With the Patriots hitting the midpoint of their season, a clearer picture has emerged when it comes to the team's usage of defensive personnel. Here are some things that stand out:
Adalius Thomas is part of every personnel package, as no defender has played more (99 percent of the team's snaps). He is one of two players who has been spotted leading the defensive huddle, along with Mike Vrabel (81 percent). While he's an outside linebacker in the base 3-4, he will play off the line at times in sub packages.
Jerod Mayo has scaled what was supposed to be a steep learning curve for a rookie linebacker in the Patriots' defense. He's been a starter from Day 1, playing more than any defender other than Adalius Thomas and James Sanders (93 percent), and leads the team in tackles (65).
At this point last year, DL Richard Seymour was preparing to make his first start after coming off the physically unable to perform list due to a knee injury. What a difference a year makes. Seymour looks like his old self, playing 75 percent of the snaps (tops among all linemen) as he often stays on the field on third down. He leads the team with nine quarterback hits, while he's second in quarterback sacks (4).
For the first 11 games of last season, Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau split time at the weakside inside linebacker spot, with Bruschi playing mostly on early downs and Seau in sub packages. This year, it's a Bruschi/Gary Guyton combination at the strongside inside linebacker spot, with Bruschi (50 percent playtime) usually on the field on first and second down as a key part of the 3-4 alignment and Guyton (30 percent) -- depending on the specific matchup -- entering in sub packages.
DE Ty Warren (70 percent) continues to quietly go about his business. He's second on the team with 47 tackles, which is impressive considering that the base 3-4 alignment isn't always designed for linemen to have high tackle totals.
Not including the Chargers game in which he sustained a first-quarter injury, pass-rushing DL Jarvis Green has played in five games (32 percent playtime) and has yet to record a quarterback sack. He had 6.5 sacks last year and the Patriots often rely on him to pressure the opposing quarterback as a sub rusher.
Ellis Hobbs (83 percent) and Deltha O'Neal (73 percent) have been the primary cornerbacks to this point, with Lewis Sanders (19 percent), Jonathan Wilhite (19 percent), Mike Richardson (18 percent) and Terrence Wheatley (16 percent) playing in either spot starting duty or in sub packages.
Rookie OLB Shawn Crable, ILB Larry Izzo and ILB Eric Alexander are the lone defensive players currently on the 53-man roster to not play a defensive snap.
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Awesome breakdown Mike! This is a year where the Pats are going NOWHERE if the defense isn't one of the top in the league. I think they have showed some great signs over the last few weeks, and it is great to see young faces doing so much.
At times, I feel as though the pass rush is not as effective as it should be, however. I was expecting the pressure to be ridiculous with Seymour back in full stride.
Great stuff Mike. It's great seeing the defensive snap tallies each week, it really helps give a clearer picture of what the team is doing on defense.
How bad is the Terrence Wheatley injury? De we know anything yet?
Hi Mike,
Any thoughts on adding DeAngelo Hall to this mix? Would he fit with the Pats philosophy? How messed up are the Raiders?
Are the Pats interested in D. Hall?
The Jason Webster signing appears to be the answer to the D. Hall speculation. As Mike observed, Webster's slot coverage ("star" position) and Pats training camp experience makes him the better choice from BB's perspective. Is Webster's salary more cap-friendly than Hall's, too?
Since 2003, does a Pats season pass without significant, seemingly non-stop injuries in the d backfield? Talk about snakebit...
Hi Mike - reading your take on Jarvis "Ben Ellis" Green and his zero sacks brought back a memory for me. It reminded me that I'm still ticked at Belichick for giggling at you at one of the press conferences a few years back when you referred to Jarvis as a "rush end". For the record, I thought that was a great way to describe his role on the Pats D. Seriously, I wonder how Jarvis is doing raising Marquise Hill's kid along with his own kids? That's got to take a lot out of him.
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