FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In the aftermath of Malcolm Butler’s certain departure via free agency, the Patriots got crafty and rebuilt their secondary into one of the league’s most formidable units entering the playoffs.
Certainly, the ascension of cornerback Stephon Gilmore to first-team All-Pro status in his second year with the Pats has anchored a stellar performance from the team’s cornerbacks, but the unexpected contributions are what rewrote the secondary from a question mark into an exclamation point as the season progressed.
In an offseason market rife with pricey, aging corners, the Patriots sent a sixth-round pick to Cleveland last March in return for Jason McCourty and a seventh-rounder. With a cap hit of $3.32 million, McCourty proved an exceptional bargain. Pro Football Focus graded him sixth overall at his position. With Gilmore being PFF’s top-ranked corner, that gave the Patriots a tandem most teams would be jealous of.
And then, in a development even the most optimistic observer could not have foreseen, another shutdown corner emerged in New England’s defensive backfield.
J.C. Jackson, an undrafted free agent who slipped first to junior college and then out of the NFL draft because of legal troubles at Florida, was a gem of a find in the Patriots’ rookie class. It may seem crazy to suggest that anyone might surpass Butler as the best undrafted cornerback in recent Patriots history, but consider Jackson’s contribution: According to stats compiled by Evan Lazar of CLNS Media, Jackson held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 42, which is the lowest of any regular cornerback in the league. Per Lazar’s stats, only 52.4 percent of passes targeted at Jackson have been completed for a total of 262 yards, three interceptions and no touchdowns with three pass breakups.
“He has very good ball awareness,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said after Jackson picked off Buffalo rookie Josh Allen in December. “It’s been cool to see as a rookie, him starting to just learn more concepts, football, the defense, just covering his guy and he sees his guy in the flat like, ‘Let me look back at the quarterback,’ opens up, turns around and makes a great interception.”
New England had 18 interceptions this season, its highest total since 20 in 2012. The unit has been so effective that second-round draft pick Duke Dawson, a player the Patriots traded up to draft, cannot get on the field. The Florida cornerback missed the first 10 weeks with an injury and despite returning to the roster from injured reserve, he has not been active in any of the six games since.
The play of Jackson has also allowed the Pats to shift Jason McCourty inside to cover slot receivers, a role that was expected to go to Dawson if he had remained healthy.
Furthermore, an unusually healthy roster has left few opportunities to activate him on game day.
“Duke hasn’t (been active) but we’d certainly be confident in him when that happens” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. “Again, some of it is, at this point, by game plan and experience. (Dawson and safety Obi Melifonwu) don’t have a lot of experience and if we’re healthy at the positions they’re at, then it’s hard for them to move ahead of those people. But as we all know that could change in a hurry.”
(Dave Brown is a freelance correspondent who covers the Patriots for the Monitor. You can follow him on Twitter @ThatDaveBrown.)