Break it down -- defensive backs

What's the old saying? Saving the worst for last? Something like that. In the case of the Patriots, the defensive backfield is definitely the worst position on the team. But maybe that's about to change.

The Pats were last in the league against the pass for most of last season. They gave up yards in big chunks to an array of quarterbacks. There were two key reasons for that. First, Devin McCourty -- a sensation at the corner in his rookie season -- had the sophomore slump to end sophomore slumps. He went from being almost unbeatable to being almost invisible. So many passes were completed over his head that it was like he wasn't even there. Second, Patrick Chung got hurt ... again. That left it up to guys like James Ihedigbo, Sterling Moore, and Sergio Brown. And those guys actually held their own. Especially Moore.

Bolstering the secondary was a key coming into 2012. It looks like the Pats may have done that. The secondary should be better, and if Chung can stay healthy and reach his potential then the secondary could actually be very good.

STARTERS
Chung is at the center of everything. When he's on the field and making plays at strong safety the defense comes together. When he's out, there's a big hole. He hasn't had a reliable partner in the middle of the field at free safety although former Jet Ihedigbo surprised. The Pats signed free agent Steve Gregory to bring some stability -- and experience -- to the secondary. He might be this year's Andre Carter as far as impact goes. That pushes McCourty back to the outside. After struggling badly for the first three months of the season last year, McCourty started to play some safety and he played it pretty well. He seemed to get his feet back under him. Hopefully that will carry through to this year. The other corner position will come down to either Kyle Arrington and second-year man Ras-I Dowling. Arrington tied for the league lead in picks last year. I know, it's hard to believe. But it's like when Meriweather made the Pro Bowl two years in a row. It made no sense but the guy had to be doing something right. Arrington gets credit for making the plays. Dowling was a second-round pick who got hurt and did nothing last year. But the word is he has starter-level talent. I think Arrington starts the season with the job.

BACK-UPS
The Pats are starting to build secondary depth. A key in today's pass-first, pass-second NFL. Dowling or Arrington make a very good third corner. Ihedigbo and Moore go back to their more suited roles as nickel and dime guys. Josh Barrett will be back and the Pats added veteran Will Allen. I like it when the Pats have a savvy veteran defensive back. I hope Allen is that guy. The Pats also drafted three rookies this year. They drafted Tavon Wilson out of Illinios in the second-round ahead of some other more notable prospects. He's 6-0 and can play both corner and safety. The team then grabbed Alfonzo Dennard and rubgy player Nate Ebner in the later rounds. Dennard had off-the-field problems that caused him to slide way way way down the draft board. He could be a surprise. Ebner was a ruby sensation at Ohio State but will most likely be returning kicks, not picks

IN THE MIX
Role players Ross Ventrone, Malcom Williams, and Jets-castoff Marquice Cole fill out the roster.

The Pats were ugly against the pass for large parts of last year. A part of that is a lack of pass rush. But the other part is a solid secondary. The Pats are getting closer to having that.

General concerns

It hasn't been a good year for the Pats' general manager.

Yesterday the team dumped Albert Haynesworth. This on the heels of the waiving of veteran DB Leigh Bodden two weeks ago. Which came on the heels of the surrender on younger guys like Meriweather, McGowan, and Tate. Can the end of the Ocho be far behind? (Since he only has nine catches, who cares?)

The Pats are still in position to have a very good season. And as everyone was reminded the last two years, it doesn't always matter how great a regular season you have as long as you make the playoffs. That's when the wins really matter. Last year's team had an outstanding regular season. Winning big game after big game. It was a lot of fun. But a quick playoff exit took the lustre off all those wins. Still, it was a great year. A big step back in the right direction. But the '11 Patriots are not building on what the '10 Patriots started. Especially on D.

As many have written and said, GM Belichick has not done coach Belichick too many favors lately. The team made two very good off-season acquisitions. Offensive lineman Brian Waters has been a rock. Even though the line has had its hands full the last few weeks -- as they will Sunday night against the Jets -- they still have been one of the strengths. On the other side of the ball, free agent defensive end Andre Carter has been one of the few bright spots. He leads the team in sacks.

Two very good pick-ups. First-round pick Nate Solder looks to be a solid member of the O line for years to come. A 14-2 team that adds three more good starters should only be better. But when you subtract as many guys (Ty Warren, Meriweather, McGowan, Banta-Cain, coach Crump, Sanders, to name a few) as the Pats did then you have to add more than just three to replace them.  Not that the names on that list were star players. They weren't. But they were experienced guys that are missed. Especially on D. Someone had to replace them.

Haynesworth. Ellis. Ocho. Ras-I. Vereen. Price. Ihedigbo. A group of players that have added almost nothing in their first -- and in Haynesworth's case last -- season with the team. Nothing. Throw in second-year player -- and now, incredibly, almost starting safety -- Sergio Brown and you have less than nothing. Suddenly a deep 14-2 team doesn't look so deep.

The GM has done an impressive job moving the team from its dynasty years into its next incarnation. Ten years after the first Lombardi the Pats are still battling at the top of the league. Welker. Mayo. Vollmer. Chung. McCourty (maybe). Spikes. BenJarvis. Woody. Hernandez. Branch. Gronk. Ninko. Gostkowski. That's a lot of strong talent added over the past four or five seasons. The Sports Blabosphere seems to take for granted that the Pats are still one of the best teams in the NFL. They shouldn't.

Look at the Manning-less Colts right now. 0-9. When Brady went down in '08 the Pats went 11-5. That's because of depth. Belichick's Pats -- more often than not -- have had someone ready to step in when someone else goes down. Dan Connolly filling in for center Dan Koppen this season is just the latest example. The Pats rarely miss a beat.

This year that hasn't applied to the secondary. When the GM dumped Meriweather, Sanders, McGowan, Wilhite, and Butler before the season started it left a very shallow talent pool. Other than Pat Chung, McCourty, and Bodden there wasn't much to choose from. Ras-I Dowling? Josh Barrett? Sergio Brown? James Ihedigbo?The defensive backfield was Concern #1 coming out of camp. Eight games later the situation is beyond concern. Veteran Bodden has been cut. Barrett and Dowling are out for the year. James Ihedigbo is now your starting strong safety. That's bad planning by the GM. If Chung -- who throws his body around so much that he seems to drag himself back to the huddle at least once a game -- ever goes down you'll have Brown and Ihedigbo covering the middle of the field. You think the pass defense is bad now?

The Pats made eleven roster moves since Sunday's last-second loss to the Giants. Eleven. Belichick is starting to run the Pats like I run my fantasy team. "Let's try this guy. No. How about this guy. OK, let's bring back Ross Ventrone." It's a bad way to run a fantasy team. It's a really bad way to run an NFL team.

Not a good year for the GM. So far.

Bowling team

The NFL named its AFC and NFC Pro Bowl teams this week. The Patriots had six players honored. The game -- usually played after the Super Bowl in Hawaii -- will be played on the Sunday between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl this year. Not sure why. Just another bad idea by Commissioner Goodell motivated by what he thinks the fans want. The players on the Super Bowl teams will not take part in the game. Here's hoping the Pats players named to the team don't get to see Diamond Head this year.

The obvious pick was Tom Brady. This is the first in what will be a long line of honors regardless of how the team does in the playoffs. He has had a historic year. It's as if he took that ranking in the NFL's 100 Greatest Players personally. I know I did.

Rookie Devin McCourty was a somewhat surprising pick -- not because he doesn't deserve it -- but because the Pro Bowl selections are often made on reputation and he doesn't have one yet. Well, now he does. The first-round pick out of Rutgers has played as well at the hardest position in football as I've seen in a long time. Third-year linebacker Jerod Mayo and safety Brandon Meriweather also made the team. Mayo is completely back from the injury that slowed him last year. He may not make the flashy plays like Bruschi did, but he's around the ball all the time. Meriweather is also around the ball all the time and he delivers some of the hardest hits in the game -- legal and not. Unfortunately he sometimes delivers those hits to teammates.

Offensive lineman and recluse Logan Mankins was one of those reputation selections. He was picked for the third time in his career even though he missed the first half of the season because he didn't like the new contract the Pats offered him. When this season is over, re-signing Mankins has to be priority #1.

During the last offseason, priority #1 was re-signing the Big Man. Vince Wilfork. The deal got done, making him one of the highest paid players in the league. It was the moment that set the tone for the success that has followed this year. Giving athletes their big pay day -- deserved or not -- often leads to the beginning of the end for that player. The history of sports is littered with guys who got the cash and hit the beach -- or the buffet. But not Big Vince. He has had his best season ever. Defensive linemen have been going down all around him and Wilfork hasn't missed a beat. He's still an immovable object in the middle but has switched more to play end this year than ever in his career. He is the foundation that this whole team rests on.

The team was in need of someone to take the "Patriot Way" leadership mantle from Tedy Bruschi.

The Big Man is that guy. This won't be his last Pro Bowl season.

Duck, duck, draft

Being a New England Patriots fan watching the NFL Draft is like being a four-year-old with an older brother who has one of your toys and is holding it just out of your reach. Just when you think he is going to give it to you... he quickly pulls it away. Ha ha!

The Pats are on the clock with the 22nd pick in the draft... Not so fast... They traded back two spots. Now they have the 24th pick in the draft. Maybe they'll pick ... Wait. They've traded down again and now have the 27th pick. Come on! Give me that toy! Er, I mean draft pick! Mom!

So the Pats traded with the Broncos, then the Cowboys, moving down five spots but acquiring Dallas' third-round pick in the end. That's what Belichick does. He collects picks like I used to collect Wacky Packs. I'm in favor of his approach. The more young bodies you can get the better. The key is who the team picks when they actually use one of their selections.

The team's first-round pick, whenever it turned out to be, needed to address either the serious lack of pass rushers or the need to add some youth at one of the offensive skill positions. At the 22nd and then the 24th pick I exchanged texts with Mark, Jim, and Steve and we were all thinking that 6'-2'' wide receiver Dez Bryant would be a great choice. But the Cowboys took him at 24 after trading with the Pats. OK, back to the pass rusher. Jared Odrick, a DT from Penn St., and Sergio Kindle, a DE from Texas, were both available at 27. Either guy would fill the void left by Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green. Of course Belichick and the Pats had other thoughts. They always do. (No, thank goodness, not a tight end).

The Pats went cornerback with their first pick. 5'-11'' Devin McCourty from Rutgers is the newest Patriot. A cornerback? Certainly not what I was expecting. But in the pass happy NFL you can never have enough quality players in the defensive backfield. McCourty was listed as a top three cornerback in most of the scouting reports I had read before the draft, with most expecting him to go in the second round. He's considered a well-rounded player but not a shut-down corner. That doesn't seem like the ideal description of a player you want to take in the first round.

I felt a little better after McCourty's high school coach was quoted as saying he thinks he can be as good as the Jets' Darrelle Revis. OK, the coach seemed a little old -- and maybe a little senile -- but if McCourty has the potential to be anything close to Revis then this might turn out to be a solid pick. At the very least, with young players like Wheatley, Butler, Whilhite, and now McCourty, the Pats have a stable of young, athletic cornerbacks. That's never a bad thing. There doesn't seem to be a Chris Canty in the group.

Day one of the NFL Draft came to a close shortly after the Pats pick. It was the first prime-time draft, with just the first found being featured. (The draft resumes this evening with rounds two and three). Another great idea by the league. If the Patriots wind up with a top five pick next year thanks to the Raiders then I plan on making a trip to Manhattan to get a first-hand view of the first round. Now if I could only be sure Belichick will actually use the pick.