How valuable was CB Leigh Bodden to the Patriots?

The loss of Leigh Bodden will sting for the Patriots secondary. That’s clear. You could tell by the hushed voices with which his teammates spoke last, while declining to talk publicly about seeing Bodden say goodbye to his season. But how badly will it hurt? For that, we turn to our friends from ProFootballFocus. They emailed last night, while we were scrambling around at the annual Gala, to alert us to some data they dug up on that exact subject. Without taking into account new first-round draft pick Devin McCourty, but with a year’s sample of starting cornerback Darius Butler, they crunched some numbers and let us know how Bodden’s performance compared with that of his teammates. This data ignores any improvement anyone has made — figure Butler will be much better than last year — but it is meaningful. Let’s just say, Bodden will be missed. According to ProFootballFocus.com, Bodden’s numbers were better than every other Patriots CB across...