The Patriots' new defensive tackle combination could dominate the NFL

The New England Patriots will be on the field for real soon. Lots of questions have to be answered. Not the least of which is who’ll play quarterback and left tackle, the two most important positions on
the team. They're central questions and decisions.

The answers will be big determinants of whether this team can (or even intends to) compete for an AFC playoff berth. Otherwise, they’ll de facto demonstrate they're satisfied to be at the bottom of the AFC East again. And, of course, this is accompanied by another high draft pick next April.

The strength of the 2024 New England Patriots is its defense. The greatest position on this
defense could be the defensive line or, more specifically, the defensive tackle tandem. Let’s explore how and who could make the Patriots' defensive line one of the most feared in the National Football League.

Add the 2024 Patriots' Breakout Player of the Year to Christian Barmore

Christian Barmore has established himself as a bona fide NFL star, and his breakout season last year demonstrated that he is a force at defensive tackle, unseen in these parts since the great Vince Wilfork left.

While wildly different players, both excel in the trenches playing as a tackle, a tremendously underrated positional unit on any NFL team. Wilfork was a huge run-stuffer and gap-plugger on the nose, while Barmore is a pocket-collapser there, par excellence. Both were or are standouts in their own way.

The Patriots have an opportunity to add another top inside player to Barmore to create a fearsome twosome few, if any that other NFL teams can deploy. Much of the time, the Pats' incumbent nose tackle is Davon Godchaux, a delegated run-stuffer, who often relegates Barmore to an inside gap tackle role. It’s not an optimal use of the Patriots' current personnel.

The Patriots’ best option is to put Barmore right on the nose and augment his effectiveness by using his fellow pocket-crusher, Keion White (predicted as the Patriots' Breakout Player of the season) in a gap next to him. White proved in somewhat limited use last season that he’s an absolute wrecking machine inside. He should replace Godchaux in the starting lineup.

Complicating the matter is that Godchaux has a monstrous $11.5M 2024 cap hit this season. That was Bill Belichick's doing. Whatever. The best tandem now inside is, without question, Barmore and
White. Neither is usually blockable by one offensive lineman.

If you double one, the other will disrupt. If you double both, the opportunities open up for Dietrich Wise Jr., Matt Judon, or Ja'Whaun Bentley to clean up on any running play. If you’re passing and these two are inside, forget passing from a clean pocket. You’ll get flushed out of the pocket, at best, or get sacked. It is what it is: a great situation for the Patriots.

Using Barmore and White as inside tackles has absolute nightmare potential for any offense. It’s
a formidable duo, reminiscent, if one wants to dream and go back in time, of the incomparable duo of Reggie White and Jerome Brown, who absolutely dominated the NFL for the Eagles back in the day.

That innovative D-line move can make all the difference for the 2024 Patriots' defense. It could take it from very good - to great. It will be interesting to see if Head Coach Jerod Mayo and Defensive Coordinator Demarcus Covington take advantage of this unique opportunity to take their defense to another level. Let’s hope they see the potential.

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