Stephon Gilmore's Primetime Games Feature Some Primetime Competition
By Brent Schwartz, CBS Boston
This offseason, the Patriots opted to pay Stephon Gilmore a ton of money (five years, $65 million) as opposed to giving a similar deal to Malcolm Butler, who is only signed on a one-year RFA tender. This brings up the question: Who will the Patriots choose to defend the opposing teams' top receivers?
Gilmore recently tweeted his excitement about playing more nationally televised games, now that he's on the Patriots. But with more big games in a Patriots uniform comes bigger, tougher competition. So let's take a look at the schedule.
With these primetime matchups come primetime opponents, who for the Patriots will often be at the wide receiver position. Here's who Gilmore will likely be lining up against in these games.
Week 1 vs. Chiefs
Projected matchup: WR Chris Conley (or TE Travis Kelce?)
We start off with the hardest primetime game to project for Gilmore. In the Patriots' 2015 AFC Divisional Playoff against the Chiefs, safety Patrick Chung (with help) was most responsible for slowing Kelce down to just 23 receiving yards on six catches.
However, Chung is now a year and a half older, and the Patriots now have a big, talented in cornerback in Gilmore to match up against their bigger receivers - or possibly even Kelce, when he lines up on the outside.
The Chiefs' best receiver, Tyreek Hill, is smaller (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) and speedy, so expect Butler to defend him more often than Gilmore. That leaves the 6-foot-3 Conley as the best receiver matchup for Gilmore.
Week 5: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Thursday Night)
Projected matchup: WR Mike Evans
With Evans' size (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) it's safe to say the Patriots will stick the 6-foot-1 Gilmore on him.
The AFC East last played the NFC South in 2013, which was Evans' last season at Texas A&M. So neither Gilmore nor the Patriots have dealt with Evans yet. This will be a big test for Gilmore, despite his bigger stature as an NFL cornerback.
Week 7: vs Atlanta Falcons (Sunday Night)
Projected matchup: WR Julio Jones
The Patriots last saw Jones in February in Super Bowl LI. There, Jones nabbed four catches (on four targets) for 87 yards as the Patriots mixed coverages to limit arguably the NFL's best wide receiver.
Instead of Eric Rowe or Logan Ryan, the Patriots will now stick Gilmore on Jones, who is too big for Butler but too talented for the 6-foot-1 Rowe, who was admirable in the Super Bowl but not likely to be a reliable long-term option.
Jones was injured during the Falcons' 2013 matchup against Gilmore's Buffalo Bills, but the two squared off in college, including a few physical encounters against each other in this 2010 Alabama-South Carolina game.
Week 10: at Denver Broncos (Sunday Night)
Projected matchup: WR Demariyus Thomas
Gilmore has faced Thomas once before as a member of the Bills in 2014, and although Buffalo lost the game, Gilmore helped in holding Thomas to just 11 yards on two catches - and that was with a still-strong Peyton Manning throwing passes for Denver.
Given Thomas's size, and the fact that the Patriots used Butler on Emmanuel Sanders last season in Denver, we should expect to see Gilmore against the 6-foot-3 Thomas here.
Thomas had 91 yards on 7 catches last season against Logan Ryan and some double-teaming. Gilmore will help here.
Week 14: at Miami Dolphins (Monday Night)
Projected matchup: WR DaVante Parker
This is a tricky one. Seeing as Jarvis Landry is Miami's best wide receiver, it can't be ruled out that Gilmore may see some time covering him. But the Patriots stuck Butler on Landry last year, and the size matchup (Landry is 5-foot-11) coupled with former first-round pick Parker's size (6-foot-3, 209 pounds) seems to signal that the Patriots may opt to use Gilmore on Parker, keeping Butler on Landry.
Gilmore mostly covered Parker in the Bills two bouts with Miami last year, even holding Parker to 20 yards on three catches in a Week 7 matchup. Expect to see this battle again twice this year.
Gilmore will face plenty of serious tests over the course of the 2017 season, especially when the Patriots are playing in front of a national audience. He is obviously excited to show the football world what he can do, but he will certainly need to be on top of his game.
