Musket Fire
FanSided

3 lower round cornerback draft options for the Patriots

By Michael DeVito

Sep 13, 2020; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots defensive back J.C. Jackson (27) intercepts a pass intended for Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki (88) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 13, 2020; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots defensive back J.C. Jackson (27) intercepts a pass intended for Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki (88) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Patriots
Nebraska cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (5) goes up to attempt to intercept a pass intended for Purdue wide receiver David Bell (3) during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette.Syndication Journal Courier /

1. Cam Taylor-Britt, Nebraska

A third lower-round corner that could be an interesting find by the Patriots would be Cam Taylor-Britt of Nebraska. Taylor-Britt is another blazingly fast corner, having run a 4.38 40-yard dash at the combine. He has good size at 5-11 and 196 pounds and was rated the 18th best cornerback prospect by SI.com.

Here’s part of what NFL.com has to say about Taylor-Britt:

"Compact, muscular zone corner with aggressive ball challenges but angles of attack that lead to troubling results. The size and traits are enticing, but he gives away too many yards due to poor pursuit angles. Taylor-Britt has the feet and athletic ability to pounce on throws when allowed to park and read play design from zone. He gets burned by double moves but showed off his impressive recovery speed at the NFL Scouting Combine. He has safety experience but lacks consistency as a tackler to be trusted at the position. Taylor-Britt has the tools to stick it out at cornerback, but feast/famine play creates a buyer-beware tag."

That “buyer-beware tag” is a bit concerning about Taylor-Britt, and it should be. But that’s what you get in the later rounds of the NFL draft. These aren’t players the experts consider to be lock NFL starters. Yet, in reality, every player in the draft has caveats, or there wouldn’t be so many higher-round draft flops every year. With lower-round players, those flaws are just more pronounced.

Of course, there’s always a chance another team will get smart and take these possible late-round Patriots flyers earlier in the draft, but that’s a risk with any player except the first overall pick. This space has been emphatic in advocating for an offensive tackle and wide receiver to be the Patriots’ top draft priorities. That’s as unlikely as predicting any Patriots draft pick usually is.

We’ll see how much they’ve learned from their own past draft mistakes when they make their 2022 choices. Can New England repeat their rare excellent draft two years running?

Home/Patriots Draft