ESPN Boston: Arrington shining in slot corner role

All off-season long we envisioned the Patriots secondary with McCourty and Bodden on the outside and Arrington taking over the star position in the slot. But earlier in the preseason, especially against Detroit, Arrington struggled there and it made us question if he had the quick change of direction skill needed to play there.

Often times slot corners are the third corners on the depth chart but their position can be even harder to play than on the outside where you have the sidelines to help you.

As you can see from the stats below Arrington has had a good start to the season, with three interceptions and giving up receptions on just 38.6% of his targets.

• Devin McCourty – 36 targets, 24 receptions (66%), 378 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 129.2 QB rating

• Ras-I Dowling – 7 targets, 3 receptions (42.9%), 74 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 81.8 QB rating

• Kyle Arrington – 13 targets, 5 receptions (38.5%), 79 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT, 19.9 QB rating

• Leigh Bodden – 16 targets, 10 receptions (62.5%), 176 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 120.8 QB rating