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New England Patriots 2021 defensive starters: Early projections & reactions

By Michael DeVito

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 06: J.C. Jackson #27 of the New England Patriots makes a catch during warm up before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on December 06, 2020 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 06: J.C. Jackson #27 of the New England Patriots makes a catch during warm up before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on December 06, 2020 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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New England Patriots
New England Patriots Devin McCourty (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Projected starters: New England Patriots secondary

Thankfully, any talk of trading Stephon Gilmore (up to now) has proven to be baloney. That’s a very good thing. Gilmore got injured last season and only played 11 games yet still made the Pro Bowl. He’s the Patriots’ best corner and one of the best in the league still.

Another corner, J.C. Jackson is returning and is another of the terrific undrafted free agents this team has signed. He exploded onto the scene in a major way last season racking up nine interceptions. That’s a haul folks.

Inexplicably, Jackson has not been given an extension to his contract, a major gaffe by New England, and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason if that doesn’t eventuate.

That the team has allowed this to happen is a travesty. It is inexplicable and frankly, baffling and incomprehensible. The young man has earned the extension and it should be provided.

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Should Jackson leave next season in free agency it will be another bewilderingly illogical move (or non-move in this case) that will hurt the team in the future.

Another returnee who may start as a slot corner is Jonathan Jones. Yet another undrafted free agent, Jones is a capable if not spectacular cornerback who adds great value as a terrific special teamer.

Additional corners include the disappointing second-round pick Joejuan Williams and possible break-out players Myles Bryant and D’Angelo Ross.

At safety, the ever-steady and resilient Devin McCourty will be in center field and likely flanked by Adrian Phillips at strong safety or maybe by last season’s second-round draftee strong safety Kyle Dugger. Dugger can play.

Jalen Mills, who can play either corner or safety also has an outside chance to crack the starting lineup. Mills is no random signing. He logged 74 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and one interception last season for Philadelphia.

He’s a player and he will provide quality depth at either position and that bodes well for the Patriots.

So who will start? The choices here are Gilmore and Jackson at the corners with McCourty and Dugger at safety. That’s a top lineup with solid depth to employ by the Patriots.

With that in mind, the Grade here is A+.

Summary and Final Grade

So that’s it, a close look at the Patriots defense. The observation from this vantage point is that it’s a very, very good and potentially top-five defense, once more.

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So, in putting the final grade on the entire defense, it’s not difficult to assign a grade of A++ to this group. The whole in this case is greater than the sum of the parts.

This defense has quality players at all three levels. It has depth everywhere. And, if a rookie or two performs as hoped for, it could even be truly spectacular.

Nevertheless, this is shaping up as a potentially great Patriots defense. Yet, as they say, that’s why they play the games. So we’ll see.

But it sure seems positive, now doesn’t it?

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