desean Jackson. It will be a challenging year, but the young Pro Bowler already has all the experience he needs to contribute greatly to this team.
Greg’s Prediction for Devin McCourty 2011-2012 Season:
73 Tackles
8 Interceptions
0 Sacks
21 Pass Deflections
Predicted overall grade: A 
This might help me in my fantasy football league! lol..
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