Pats’ front seven looking forward with new, returning faces

Jacob Marrocco
Posted 5/21/15

The New England Patriots’ pass rush has not been particularly fearsome in recent years, but the 2015-16 season could be when the change comes.

Since the 2007 near-perfect season, when New …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Pats’ front seven looking forward with new, returning faces

Posted

The New England Patriots’ pass rush has not been particularly fearsome in recent years, but the 2015-16 season could be when the change comes.

Since the 2007 near-perfect season, when New England’s 47 sacks were good for second in the NFL, the Patriots have cracked the top 10 just once when they were fifth with 48 in 2013. In every other season, New England could not move past 14th in the league, including a tie for 23rd with 31 sacks in 2009.

When defensive tackle Vince Wilfork’s option wasn’t picked up in March, and the departure of defensive backs Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner following soon after, the defending champions’ defense looked doomed in their attempts at a repeat.

It seems, though, that head coach Bill Belichick has shifted his focus from the secondary to the pass rush. Last season, Revis and Browner worked together with Devin McCourty to become one of the best units in the NFL, while the pass rush hovered around average in getting to the quarterback, tied for 13th in the league in sacks. Two of their rivals, the Jets (6) and the Bills (1), were both in the top six last year.

Belichick has adopted a scorched earth policy on his secondary during this off-season, while bolstering the defensive line and linebacker core through free agency, the draft and players returning from injury. To be fair, the Patriots were one of the top 10 teams in the league in defending the run last year, allowing just a shade over 104 yards per game.

“Every year when you go into a new season I feel like there’s a new team,” Patriots’ defensive end Chandler Jones said at his appearance at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Apponaug on Tuesday. “There’s new players, there’s roster changes, and that’s just how the NFL works and it’s something that you have to adapt to and after you adapt you gel. And that’s what we’re in the process of doing is every guy’s gelling together and getting familiar with each other and that’s the phase that we’re in right now.”

With Wilfork gone, the leadership role falls on defensive end Jones. Jones, who will enter his fourth season and dealt with a hip injury for part of last year, has only started all 16 games once for New England, but the results were there. In 2013, that top-5 sack year for the Patriots, Jones had 11.5. Back at full strength, the Syracuse product can look to repeat those numbers.

Jones will most likely line up opposite Rob Ninkovich on the left side with Sealver Siliga and Dominique Easley, returning from injury himself, filling up the starting defensive tackle spots. Easley, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound lineman out of Florida, only showed flashes of his potential last season. Nagged by a knee injury for most of his rookie season, he only mustered one sack and one interception in 11 games.

Siliga and Easley will have their work cut out for them in securing their jobs. Texas defensive tackle Malcom Brown, New England’s 32nd overall pick in the draft, presents someone else to be positive about in bolstering the pass rush. He recorded 61 tackles and 6.5 sacks last season for the Longhorns and possesses an exceptional ability to stop the run and clog up any holes. His ability to get to the man under center can use some work, as is the case for most rookies who top out at nearly 320 pounds, but Brown will certainly be in some rotation for the Patriots when the banner is raised in September.

Looking to return to old form, too, is Jabaal Sheard. The Pats signed Sheard to a two-year, $11 million contract in the off-season with the hopes he can get back to the way he played in 2011 and 2012. He played in all 32 games between those two seasons and recorded a combined 15.5 sacks. In 2011, he forced five fumbles and had seven stuffs for 21 yards. His and Brown’s ability to stop the run in the middle can push the Pats potentially into top-5 territory in that regard.

“The bigger that our room can be, the better for the team and the depth that we have,” Jones said. “Jabaal Sheard’s a tremendous player. I actually know him from college and I’m a big fan of him as well. So I’m excited to have him on the team, and some of the younger guys are coming. They’re doing great in the drills.”

Linebacker Jaime Collins came into his own last season, dropping back into coverage and charging the quarterback, and he did it without Jerod Mayo for most of the year. Collins picked off two passes, forced four fumbles and registered a combined 116 tackles in only his second season, and for his third go-around he will have healthy current and former teammates.

Mayo tore his patella tendon early last season and has struggled to stay healthy for the Pats. Since 2012, when he played in all 16 games and forced four fumbles with three sacks, he has only managed a combined 12 games. He agreed to take a pay cut, and this could be a resurgent year for him if he wants to be the ferocious linebacker he once was.

Joining the fray in New England also is Brandon Spikes, who signed a one-year deal after a short stint in Buffalo. Spikes, despite not recording a sack in 2013, was a part of that 48-sack pass rush and has played in at least 15 games over the past three seasons. He forced four fumbles in 2012, perhaps his best year. If Spikes and Mayo can return to 2012 form, and stay healthy, the linebacker core will be a force to be reckoned with.

“I was excited,” Jones said, speaking about his reaction to Spikes’ return. “He’s definitely a force. Especially in stopping the run and even some forced in rushing the passer as well. I was very excited for Brandon to come back and this will be great for our team.”

And there’s Hightower to throw into the mix, too.

The former Alabama linebacker will miss most of the off-season and maybe a couple of games after having surgery to repair a torn labrum, but last season may have been his best. He had a combined 89 tackles and six sacks (a career-high). The combination of Collins, Hightower, Mayo and Spikes (all healthy) can be one of the stoutest units New England has seen in a decade.

Since New England hasn’t had a consistently good pass rush in nearly a decade, maybe the experiment will be worth it. Especially with their division rivals allowing an average of 44 sacks last season. My prediction is that they crack the top five yet again.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here