Time to Push the Panic Button on Patriots Secondary?

It didn't take long for fans of the New England Patriots to return to their favorite pastime: complaining about the secondary.

One year of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner at cornerback was enough to make Patriots fans forget that they haven't fielded a dominant defensive backfield in years. And while both losses will cause dramatic differences in the Patriots' defensive strategy compared to 2014, neither loss is necessarily a death knell on the Patriots fielding a competent pass defense in 2015.

Of course, most fans want high-profile departures to be met with high-profile acquisitions. That's never been Bill Belichick's M.O., though, and the Patriots were content to search for diamonds in the rough in the likes of Chimdi Chekwa, Bradley Fletcher and Robert McClain. 

Last year, safety Devin McCourty was charged with getting all the veteran cornerbacks up to speed; this year, he'll be charged with getting a group of youngsters ready to roll and masking their mistakes in coverage.

Year	2014	2015 (projected)
CB1	Darrelle Revis	Malcolm Butler
CB2	Brandon Browner	Logan Ryan
CB3	Kyle Arrington	Kyle Arringtlon
FS	Devin McCourty	Devin McCourty
SS	Patrick Chung	Duron Harmon

Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler, Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard all have starting experience in the NFL. Entering the season with that foursome as starters may not be ideal, but it is far from a death sentence. Adding three cornerbacks with upside could be just the move the Patriots needed in order to round out the roster. Daxton Swanson and Justin Green will also compete for roster spots. 

Of those nine cornerbacks, the Patriots are hoping to find three suitable starters. It's the old volume approach at work once again: Throw a bunch of darts at the board, and hope you hit with as many as possible.

Ryan, Butler and Arrington may all be better suited to play in the slot, but they all can play outside too—after a strong training camp catapulted him up the depth chart, Butler even started there while Browner was suspended to start the season. He showed strong flashes of brilliance during the season and has more than earned the benefit of the doubt to start 2015.

Ryan began his career on a high note and looked like a potential mid-round find before a sluggish sophomore campaign that accentuated man coverage over zone, the latter a strength of Ryan's, the former a weakness. With more zone looks to come in 2015, he could get right back on track.

Arrington has been a fit in just about any scheme he's been asked to execute, but zone is also his strong suit. His reputation as a slot cornerback is also a bit misguided; sure, he was benched lining up across from 6'5" Chris Matthews, but he could still be asked to cover quicker, undersized receivers who line up on the perimeter.

Fletcher was considered a rising star in Philadelphia before a dreadful 2014 season in which he yielded more receiving yards into his coverage than any other cornerback in the league and allowed nine touchdowns, second-most in the league, according to Pro Football Focus, but was it a result of the scheme, a lack of confidence, or a loss of skill? We'll find out in time, but the Patriots have certainly given themselves plenty of opportunities to field a starting secondary.

And they may not be done adding to their secondary just yet. According to CBS Sports' prospect rankings, there are 15 cornerbacks in this year's draft class who are projected to be selected in the first three rounds. Nine of those 15—or 60 percent—stand at least 6'0" tall. 

Besides, it could be worse; it could be 2011.

That year, the Patriots had eight different cornerbacks that started a game, including (but not limited to) Antwaun Molden, Leigh Bodden, Sterling Moore, Ras-I Dowling and Nate Jones. Julian Edelman even earned some run at cornerback that year. Their safeties that year were a combination of James Ihedigbo, Matt Slater, Patrick Chung and Josh Barrett. 

And besides, the secondary will not bear the full burden of keeping opponents from scoring. The Patriots already added pass-rusher Jabaal Sheard to the front seven in an attempt to improve their pass rush and, subsequently, their chances of shutting down opposing offenses. Sheard won't be asked to do it all on his own, however, and he'll be serving as a complement to incumbents Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich.

The loss of Vince Wilfork is another tough pill for Patriots fans to swallow, but it goes down smoother with the knowledge that Sealver Siliga has been groomed for Wilfork's role and that the Patriots also have young pass-rushing defensive tackle Dominique Easley coming back off injury last year.

The Patriots' pass defense may take a step back without Revis and Browner, but if the front seven can pick up some of the slack, they may not miss much more than a beat.

Belichick has MacGyver'd his way out of worse secondaries, making formidable pass defenses out of duct tape and Earthwind Moreland. Their defensive backfield may have been the key to a strong midseason push that helped them clinch the No. 1 seed in 2014, but the landscape of the conference doesn't shift that much despite losing two key components of that group.

Even without Revis, the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens are still in the Patriots' rearview mirror from a talent standpoint. 

And Belichick helps make up for some of the ground they lost.