Devin McCourty Is Right: Patriots Secondary Is Faster Than Receivers

FOXBORO, Mass. — The media was met by a loud debate when entering the New England Patriots locker room Friday.

Wide receivers, special-teamers and running backs had congregated by the row of defensive backs’ lockers, and safety Devin McCourty was holding court in the middle. The playful argument? Which position group would run the fastest relay race.

“Got a little intense, nothing big,” McCourty said. “Just a little debate between position groups and speed. Defensive backs are obviously the fastest guys. They got better hands — some receivers got better hands. I wouldn’t say all. We got some pretty good hands over here, too.”

But are defensive backs faster than the speedy gunners on special teams?

“It matters what we run,” McCourty said before changing the subject. “We’re on to the Jets, man. We’re on to the Jets. You’re gonna get me in trouble.”

The commotion raises an interesting question, though. Who would win in a relay?

Let’s go through the Patriots’ 40-yard dash times, using NFLDraftScout.com, and put together the best 4×40 list for each group.

Defensive backs
S Devin McCourty: 4.38 seconds
CB Darrelle Revis: 4.38
CB Justin Green: 4.42
CB Daxton Swanson: 4.44
CB Kyle Arrington: 4.44
CB Alfonzo Dennard: 4.48
S Patrick Chung: 4.49
S Duron Harmon: 4.51
S Tavon Wilson: 4.52
S Nate Ebner: 4.53
CB Logan Ryan: 4.53
CB Malcolm Butler: 4.62
CB Brandon Browner: 4.63

Wide receivers
Josh Boyce: 4.34
Jonathan Krause: 4.37
Matthew Slater: 4.44
Brian Tyms: 4.48
Julian Edelman: 4.52
Brandon LaFell: 4.54
Danny Amendola: 4.58

Running backs
Shane Vereen: 4.49
Brandon Bolden: 4.50
James White: 4.57
Jonas Gray: 4.58
LeGarrette Blount: 4.59

The defensive backs’ best foursome would be McCourty, Revis, Green and either Arrington or Swanson with a 17.62 relay time. The best receiver group would be made up of Boyce, Krause, Slater and Tyms with a 17.63 time. The running backs — Vereen, Bolden, White and Gray — would get owned with a time of 18.14.

There was talk of putting together a “special teams” group, which would be made up of Slater, Tyms, Bolden and Ebner. They could run a 17.95 relay.

McCourty was right: The defensive backs are the fastest — but barely. A race between McCourty, Revis, Green and either Arrington or Swanson and Boyce, Krause, Slater and Tyms absolutely would come down to the wire.

Thumbnail photo via Associated Press