New England Patriots

New England Patriots: Devin McCourty Ranked as 29th Best Player in NFL

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:55 p.m. ET

Fansided, Nick Ziegler/FanSided via Musket Fire

Pro Football Focus recently released their list of the Top 101 players of 2016. Where did New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty rank?

The New England Patriots had an excellent 2016 season, as they finished it with a Super Bowl win.

One of the main reasons why the Patriots were so successful in 2016 was because of their defense. Furthermore, the Patriots have made a lot of improvements on the defensive side of the ball. One of the players that have emerged as a star is safety Devin McCourty.

After being ranked as the 94th best player in the NFL in 2015, McCourty took a big jump forward. After a great season in 2016, McCourty was ranked 29th by Pro Football Focus. Furthermore, here’s what they had to say about McCourty.

Devin McCourty might be the most important member of the New England secondary, and his consistently impressive performances allow that unit to function regardless of the game plan they cook up for that particular week. McCourty finished the season with the highest PFF coverage grade among safeties (92.4), and is defined by how rarely he makes a mistake, which ultimately is the key characteristic for a player at a position named “safety.”

Best performance: Divisional Round vs. Texans, 88.3 grade

Key stat: McCourty was PFF’s No. 4-ranked safety overall (89.2), but earned the highest coverage grade at the position (92.4).

McCourty was the third highest ranked member of the Patriots, as Tom Brady was first, and Malcolm Butler was 25th. In terms of safeties, McCourty was ranked third behind Landon Collins of the New York Giants and Eric Weddle of the Baltimore Ravens.

After seeing how much the Patriots’ defense improved in 2016, it should come as a surprise to see McCourty ranked so high. Even though Butler was ranked higher than him, many regard McCourty as the best player on their defense.