Patriots top 5 positional needs to address in the new league year

New England Patriots and the starting cornerback position

The hype around New England Patriots CB Jonathan Jones turned out to be premature. Pro Football Focus’ early grades stating that Jones as the league’s top corner didn’t hold up once he faced elite receivers.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1575908342387589122

Jones is an excellent slot corner. That’s it. He is not a starting boundary corner, and it’s unknown if there is one on the team.

Jalen Mills is fine, but still has to prove he’s a shutdown corner. Marcus Jones competes, but will get the “too small” treatment from numerous receivers. And while Jack Jones showed great potential, he might be more ball hawk than shutdown. And his recent suspension is concerning, since his character was in question coming out of Arizona State.

We should had been concerned after the Patriots signed Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler. He will always drink for free in New England for his goal line interception, but the reality was he was returning from taking a year off from playing.

The Patriots have to deal with some damn good receivers just in the division alone (Buffalo Bills receiver Stephon Diggs, New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson, Miami Dolphins wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle). There’s only so much scheming can do to slow them down. New England needs someone that can blanket these wide outs for 60 minutes.

Free agency doesn’t look like an option for a shutdown corner. And if the Patriots don’t select one in the first round or second round, it will be another year of leaning on the pass rush and coverage schemes to make up for the lack of a true star at the cornerback position.