If the New England Patriots are going to return to the NFL playoffs after failing to qualify in two of the last three seasons, the defense will likely carry them there.
Defense was the strength of last season's roster, and that's expected to be the case again. Just look at the Patriots' 2023 draft picks. By spending first-, second-, and third-round picks to bolster the defense, it seems that the Patriots see that side of the ball as the best path to success.
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One of the most impressive aspects of this defense is its positional versatility. Position-less players is a term you often hear in the NBA these days, but it's becoming more popular in the NFL now. Players who can fill multiple roles and play multiple positions are essential, and the Patriots have a bunch of them on defense.
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"We have unicorns, for real," Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon told reporters after Tuesday's minicamp practice at Gillette Stadium. "We got a guy like (Kyle) Dugger who can play on the line of scrimmage, at linebacker depth. He can play at corner, but he's a safety. And we drafted players who can play from nose to middle linebacker. You know, we got big rangy corners to corners like Marcus Jones, where he played three, four different positions on each different unit -- offense, defense and special teams. So with that it's not unusual.
"You gotta get those players on the field, right? Our coaches do a great job of finding any way to get those players in different packages on the field and put them in situations where they can compete and they can win. And that's what they're doing. So it's not unusual for that to happen, but it's unusual for us to have these types of players like that."
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Judon is confident that this versatility on the Patriots defense will help them match up with any kind of offense they'll see during the 2023 season.
"So if we can keep everybody here, keep everybody healthy -- you know, it's training camp, we have a lot of players," Judon said. "But when we cut everything down, keep everybody healthy, keep everybody rolling, it's gonna be easy for us to match up with any offensive personnel."
The Patriots have one of the toughest regular season schedules in the league. Their first eight opponents all feature quality starting quarterbacks. That stretch includes matchups against Dak Prescott, Tua Tagovailoa (twice), Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Hurts.
If the Patriots are going to survive the first half of the season and be in the mix for a playoff spot in the wildly competitive AFC, the defense will need to give them a chance to win each week. And based on the talent and versatility on that side of the ball, there's a decent chance the Patriots' win/loss record could end up being better than many people expect.
