New England Patriots: Grading the 2010 Draft Class
By Luke O'Brien
The New England Patriots are known for being a successful team in the NFL Draft. How did they grade in 2010?
With just under a couple of weeks to the NFL draft, we will continue our series that reviews the New England Patriots drafts from the 1st to 7th round and will apportion a grade to each pick and then an overall grade. Each player will be judged on their value for the round they were picked in.
2010 was the draft that added elite Pro Bowl talent on both offense and defense. It also added a less than savory guy with character issues that wouldn’t be discovered until a few years later. Let’s take a look into the detail of each of the 12 picks.
1 Devin McCourty CB/S Rutgers Grade: A
McCourty is tough to judge. On one hand he was drafted as a Cornerback but had to be converted to Safety as his play had deteriorated so badly that a position change was warranted. On the other hand, he is one of the few players in the NFL to have played at a Pro Bowl level in two different positions.
McCourty’s detractors will point to his lack of play-making at free safety (5 interceptions in the last four years). His supporters will point to the fact that the Patriots rarely give up a deep play and this can be attributed to McCourty’s discipline and intelligence. The fact of the matter is McCourty is a top 5 safety in the NFL and has been for the last three or four seasons.