Notable Patriots defensive lineman projected to take leap in year two?

Year two player and defensive lineman Christian Barmore is projected to take a leap in 2022 for the Patriots, according to a prominent NFL.com writer.

Nfl.com’s Gregg Rosenthal is projecting big things for second year defensive tackle Christian Barmore.  Rosenthal has an article on NFL’s website where he picks candidates from each AFC team to take year two leaps, and Barmore is the pick for the New England Patriots.

Drafted in the second round out of Alabama in 2021, Barmore possesses excellent size and appeared in all 17 games for the team in 2021, starting two of them.

His 63.4 PFF grade was solid, and he also added three tackles for loss and nine QB hits.

Along with recently extended Davon Godchaux, Barmore looks to solidify the Patriots’ front for years two come.

Unfortunately, the team was not spectacular stopping the run in 2021, allowing 126.5 rushing yards per game, which ranked 24th in the NFL.

Given that a ton of rookies, especially high draft picks, naturally go through a second year improvement, it is realistic to expect Barmore to improve.

His explosiveness and athleticism are things that simply cannot be taught to any athlete, so Barmore should be able to leverage those skills along with his massive size and length to improve in all areas of his game.

It would be nice to see an enhanced pass rush as well.  Not many interior players are true pass rush threats, but if Barmore can improve in this area for year two, the Patriots’ pass rush and defense overall might take a huge leap forward.

When Barmore was first drafted, I remember thinking to myself what a steal it was, given many mock drafts had him going in the top half of the first round, not in a lower round altogether.

Bill Belichick seems to have struck gold with Barmore, and we might be able to see his ascension in 2022.