Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Pro Football Focus is not excited about New England’s pass rushing talent.
When looking at last year’s statistics, we can see that the New England Patriots lost some considerable pass rushing talent over the course of the offseason. Trey Flowers, who joined the Detroit Lions as a free agent, led the club with 76.5 combined quarterback disruptions (9.5 sacks, 29 hits, 38 hurries). Adrian Clayborn, who was cut in a cost-saving move, finished fourth with a total of 30.5 pressures (3.5 sacks, 17 hits, 10 hurries).
Both are gone, leaving a sizable hole in New England’s pass rushing arsenal. The club did try its best to fill it, though: Michael Bennett was acquired via trade from the Philadelphia Eagles, while Michigan’s Chase Winovich was selected in the third round of this year’s draft. Together with third-year man Deatrich Wise Jr, free-agency re-signee John Simon, and interior rusher Adam Butler, they form the current nucleus of the Patriots’ pass rush.
While the unit does have solid depth and some developmental upside with Winovich, Wise and Butler, it also lacks star power and proven productivity in New England’s system. As a result, advanced analytics website Pro Football Focus recently ranked the world champions’ new-look pass rushing group as just the 27th best in the NFL heading into the new season. PFF’s Michael Renner argued the bottom-tier ranking as follows:
Trey Flowers was the Patriots’ pass-rush for much of last season, and while the addition of Michael Bennett mitigates that to some degree, it’s not a one-for-one replacement. Bennett’s not topped a pass-rushing grade over 75.0 since 2015.
The criticism is fair: Flowers was immensely productive for the Patriots since he emerged into a regular member of the defensive edge rotation during the 2016 season. Replacing him will not be easy even for as experienced a player as Michael Bennett. That being said, the 33-year-old is coming off a pretty productive 2018 season: Bennett registered 10.0 quarterback sacks, 22 hits, and 44 hurries in a combined 18 games for the Eagles.
Bennett is the top candidate to take over Flowers’ role as the number one edge defender, but he could receive some help from second-level defenders Kyle Van Noy and Dont’a Hightower. The linebacker duo ranked second and third on the Patriots in quarterback disruptions last year with 48.5 and 37, respectively, and is again projected to play a considerable role in New England’s pass rush this season.
This usage of linebackers in combination with the Patriots’ existing talent up front and the defensive scheme could again pay dividends for the team this season. Until that actually happens, however, the pass rush remains somewhat of a question mark — and ranked among the NFL’s worst.
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