The New England Patriots safeties will be key chess pieces for 2020.
The New England Patriots experienced a good amount of loss on the defensive side of the ball during 2020 free agency. The turnover in personnel combined with limited salary cap space to sign replacements has many wondering how the team will move forward for the upcoming season.
In particular, the team lost two starting linebackers in Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins and has yet to replace them. However, if you look closer at the team’s roster and the moves they have made, their path forward seems clear. The Patriots are planning to utilize their safeties as their new chess pieces on defense.
The Patriots’ core group of safeties begins with Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung. Both are experienced veterans who have been with the team for ten seasons and have won three Super Bowl championships. They both often serve as additional coaches on the field due to their years of experience in the Patriots defensive system.
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The team also is bringing back Terrence Brooks, who mainly appeared on special teams but played in spots during the 2019 regular season. His added familiarity with the system should help provide depth at safety.
McCourty plays a deep free safety role for the team and Chung often plays a hybrid safety linebacker role. Chung’s role, in particular, is how the team can overcome the loss of their linebackers during the offseason.
He often plays closer to the line of scrimmage and can hold up against the run while also covering running backs and tight ends in pass coverage. He was injured quite a bit last season and Brooks often played in his place to mixed reviews. Chung was recently given an extension so his roster spot should be secure, but the team brought in some reinforcements in case he struggles with injuries again in 2020.
New England Patriots newcomers on the chess board
Adrian Phillips was signed after eight seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. Like Chung, he has shown the versatility in his career to play the hybrid linebacker/safety role while also playing up on the line of scrimmage in his career. He provides insurance for Chung while also potentially providing an added wrinkle of both being on the field at the same time against some of the mobile quarterbacks the team will be facing during the season.
The team also drafted Kyle Dugger in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. Dugger was the team’s first pick of the draft and he is the future of the safety position for the Patriots.
Even as a rookie, Dugger offers more size than both Chung and Phillips and, depending on his understanding of the defense, he could become the true wildcard of the defense. He could truly be the hybrid linebacker the team utilizes at all times with his size while also having the speed to play the deep field if necessary.
The team will still utilize McCourty in the deep half of the field for coverage and he has the ability to play receivers one-on-one when called upon due to his experience as a cornerback. Similar to this, the team has asked second-year corner Joejuan Williams to learn the safety position and concepts this offseason in an effort to get him on the field more.
Williams is the tallest secondary player on the team, and his length could be helpful against taller receivers and even tight ends. If he can show an ability to adapt to safety and play the run, he could be utilized as an added weapon against teams who prefer to use spread formations to create offensive mismatches.
The Patriots will be playing multiple mobile quarterbacks this season including Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray. They also will see Patrick Mahomes during the season. Jackson and Watson in particular offered questions the team could not answer during matchups last season.
It is possible Bill Belichick will utilize his safeties to provide the answers during this season’s matchups. Wilson and Murray are similar and if you have players capable of chasing them down while also able to cover their quicker and faster players down the field, you may have the answers to this test.
All of these teams like to utilize their quarterback’s ability to break the pocket and make big plays down the field. The team may be able to help contain receivers and quarterbacks with this group of extra defensive backs while also still holding up against the running game.
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have always looked for an edge with personnel other teams may be missing. They have long valued positional versatility so teams are unsure of what they are going to do on any given play. This season with the linebacker situation unsettled it appears the value will be at the safety position.
It also seems like this is a response to all of the mobile quarterbacks they will be facing during the upcoming season. Belichick often makes some of his personnel decisions with the upcoming schedule in mind. This may not be the plan forever, but he will use it to counteract the freelancing he will see during 2020. It will be exciting to see how it works out.