Last season, the New England Patriots shocked the football world when they selected Illinois defensive back Tavon Wilson in the second round, sending ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. into a disheveled, frothing rage - nervously shuffling papers, a forced half smile dominating his features, then slumping back in chair in disgust knowing that he had nothing for the viewing audience.
One would think that after that episode, and especially now knowing that Bill Belichick had switched gears into the absurd with his draft thinking, that Kiper would have been prepared with a scouting report on just about every prospect eligible for the 2013 draft...
...but when Rutgers' safety Duron Harmon's name was called on the second day of the draft, Kiper was left slack-jawed, and he was so steamed that a hair actually fell out of place.
Because no one, not even the great Mel Kiper Jr, knew who Duron Harmon was.
And now, with starting strong safety Steve Gregory out for a couple of weeks with a broken thumb, the rookie third round selection has his opportunity to prove to everyone that he was worthy of such a lofty draft status, as Harmon is in line to start at strong safety when the team faces off with the Carolina Panthers on November 18th in front of a national television audience on Monday Night Football.
Nothing like the brightest spotlight on weekly prime time television to make a debut, eh?
However, having a rookie filling in for an incumbent veteran is getting to be old hat for these Patriots, so no one should be surprised if Harmon glows under the bright lights of Bank of America Stadium. In fact, rookies performing well under such intense scrutiny has become so commonplace in Foxborough that New England fans can probably just go ahead and expect such...
The New England Patriots' secondary, long a source for the teams' defensive woes, is now perhaps one of the best units in the National Football League - and it all started in the 2012 draft.
No, not with Wilson, who has fallen so far off the radar that he has been relegated to special teams duties only, but with the selection five rounds later - and mostly as an afterthought - of Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard.
Dennard, a model teammate and citizen so long as he stays out of Lincoln, Nebraska, was expected to be a second rounder coming out of college, yet an incident outside of a Lincoln nightclub just prior to the draft left Dennard with no leverage whatsoever, dropping him completely from every draft board but one - and the Patriots took a flyer on him with their final selection...
...and when he avoided immediate jail time for punching a cop on that night a few days before the draft, he became part of a secondary that was in disarray - the oft-injured Pat Chung and free agent acquisition Gregory both out for extended periods of time, which precipitated a move to safety for the teams' best corner, Devin McCourty.
In his stead came slot corner Kyle Arrington to the outside, where he got burned repeatedly, Marquice Cole taking the slot underneath and thrusting Dennard to the cover corner opposite the perpetually torched Arrington - where he became the team's best pass defender by default.
The secondary was still in a state of chaos, but there were rays of hope. McCourty took to the free safety position as if he'd been there his entire career and Dennard was winning more battles than he was losing - but at strong safety, Wilson was horrific and Arrington was getting twisted into knots at the opposite corner - and there was nothing else to fall back on.
So just a day after Halloween, coach Bill Belichick sent a 4th round draft pick to Tampa Bay for their own troubled bad boy, former 1st round pick Aqib Talib, who was on suspension for violation of the league's substance abuse policy - but once he got into the lineup, he became the team's best corner since the days of Ty Law...
...Dennard followed suit, making play after play, and Gregory returned from injury and suddenly the new-look Patriots secondary was formidable. Arrington returned to the slot where he suddenly became one of the better underneath pass defenders in the league and Cole returned to the bench along with Wilson.
But that was the problem - there was no quality depth behind the starters, so when Talib and Dennard both went down with injuries in the AFC Championship game, the Patriots aspirations of reaching the Super Bowl were doomed.
Fast forward to 2013 - Belichick went into the draft for the first time in almost a decade with a secondary that was set with it's starters, so he was able to concentrate on bringing in prospects that could be groomed while they provided quality depth - and while most experts felt that Belichick reached significantly for the defensive backs he did bring in, thus far in the 2013 season he has proven them wrong.
Harmon and cornerback Logan Ryan have been thrust into more than just depth roles as injuries have decimated the New England defense, the bug recently latching on to Talib's chronic hip and last week's gruesome thumb breakage for Gregory, giving both youngsters the kind of abbreviated on-the-job-training that has accelerated their learning curve, and both have responded better than the experts could have ever envisioned.
And now at the bye week, Talib - who has been out for the past three weeks - is set to resume his role as arguably the best cover corner in the game, joining Dennard and forming perhaps the best set of corners in the league, while mid-season All Pro McCourty has a stranglehold on the back end - and while Gregory was a pro's pro and the signal caller for the defense, his broken thumb has given Harmon his golden opportunity to take the job for his own.
Thus far in limited opportunity, the Dover, Delaware native has registered eight tackles, two easy centerfield interceptions and three passes defensed while serving in as the primary backup to Gregory, a set of numbers that when protracted across the season would put him right in line with Gregory's production - but with more adept coverage skills.
A big former high school running back and safety, Harmon became a two-time all Big East safety at Rutgers with all the potential in the world.
At 6' 1" and 200 pounds, he is a solid run-defending safety in the mold of the Big Nickle, who plays the game downhill and always keeps the action in front of him - possessing a pain-dispensing pop at the point of contact, and has the speed and coverage ability to play the centerfield ball hawk, which he has displayed just about every time he gets his chance for a couple of snaps...
...and now, he has the opportunity for more than just a couple of snaps, and to show the coaching staff that it is he - and not Gregory - who should be the incumbent.
But even if the staff elects to go with Gregory once he recovers from the broken thumb, the future looks bright for not just Harmon, but for Ryan and the entire Patriots' secondary, who, if grades must be given out for the first half of the season, deserves a resounding "A"...
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