No two positions have been less loved by Belichick than CB and RB over the years. At corner you had offensive guys like Troy Brown and Julian Edelman filling in, or undrafted guys like Randall Gay and Malcolm Butler playing major roles in Super Bowl victories. I know it was a lot more exciting when we had two of the best in the business back there last year, but that was far from the norm.
At running back you had Danny Woodhead come in from the Jets practice squad and immediately become a big piece, or castoffs like Sammy Morris become significant players in very good offenses. Ridley and Vereen were basically drafted, given a year to acclimate then played major roles for three seasons before being let walk.
I’m really not concerned at all about the running backs. More curious to see who seizes the opportunity because there are two big roles open heading into camp.
At corner, there’s a ton of talent around them, including up front and on the back end with McCourty. There will be some bad moments for sure and I’m curious how they match up with bigger receivers like Decker and Marshall with the Jets, but we know they’ll be a well-prepared group that won’t be easily rattled.
Everyone gets nervous after seeing the defense get torched for a ton of yards and big plays in recent years, but the talent level up front is so much better now than it was then. Really if the front seven stays healthy this year I could see the pass defense begin statistically better than last year, even without the big names at corner.