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Malcolm Butler is Playing at a Pro-Bowl Level… Again

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Patriots Cornerbacks

Darrelle Revis’ departure from the Patriots after their 2014 Super Bowl victory, at least for a moment, appeared to leave a gaping hole in the New England secondary. Thankfully,  Malcolm Butler quickly asserted himself as the team’s top corner during the 2015 training camp. Butler never looked back and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2015, an accomplishment he’s on pace to duplicate with his stellar start to 2016.

While he’s not the biggest guy, Butler is more than capable in run support, but it’s his elite ball skills and speed that put him in the upper echelon of NFL corners. This season Malcolm Butler has eleven passes defensed and one interception, putting him on pace to exceed his 2015 total of 15 and two, respectively.

Below is a week-by-week look back at Butler’s performance thus far in 2016. H/T to Doug Kyed from NESN for the passing stats from his weekly takeaways column.

Week 1 @ Arizona: 9-10,  144 yards, TD, 2PBU
Primary Responsibility: Jaron Brown/ M. Floyd
Notes: Tough start for Butler, but he was right there on a number of plays. To his credit he had two crucial PBUs in the fourth quarter when it matter most.

Week 2 vs. Miami: Malcolm Butler: 8-11, 139 yards, PBU
Primary Responsibility: Jarvis Landry
Notes: Matt Patricia drew up lots of soft zone and off coverage early in this game. Butler got roasted by Landry on one occasion, but in his defense he was nursing an ankle injury. This article is off to a somewhat auspicious start I’ll admit, but Butler has been on a hot streak as of late…

Week 3 vs. Houston: 0-4, PBU
Primary Responsibility: Will Fuller
Notes: This was Butler’s first dominant performance of the season.

Week 4 vs. Buffalo: 1-4, 9 Yards
Primary Responsibility: Robert Woods
Notes: The Bills didn’t throw too much, but when they did they certainly didn’t look Butler’s way. That’s some serious respect from a division rival.

Week 5 @ Cleveland: 1-3, 10 yards
Primary Responsibility: Terrelle Pryor
Notes: Similar to Buffalo, Cleveland clearly game-planned around Butler, only throwing his way three times on the day.

Week 6 vs. Cincinatti: 3-7, 17 yards, TD, 4 PBUs
Primary Responsibility: A.J. Green/ Brandon LaFell
Notes: Tough touchdown to give up to LaFell, but Butler had probably his most dominant performance of the season against the Bengals. His arm tackle on Green sneaky impressed me the most, but his 4PBUs were stellar.

Week 7 @ Pittsburgh: 5-12, 94 yards, INT, 3PBU
Primary Responsibility: Antonio Brown
Notes: Butler even drew a personal shout out from Belichick in the locker room after the game for the interception. “We catch ’em in practice, we catch ’em in the game.” While Brown had his moments, Butler settled in and really put the straps on #84 late in the game.

Butler is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of 2016, and then in 2017, could draw the type of payday that led to Revis’ departure in 2014. “Shutdown Corners” are the golden goose in today’s pass-heavy NFL, and I’m sure there will be a team willing to pay more for Butler than the Patriots. But the Patriots can control his rights in 2017 and potentially use the franchise tag to retain him in 2018 as well.

Alas, if and when Butler leaves the Patriots, I’m going to assume it will be with at least one more Pro-Bowl nod. Here’s to hoping he’ll have another Super Bowl ring in tote as well.

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Comments

  1. I wouldn’t let Malcolm Butler cover my left overs in the refrigerator let alone Pro-Bowl caliber wideouts. Malcolm Butler STINKS.

Trackbacks

  1. […] For all the complaining we’ve done about the Patriots’ pass rush problems, this is not the week to worry about it. This is going to be a coverage game. The receiver routes must be disrupted at the line. If that doesn’t happen, as it didn’t in Week 4, it could be another frustrating game. The good thing is that the secondary has been trending upward in recent weeks, led by Malcolm Butler. […]