Trey Flowers adds to New England Patriots top front seven

The New England Patriots have been busy plucking talented defensive linemen in each of the past two drafts, with the most notable selections being back-to-back first-round defensive tackles Dominique Easley and Malcom Brown. While those two are locked in as starters as 3-4 DEs and 4-3 DTs who can disrupt in the backfield, the Patriots added a 4-3 DE type with the 101st overall pick in Arkansas product Trey Flowers.

Although Flowers isn’t known for his pass rushing ability off the edge, he’s a good fit for the Patriots. The Pats like ends who can play the run, and Flowers is exactly that type of player. He’s strong, physical, and fits this team as a nice backup in the rotation who can come in certain situations.

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Basically, the Patriots goal is to build versatility up front, and they’ve done a great job of building a formidable front seven. They have Chandler Jones coming off of the edge, Rob Ninkovich setting the tone, Jabaal Sheard, Brown, Easley, and Sealver Siliga plugging up holes in the running game as a nose.

There’s so much mix-and-match potential, and I have a feeling Flowers could see significant playing time, especially in 4-3 packages. Again, he’s not the best edge rusher due to his lack of speed, but he was such a productive player in college in a tough conference and has that two-way ability at DE that the Patriots (and other teams) covet.

Sheard has been called one of the steals of free agency, and it looks like the Patriots may have just snagged one of the steals of the third day of the draft. I think Flowers fell into the third day because of his 4.85 and 4.93 forty times in the pre-draft process, but he can be a 3-4 outside linebacker for this defense if Jones gets injured again and the Pats need to play him there.

It’s hard not to like how well-rounded Trey Flowers is and how versatile he is, and I wish people gave more credit to defensive ends and 3-4 outside linebackers who can make a big impact against the run. Although pass rushing is the most important thing in this league, the Patriots like players who can set the edge, and I think that’s something they really needed to invest in. They run a hybrid defense, and Flowers’s ability to play the run will help them shore things up in the 4-3 scheme.

I really like what the New England Patriots have done in this year’s draft, and if Easley and Brown can make the impact that I think they will, then this defensive line could be scary. I mean, they already have some of the best linebackers in the league and a couple of very good edge rushers in Jones and Sheard. For the Pats, the biggest issue in the past was getting pass rushing outside of their starters, as they made several poor mid-round picks and had nothing outside of Jones and Ninko.

That’s no longer an issue, as they have both interior pass rushers and a potentially solid sub-package backup in Flowers. And while Flowers isn’t a top-notch pass rusher, he should have been a third-round pick due to his relentless motor and work at the point of attack.

Next: Looking back at Round 1 Grades

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