With the news that Devin McCourty will be back with the Patriots on a long-term deal, let’s take a deeper look into the X’s and O’s of his game. There are three reasons why he was one of the top Free Safeties on the market: Awareness, Range, and Versatility.
Awareness
Devin McCourty made one of the best plays of the year from the Free Safety position during the 3rd Quarter of the 2014 divisional round due to his awareness and play recognition skills. On the first drive of the game, the Patriots gave up a big gain on this pass play:
[gfycat data_id="ScaryCalmAltiplanochinchillamouse" data_autoplay=true data_controls=true data_title=false data_expand=true]