New England Patriots: Young cornerbacks looking good in OTAs

As OTA’s roll on for the New England Patriots, two young players in the secondary performed well.

Coming into the 2018 offseason, the secondary was certainly an area of need for the New England Patriots. In the Super Bowl, the Patriots benched Malcolm Butler, which made it clear that they were not going to be bringing him back as a free agent.

Butler did indeed end up leaving the Patriots, as he signed with the Tennesee Titans. Even though Butler was benched in the Super Bowl, he was a starter all season for the Patriots and an important part of the team.

To replace him, the Patriots traded for cornerback Jason McCourty, who is the twin brother of Devin McCourty. While Jason will likely be an important part of the team in 2018, they will also be looking for some young players to step up. As an older corner, McCourty will likely be playing on the outside mostly, but the Patriots could help in the slot.

So far in OTA’s two of their young cornerbacks have performed well. According to Doug Kyed of NESN.com, Keion Crossen, who was a late draft pick of the Patriots is one of them shining. Here’s what Kyed had to say about Crossen.

"Cornerback Keion Crossen, a 2018 seventh-round pick, was one of the best players on the field. He didn’t allow a catch on six targets and notched an interception and pass breakup."

In addition to Crossen playing well, cornerback Ryan Lewis is also doing well for the Patriots. Lewis got a chance to get some first-team reps opposite of Stephon Gilmore and did well in that spot.

As shown in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Patriots needed to upgrade the depth in the secondary and young players like Crossen and Lewis might be able to work their way onto the roster with strong summers.

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The Patriots have had success finding cornerbacks out of the nowhere like they did with Butler, and they will be hoping that Lewis and Crossen can do that as well. As the summer rolls on, Lewis and Crossen could be players to watch for this coming season.