Patriots: Who will lead the team in sacks this season?

4. Kyle Van Noy

One of the better stories of the NFL, Kyle Van Noy has essentially spent half his career with the Detroit Lions and half with the New England Patriots. With all due respect to the Lions as a franchise, their players, their coaches, and their fans, it’s remarkable to analyze the differences in the same player’s production split between the two places.

As a Lion, Van Noy played in 30 games and started in seven of them. He had 36 tackles, one sack, one pass defensed, zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles, zero fumble recoveries, and zero defensive touchdowns.

As a Patriot, Van Noy has played in 36 games and started in 30 of them. He so far has 192 tackles, 10 sacks, six passes defensed, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one defensive touchdown.

Those stats aren’t even accounting for Van Noy’s production in the playoffs, which has been dominant to say the least over the past three seasons with the Patriots. Throw in those nine extra games, and Van Noy has an additional 41 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three passes defensed, and three forced fumbles.

Still just 28 years old, this is an ascendant player who evidently just needed a change of scenery to unlock his true potential as one of the stouter linebackers in the NFL today. Solid against both the run and the pass in coverage, Van Noy also finished third on the team in sacks last year with 3.5 and second on the team in 2017 with 5.5.

It’s not absurd at all to think he could challenge for the No. 1 spot in 2019 now that Trey Flowers is gone.