New England Patriots: Fireworks are coming to Foxboro from front seven
Although the New England Patriots front seven underperformed in 2017-2018, they’re a prime candidate to bounce back this season.
I don’t think former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will be a good head coach. The Patriots’ defense, on the other hand, will be just fine.
Bill Belichick’s confidence in ex-linebackers coach Brian Flores, paired with how consistent their playing style has been since before Patricia was even there, leads me to believe he won’t be missed. In fact, I’d even go a step further and say that the Patriots defense, namely their front seven, will rank in the league’s top-five this year across the board.
This is a brash statement, even for a team that makes the playoffs as often as they do. Belichick’s flexibility-forward “bend, don’t break” model allowed a paltry 18.5 points-per-game last year, ranking 5th in the NFL (the Eagles were 4th).
With that being said, the defense was middling if not terrible in most other categories. They were 29th in yards per game, 12th in sacks, 18th in interceptions, and 20th in rushing yards allowed. Nobody ever really doubts the front seven unit will do their job, but I’m here to tell you that this year they will be electric.
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Trader Bill looks for value above anything else, and then seeks it out at a discount where he can find it. This starts with their edge rushers.
While the 2017 draft class was largely a wash, one notable alumnus still remains with the team, Derek Rivers. This is a guy whose biggest knock was that he attended a small school, which may remind you of someone from this year’s class. Rivers set a school record with 41 sacks in his time at Youngstown, ranked 4th among DE’s in the 40 at the combine, and led one of the top statistically ranked units in college.
The best part is, he’s not even first in line for the starting job. This is a rotation that includes Trey Flowers, who has quietly become a leader within the Patriots organization, Adrian Clayborn, someone capable of greatness like this, and Deatrich Wise, a late 4th rounder from Arkansas who tied for 5th among rookies in sack totals last year.
Moving further out to linebacker, people often forget that the Patriots played virtually an entire Super Bowl-caliber season without Dont’a Hightower.
Part of that is because Kyle Van Noy stepped in admirably, providing QB hurries and a career-high sack total of 5.5. This year, we’ll have them both, and a defensive tackle unit that looms taller and heavier than any other unit currently in the NFL.
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This year’s rush defense may not be very Patriot-like, but that’s because a team normally dictated by a stat line that “bends” to the offense, will finally be capable of crushing it instead. Besides, they’ll know karate, right?