How Will Patriots Replace Devin McCourty?

The New England Patriots are going to have a competition to fill the void left behind by free safety Devin McCourty.

For the first time in 13 years, the New England Patriots won't have the comfort of Devin McCourty roaming the middle of the field as the free safety. McCourty called it quits on his football career after winning three Super Bowls with the franchise and cementing his legacy as one of the most accomplished safeties in team history.

Even at the age of 35, McCourty was still doing everything that was asked of him, from manning the middle of the field as that baseball-styled center fielder or even moving to play in the slot. The 2010 first-round draft choice leaves a big void, and it isn't quite known who the Patriots think they have to take his place.

The Patriots aren't bereft of options. They return a three-year starter in Kyle Dugger and veterans in Adrian Phillips and Jabrill Peppers. New England brought Peppers back through free agency on a two-year deal worth $9 million, which is a good sign that maybe a larger role is expected. 

But from what we've seen in years past, the Patriots have never asked any of those three guys to do what McCourty had done. Largely because McCourty only missed five games in his career, none of which came before any of his former teammates were on the roster.

The Patriots aren't likely to ask Dugger to take over McCourty's role, as he is their Swiss army knife in the secondary. Instead, Dugger is asked to play strong safety in the slot and outside and be a sub-package linebacker. The usage of Dugger in this Patriots' defense is very similar to that of Patrick Chung's. 

Thus leaving Phillips and Pepper as the likely two options to try and replace McCourty. According to Pro Football Focus, McCourty played 784 of his total 1,106 snaps at free safety this past season. The next closest safety was Phillips at 199 snaps. While Peppers didn't even record over 50 snaps in McCourty's position.

This leaves the possibility that the Patriots look to the NFL Draft for other options. Alabama's Brian Branch is considered by many the top safety in the class, but it seems the Patriots have bigger needs elsewhere to use their No. 14 overall pick on. 

This means New England could look for other options in the later rounds, one of them being Branch's Alabama teammate Jordan Battle. Or, staying in the SEC, Georgia's Christopher Smith, who, despite not testing well at the combine, shows on tape an ability to play as the one-high safety and can also be moved around to play in the slot if needed.

Rounds two, three, and four seem like the most likely range for where the Patriots could choose to draft help at safety. But even if they don't, they do have options already in-house to help try and replace McCourty.

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