The believers in the New England Patriots will point to the defense, and specifically the front seven group – linemen and linebackers – to carry the team in 2024.
Give Bill Belichick, and to a lesser extent Steve Belichick, credit for the in-the-box play on the defense over the past couple seasons. The unit has been stout, allowing an NFL-best 3.3 yards per carry in 2023, and most often through scheme generated enough pressure in the passing game despite top rusher Matt Judon playing just four games before a season-ending biceps injury.
How pivotal is the front seven to the Patriots’ success this season?
Well, let’s put it this way. If you were drafting the talent on this team, Judon and defensive tackle Christian Barmore would be the first two guys off the board.
Tackle Davon Godchaux, end Deatrich Wise and off-the-ball linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley would also likely find their way into the top 10 as well.
That might speak to the lack of players on the current roster, but it’s tough to argue against what this defense has done, keeping this team in games week after week. Believe me, I’ve tried.
Here are four points to watch this summer as the defensive front comes together in preparation for the September opener with the Bengals.
All-Pro or Bust
After three seasons, with 11 games started, just under 60 percent of defensive snaps played and 12.5 total sacks, the Patriots handed Barmore a four-year, $84 million extension in this offseason.
This franchise expects and needs more out of him. The kid out of Alabama, who played in all 17 games a year ago, is being paid All-Pro dollars. More importantly, that extension was noticed around the locker room.
Barmore has shown signs of being a monster. He penetrates with the best in the game and should benefit from a less restrictive defensive scheme from new coordinator DeMarcus Covington.
The pieces are all in place for his emergence. At this time next year, if we are all anxious to see where Barmore lands on the NFL Network’s upcoming top 100, his season will have been a success.
Batman or Robin?
The 46th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Keion White, did just enough in training camp last summer to cause a stir in the salivary glands for Patriots fans.
The defensive end out of Georgia Tech, at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, is fast, athletic and strong. He dominated guys in preseason games, giving you a reason to watch.
What followed was good news and bad through the 17-game season.
Injuries created opportunities, and the rookie found himself on the field for 49 percent of the snaps, earning valuable reps and experience which can only help him down the road. That’s the good news.
The bad?
White’s production – 12 solo tackles with one sack – was less than fruitful.
He doesn’t need to be a superstar in a lead role at age 25. But if White can find a way to emerge as a game-altering cohort to Barmore in the lead role – a tandem like Washington had with Chase Young and Montez Sweat – the Patriots defense will be cooking.
Ticking Time Bomb
Speaking of contracts, neither Godchaux nor Judon are happy with their current situations.
Their level of interest and participation at camp will definitely be worth monitoring.
Judon is the leader on this defense. Paying him $7.5 million this year, after upwards of $14 million in 2023, is kind of an insult. Yes, his deal is for two years and $21 million or so. He got an advance last year.
But he still deserves a raise.
Godchaux is looking for term and some stability. It’s hard for him to not look over at Barmore and see him getting three times the pay for roughly the same work.
Appeasing these two, sooner than later, would be smart in order to ensure stability up front.
Where’s the depth?
With so much situational substitution going on in the NFL game, it’s important with this group to find depth and have those pieces deliver.
The role players can’t just exist. They must contribute.
For instance, do the Patriots get the Josh Uche on the edge, who delivered 11 sacks in 2022? Or the one who revered to early form with three sacks last year?
They are limited. Uche can rush. Bentley plays tough against the run. Linebacker Jahlani Tavai excels in open space but struggles in traffic.
Can a guy like Raekwon McMillan stay healthy?
Don’t look to any real newcomers for answers to these questions. All but one Patriots draft pick went to offensive players this spring – none in the front seven.
To steal a popular phrase in these parts: They are what they are.
Now, they have to go out and prove that they are strengths, not weaknesses.
