It’s a good question but they’re definitely different defenses. The 07 defense was a veteran-laden crew, clearly trending downwards. A lot of their deficiencies were hidden by the fact that the offense was putting up record amounts of points in nearly every game.
The defense now is younger, but trending upward, so I guess in some respects the comparison is pretty close. You’re right, Jones needs to make the leap to close the gap. The other big hole I see is the lack of a Rodney Harrison. McCourty and Adrian Wilson should combine to bring some of Hot Rod’s fire and leadership, but the back end of the pass defense has never been as bad as it was the last two seasons.
I’ve followed this defensive transition very closely since 2008, it was really a huge impetus when I started blogging about the team, and I think they’ve gone about it the right way. The full turnover was inevitable, and now there are plenty of high-round picks who have gained experience playing together and on big stages.
I have a lot of confidence that this defense is going to take a big step this year, and as I’ve said many times this offseason, go from a defense that just doesn’t lose games to one that actually can win games.