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New England Patriots: 53-man roster cut down analysis

By Hal Bent

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 30: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots stands on the sidelines against the New York Giants during a pre-season NFL game against at MetLife Stadium on August 30, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 30: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots stands on the sidelines against the New York Giants during a pre-season NFL game against at MetLife Stadium on August 30, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Gillette /

CORNERBACKS (7)

Keion Crossen, Jason McCourty, Duke Dawson, Stephon Gilmore, J.C. Jackson, Jonathan Jones, Eric Rowe

The Patriots kept both rookie cornerbacks Crossen and Jackson as both showed tremendous upside this summer. Cyrus Jones–a second-round draft pick in 2016–was a surprise cut.

However, Jonathan Jones passed him long ago as a solid slot cornerback and special teams ace. Jackson and Crossen have to keep their spots with strong special teams play. Jonathan Jones was injured last year against Tennessee in the playoffs and it was his absence in Super Bowl 52–not Malcolm Butler–which hurt the Patriots.

ProFootballFocus.com rated Jones as the third-best cornerback in the NFL last year allowing just 54.9 percent of his targets (NFL average was 68.5 percent). Having Jones at slot cornerback on Nelson Agholor would have left Patrick Chung to cover Zach Ertz and McCourty to help out with running backs in coverage.

I have long espoused it was a domino effect losing Jones that hurt the pass defense most in the Super Bowl. Malcolm Butler is not a good slot cornerback–he was roasted by Taylor Gabriel in the slot in Super Bowl 51–and Rowe and Gilmore were not the problems outside the numbers. OK, rant over.

Dawson did not get a lot of playing time due to injury but when he was on the field he looked like a solid slot cornerback. Gilmore is the undisputed number one cornerback and Rowe looks comfortable as the other starter. Jason McCourty is a cornerback first and foremost and will play there much more than at safety.

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