The Patriots have added a pair of veteran corners with plenty of starting experience this offseason, but it'd be a stretch to say they're "set" at that particular position.
Sure, if Malcolm Butler plays the way he did in 2020 then the Patriots will have a quality cover man on the outside. But he was away from football in 2021, and it's unclear exactly how he'll look after that time off this coming season.
Terrence Mitchell, meanwhile, has racked up starts with the Texans and Browns in recent seasons, but the Patriots continued to pursue more corner depth after signing him early in free agency. He's much more a depth option than a go-to guy.
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Now with the draft just over a week away, it's time for us to dig into the players who could help the Patriots continue to bolster what has become one of the most valuable positions in the game.
What are they typically looking for?
Usually they want players who can change directions with the best of 'em. Three-cone times well under 7.00 seconds are the standard, as are short-shuttle times in the 4.10-second range. Size isn't the biggest issue for the Patriots, but if you're checking in under 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, you better have the movement skills to make up for it. We're talking 40 times in the 4.4s or faster, vertical jumps approaching 37 inches and broad jumps over 10 feet.
New England Patriots
Perry's crowd-sourced NFL Mock Draft: Pats fans choose CB, WR early
Explosive. Quick. Good tacklers. The kind of players Bill Belichick would feel comfortable inserting into his changing coverage schemes and his special-teams units.
Let's get to the list ...
Sauce Gardner, Cincinnati, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds
Long and lean and annoying as hell in coverage, Gardner is what just about every team in the NFL -- Patriots included -- is looking for at corner these days.
He played oodles of man coverage for the Bearcats under defensive coordinator Mike Tressel, rarely being targeted (only 11 percent of targets in 2021, per The Athletic) because opposing quarterbacks and coordinators knew better. He also ran a 4.41-second 40 and has more than enough athleticism to play in any scheme.
He's the prototype, but the Patriots won't have a crack at him as he'll likely be a top-10 pick.
Trent McDuffie, Washington, 5-foot-11, 193 pounds
If the Patriots end up playing more zone in 2022 -- something they're open to in the same way they were open to it for long stretches during the 2021 season -- McDuffie would be a perfect fit. Good tackler? Check. Elite athlete? He ran a 4.44-second 40, jumped 38.5 inches in the vertical and 10-feet-8 in the broad. Check. High football IQ? Check. (Just listen to last week's Next Pats for more on McDuffie's smarts.)
He has the ability to transition without false steps, which gets him to the football quicker than most even though he's lacking elite length (30-inch arms). He also has a boatload of special-teams experience to go along with all his work in both man and zone situations for the Huskies. He may also end up being drafted outside New England's range, but if he gets into the teens, it'd be worth Bill Belichick considering a move up.
Kyler Gordon, Washington, 5-foot-11, 194 pounds
Like his teammate McDuffie, Gordon has experience in a variety of different coverage calls. He also has aligned all over the field as a boundary corner, a slot man and even a safety at times. He's arguably the most explosive corner in this class, even if his 40 time at the combine didn't come in as fast as scouts were expecting (4.52 seconds). No matter. Watch his play speed on tape -- whether defensively or in the kicking game, where he was a next-level gunner -- and there should be no concerns there.
It was at his pro day where his athleticism truly shined, running an absurd 3.96 short shuttle and a 6.67-second three-cone time. Remember: Change-of-direction ability matters to the Patriots at this position. Match up Gordon's quickness with his willingness as a tackler, his discipline (no penalties in two seasons) and durability (played all 29 Huskies games the last three seasons), and you have one of the best fits for the Patriots at this spot.
Despite being just a one-year starter and still having some football instincts issues to iron out, he'd be worthy of a first-round selection.
Kaiir Elam, Florida, 6-foot-1, 191 pounds
Elam makes sense with the No. 21 overall selection if the Patriots are hungry for more talent at the corner spot. He may miss a tackle here and there, and he may get a little grabby in coverage (seven penalties last season). But he's physical and can be disruptive to true No. 1 targets at the line of scrimmage. And if he makes a misstep in terms of his technique, he has rare speed (4.39-second 40) to make up for it.
Elam also seems to fit from a character standpoint as he was chosen by coaches to represent Florida at the SEC leadership council last year as a junior. He was a little slow on his short shuttle work at his pro day (4.21 seconds) and his three-cone was only a shade below seven seconds (6.98), but at his size those are numbers that even the change-of-direction conscious Patriots would be OK with.
Derek Stingley Jr., LSU, 6-feet, 190 pounds
If Stingley had entered the draft as a true freshman, there may be fewer questions about his ability than there are now three years later. En route to a national championship in 2019, Stingley was a consensus All-American and led the SEC in pass breakups and picks. No small feat. Watch him here locking down then-teammate Ja'Marr Chase in practice. It's remarkable.
But he's played in only 10 games the last two seasons as he dealt with injury, and there are some questions from evaluators as to his "want-to." He also didn't check in with great agility numbers from a New England perspective (4.19-second shuttle, 6.98-second cone). But he's clearly a special athlete (4.44-second 40, 38.5 vertical, 10-2 broad) with excellent balance, and he should be taken in the top half of the first round. If he's not, he'd be another player worth considering in a trade up by Belichick.
Andrew Booth Jr., Clemson, 6-feet, 194 pounds
Our pal Bucky Brooks from NFL Media loves Booth's fit with the Patriots. Why? He played man and zone for defensive coordinator Brent Venables, and he's a menace in run support. Sound like a Patriot to you?
Booth also appears to be an exceptional athlete on tape with strong ball skills. He wasn't able to test prior to this year's draft so it's hard to compare his movement skills with others in the class, but if he slides to the Patriots -- whether at No. 21 or even later than that if Belichick is able to trade back -- he looks like a snug fit for what coaches are trying to do on the defensive side of the ball in Foxboro.
Booth has had injury issues that could impact his draft position. Hamstring and stinger issues had him miss time last season, and a quad strain coupled with double hernia surgery this offseason are the more recent problems for teams to sort through.
Marcus Jones, Houston, 5-foot-8, 174 pounds
Jones certainly doesn't have the size to align with No. 1 receivers on a regular basis. But that's not why the Patriots would take him on Day 2. While he didn't test at this year's combine as he recovered from shoulder surgeries, he has what looks like elite speed and acceleration on tape. It shows up in his work as a defensive back, where he showed the athleticism to track deep targets down the field and the aggressiveness to hold his own against bigger players -- like Cincinnati's Alec Pierce, against whom he gave up seven inches and still held his own.
He also showed a willingness to throw around his undersized frame to make big hits when attacking the line of scrimmage. And his burst popped as a return man and part-time offensive weapon, helping him earn the Paul Hornung Award as the country's most versatile player. Jones may be the future slot corner in New England, with Jonathan Jones headed into a contract year.
Even if the veteran Jones sticks around for the foreseeable future, the rookie Jones could help Belichick match up against the two undersized speed demons who now reside in Miami.
Chase Lucas, Arizona State, 5-foot-11, 180 pounds
Lucas grew up in Arizona with Patriots wideout N'Keal Harry. And though he's not the first-round talent Harry was back in 2019, Lucas is an impressive athlete in his own right. Though he's a tad thin, he checked just about every box for the Patriots with a 4.48-second 40, a 39-inch vertical, a 10-8 broad and a 6.78-second three-cone drill. Lucas racked up rare experience in the Pac 12, making 49 starts and playing in 53 games going all the way back to 2016.
A senior captain with time along the boundary and in the slot, Lucas is a competitive player who may play bigger than his size at the next level. If that mentality turns into Lucas being a big-time special-teams contributor, the Patriots may be willing to take him with a Day 3 pick.
Tariq Castro-Fields, Penn State, 6-foot-1, 197 pounds
A Senior Bowl participant with good length and top-notch athleticism, Fields has a number of traits the Patriots have drafted in the past at this spot. His 4.38-second 40 was among the fastest at this year's combine, and his 4.06-second shuttle was indicative of legitimate short-area burst.
He excelled in press coverage last year, allowing just 73 yards on 5-of-14 passing, per Pro Football Focus, which should give the Patriots some confidence in his man-to-man ability moving forward. But if they want to play some Cover 3 looks with Devin McCourty as the post safety, Castro-Fields has the length and physicality to perform in those scenarios as well.
Zyon McCollum, Sam Houston State, 6-foot-2, 199 pounds
How willing will Bill Belichick be to gamble on traits? We investigated just how much top-end athleticism matters in the secondary back in 2020 when the Patriots drafted Kyle Dugger in the second round out of Division 2 Lenoir-Rhyne. McCollum had a difficult time sticking with top-end competition at the Senior Bowl, but he has physical tools that simply cannot be taught.
He posted one of the most impressive combines of all time this offseason with a 4.33-second 40, a 3.97-second shuttle, a 6.48-second three-cone, an 11-foot broad and a 40-inch vertical. That's not-of-this-earth kind of stuff. He's played gunner. He was a two-time captain. He's unafraid to tackle. He's played in the slot and at safety. If the Patriots believe they can help him put it all together while he holds a core "teams" role, they could try to nab him late on Day 2.
Tariq Woolen, UTSA, 6-foot-4, 205 pounds
Can I interest you in another height-weight-speed freak? That's Woolen, who logged a mind-boggling 4.26-second 40 time to go along with a massive 10-11 broad and an eye-popping 42-inch vertical during the pre-draft process. At his size, those numbers are just about unheard of.
A former wideout, he only has two full seasons at corner under his belt so his technique is raw. But can the Patriots snag him, make the most of his rare frame (34-inch arms) and turn him into a tight-end eraser? Or a big-bodied matchup weapon? That's what Joejuan Williams was drafted to do. He hasn't done it. Perhaps Woolen can excel in that role if he takes to the coaching he's given at One Patriot Place.
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Jalyn Armour-Davis, Alabama, 6-foot-1, 197 pounds
If you're coming from Nick Saban, you've got a head start at landing on this list. Saban is so hands-on with his defensive backs, and Belichick so respects Saban's acumen, that it's hard to ignore corners and safeties coming from 'Bama. Armour-Davis also has more than enough size and speed (4.39-second 40) to land here.
His agilities were nearly a non-starter (4.37-second shuttle, 7.26-second cone), and they may make Armour-Davis an afterthought on draft weekend for a team like New England that needs its corners to change direction quickly. But his length and balance and fundamental tackling ability -- not to mention the fact that he was a dependable kick-coverage player for the Crimson Tide last season -- help him land here. If the Patriots can get past his injury history (knee, hip issues in college) and him having just one year of experience as a starter, he could interest them late on Day 2 or early on Day 3.
Josh Jobe, Alabama, 5-foot-11, 182 pounds
Jobe is the second of Alabama's two starting corners in this draft class, and like Armour-Davis, his calling card at the next level may be in the kicking game. He had 488 snaps on "teams" as a collegian, per The Athletic's Dane Brugler. The toughness required in that phase shows up defensively as well, where his nearly 33-inch arms and a feisty demeanor help him reroute his assignments and disrupt timing. What Jobe lacks may be top-end NFL-caliber athleticism but he played with turf toe as a senior and wasn't able to test this offseason following surgery on his right foot.
If he's viewed as a different player when fully healthy -- and the Patriots should get pretty good intel considering where Jobe's coming from -- perhaps Belichick ends up with a steal on Day 3 if he comes calling for Jobe.
Josh Blackwell, Duke, 5-foot-11, 183 pounds
Here's another special-teams specialist for the Patriots to consider. He's undersized, but he clocked a 4.34-second 40 at his pro day to go along with a 37-inch vertical, a 10-10 broad and a 6.75-second three-cone time. He has over 2,000 career snaps for the Blue Devils and graduated with a degree in public policy back in 2020. Since then, he's obtained a masters in management studies from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.
Tony Adams, Illinois, 5-foot-11, 203 pounds
Saban isn't the only Belichick pal with defensive backs in this year's draft class. Former Patriots assistant Bret Bielema, now the head coach at Illinois, made it very clear just how much he respected Adams' accountability last season. And a good recommendation from the right person can go a long way with the Patriots, it seems. While Adams may end up a priority free agent, he tested like a very strong athlete with a 4.46-second 40, a 4.06-second shuttle, a 41.5-inch vertical and a 10-10 broad. Those numbers are indicative of real burst and NFL-caliber movement skills.
Tre Avery, Rutgers, 5-foot-10, 181 pounds
What was that about friends of Belichick? Outside of Saban, there are few trusted more by Belichick than Greg Schiano. The former (for a very brief period) Patriots defensive coordinator has a long history of sending defensive backs to Belichick and having them work out.
Avery won't be Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon or Logan Ryan. In all likelihood, he'll go undrafted. But, like Adams, he tested extremely well and checked all the hard-to-check boxes the Patriots often want. His 40 time was 4.44 seconds. His three-cone was 6.76 seconds and his 4.01 shuttle was an equally-impressive mark. He also recorded a 38-inch vertical and a 10-3 broad. An Ohio State commit who ended up at Toledo before landing at Rutgers, Avery started nine games each of the last two seasons.