Under this new regime, the Patriots told us they wanted to be an attacking front, a decidedly different approach from the Belichick era, where two-gapping was all the rage. It’s fair to say Mike Vrabel didn’t lie to us, especially when it came to the interior defensive line. That’s not to say that group was just allowed to pin their ears back without a concern for gap integrity, but the Pats weren’t afraid to let the big dogs eat and got more than expected from some of their depth pieces. But there is potential for more than just minor changes here.
UNDER CONTRACT: Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Cory Durden, Joshua Farmer, Isaiah Iton, Eric Gregory, Leonard Taylor, Jeremiah Pharms
FREE AGENT: Khyiris Tonga
The Pats made big investments in Williams and Barmore, but only one of those deals was done with the approval of Vrabel and company. That was Williams, and he was worth every dang penny in year one, finishing 9th in pressure rate amongst all interior defensive linemen. That first step get-off was better than advertised, and Williams uses his hands well. There is a relentless nature to his game that plays well for this, or any other coaching staff.
“When you have interior disruptors,” Zak Kuhr told me before the Super Bowl, “that changes the game.”
Williams was also equally adept against the run and proved to be a terrific leader who stood there in good times and bad, not that there were very many of those.
That’s a contrast from what Barmore brought to the table, where he was erratic off the field and inconsistent on it. His production came in waves, and when he was good, Barmore was very good (6th in pressure rate). But there is so much more to the story than that.
Barmore is facing a serious legal issue, one which the Pats didn’t exactly bend over backward to support him over (as opposed to Stefon Diggs). He also had to be physically managed – not just with the blood clots that cost him the majority of the previous season, but also his knee. With an out on his contract this offseason, this is the time to move on. However, a sampling of his value over the past week yielded underwhelming results. Think a
