“When I first walked up to him, I heard he was big, but he was like 6-2, maybe 200 , 205 pounds. He looks like a specimen,” McCourty answered. “I think when guys get drafted, everyone looks at their physical tools and what they might be able to do on the field right away, but just talking to him, I’m trying to explain the defense and as I’m saying a sentence, he’s just finishing it. It seems like he has a lot of football knowledge. I think that’s important when you come in to the New England defense; if you have some football knowledge that you can put together with what Coach Belichick teaches us, I think it can go a long way.”

“We have some receivers in our league now that are huge, just in our division last year, playing against Braylon Edwards and Brandon Marshall,” he said. “When you line up at the size he has, he can step up and go toe for toe with those guys physically, and he has good speed so he can run with them too.”