new england patriots

Yet another example from Reiss of why nickel is the new base. As you can see from the percentages below the Pats had extra DBs on the field for more than 50% of the snaps against all AFC East rivals, including almost 92% of the time against the Bills.

• Bills – 126 of 137 (91.9 percent)
• Dolphins – 95 of 144 (65.9 percent)
• Jets – 71 of 126 (56.3 percent)

The biggest difference from building a 3-4 base defense and building a nickel is in the front seven, obviously. You can see from the Pats draft approach this year especially that they are getting away from filling the nose tackle/ five technique traditional defensive line positions. Now it’s about getting versatile defensive ends who can stand up against the run, but get after the passer on every down.

The true strength of the Pats defense is of course Vince Wilfork and his ability to dominate inside. I believe the Pats defensive fortunes this year heavily depend on their ability to not only hold up inside against the run but moreso get after the passer, especially on obvious passing down situations.

The Pats struggled at times the last couple years stopping runs against their sub defense, but really the bigger problem was generating that push up the middle. There are quite a few players on the roster now who could fill that role like Jonathan Fanene and Myron Pryor (if healthy), both of whom would be the top choices. But keep an eye out for rookie Justin Francis, who by all beat reporter accounts has looked good in multiple spots.

The Pats cannot afford to have another year of no push up the middle.

Interesting stuff here, but the one I’m most excited about:

Dont’a Hightower will be the first rookie to make a real impact. This is not to say there weren’t positive moments for the rest of the rookie class, particularly Jake Bequette and Chandler Jones. But Hightower flashed fairly consistently over the course of the spring, working at multiple positions and looking very secure while doing so. It’s early, but our bet is that the linebacker out of Alabama will be the most impactful Patriots rookie in 2012.

The defensive rebuild has been one of the biggest motivating factors for this blog, and one of the most surprising observations since 2007 has been how few picks have gone to linebackers compared to how many have gone to DBs. It looks like the tide finally turned in 2012’s draft with the addition of three potential linebacker-types in Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower and Jake Bequette.

Of course comparing defensive personnel is a little different these days than it was back in the Super Bol dynasty years. But the most important thing is those teams feature a core of defenders who played together for many years.

“Hightower, you don’t know yet what he is, or how they’re going to use him,” Millen said in a recent phone interview with the Herald. “It’s still Christmas (morning) up there for them. They’re still unwrapping the package to see what their new toy does. They’ll figure that out and Bill will figure that out as it goes. And you also have Chandler Jones, and seeing how to use him, and that kind of figures into it, too.”