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Kyle Van Noy is another Protypical Patriot

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New Linebacker Kyle Van Noy will be part of the triumvirate effort in replacing Jamie Collins role in the Patriots defense. While Elandon Roberts and Barkevious Mingo have both played for the Patriots, barring an inactive designation, tonight will mark Van Noy’s first time on the field in New England.

It is unclear how the Patriots will choose to use Van Noy, who after being acquired via trade state he was, “happy to be wanted” in New England, and that the his former team, “didn’t know where to put [him].” Could this be another classic Belichick steal? Honestly, he might be.

Sports Illustrated did a profile on Van Noy in 2013 detailing his complicated past.
Van Noy was born to adoptive parents in 1991 and raised Mormon in Reno, Nevada. Van Noy chose to attend BYU after forming a strong bond with former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall at a church meeting.

After receiving a scholarship from BYU, binding him to the school’s honor code, Van Noy was arrested for a DUI yet retained his scholarship after Mendenhall vouched for him. A month later Van Noy was arrested again, this time for evading arrest, and Mendenhall again was able to convince school officials to retain Van Noy’s scholarship. Van Noy would reward Mendenhall’s trust, playing all four years for the Cougars.

The articlef talks of Van Noy’s transcendent performance in his junior year Poinsettia Bowl victory over San Diego State where he recorded 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two touchdowns (a pick-six and a strip-sack recovered in the endzone) and a blocked kick. Here are some of those highlights:

Van Noy was rated the fourth best outside linebacker heading into the 2014 NFL draft, where he was selected in the second round by the Lions. He was used sparingly in his first two seasons, but has started seven games this year, recording 39 career tackles and a sack. Here are some of his on field highlights from this season.

On the field I think Van Noy can play on all four downs, not saying he will be used that way, but he can play in both pass-rushing and run supporting roles. I think Elandon Roberts is probably a little more solid than Van Noy in terms of pure run-stopping option, so I’m more interested to see if Van Noy can earn a spot as a situational pass-rusher. I’m also interested to see if the Patriots intend to use him in coverage, he wasn’t too bad in that area from what I saw.

Van Noy strikes me as another prototypical Patriot. His background tells me that he’s a loyal, principled and hard-working person. While I don’t think Van Noy will set the world on fire from the jump, I think he has a high ceiling and is still on an entry level contract. Here’s to hoping his debut aides in a Patriots victory tonight over Seattle.

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Comments

  1. I’ll tell you who DOESN’T have a complicated pass, Malcolm Butler. He stunk in the past, he’ll stink in the future and he stinks right now.

    I also wrote a profile in 2013. The subject? Malcolm Butler. You can read it below…

    …. MALCOLM BUTLER STINKS