Devin McCourty placed into Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni

New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni yesterday, along with his twin brother Jason.

This does not come as a surprise. Certainly one of the NFL’s good guys, McCourty has made an impact off the field through his “Tackle Sickle Cell” work; he was also named the Patriots’ Walter Payton Man of the Year honoree last season.

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On the field, McCourty continues to be one of the NFL’s most dependable safeties. Pro Football Focus named him the eight-best coverage safety in the NFL based on their objective grading system; this writer thinks McCourty breaks the top five in that category. Seriously, name seven safeties who are better than D-Mac.

Also, remember that if it weren’t for the security blanket provided by McCourty over the top, the Patriots wouldn’t have had nearly so much success putting Logan Ryan on the No. 1 wideout and having Malcolm Butler shut down the No. 2 guy. You see, Ryan always had McCourty to bail him out, and that assurance gave Ryan the confidence to shut down star wideouts such as DeAndre Hopkins and Demaryius Thomas in 2015.

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Thankfully, the Patriots locked up McCourty to a long-term deal last offseason, even though it took a midnight call from Bill Belichick to ensure McCourty would return. Along with Rob Gronkowski, McCourty has given the Patriots’ 2010 draft class a respectable legacy to say the least.

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Congratulations to McCourty on the honor.