You know a player that impresses me as much as any player I have seen come through New England. Rob Ninkovich, a few years ago I saw him as a serviceable player who I was hoping we would upgrade with Bequette or another draft pick. Now he is arguable one of the best strong side DEs in the NFL, he actually improves every season, he becomes bigger, and more explosive. He is a great story, and I really enjoy watching him play.
Chandler Jones is a freak, the kid does all the things to be the best DE in the game too. If you look at his progression he is now capable of playing 43 DE, 34 DE, 43 DT, 34 OLB, I cannot think of a player outside of JJ Watt who could do that and I am not even sure Watt could play 34 OLB. Jones is huge now, he came into the league at about 265lbs I would say he is between 285-290lbs now, and he has not lost any quickness. I love the kid, I think he is a franchise DE.
Zach Moore is an interesting prospect in my opinion, he is huge, Belichick has been using him at NT in practice a bit. He has a chance with some coaching to be a very good NFL player.
Michael Buchanan is physically more gifted than Jason Pierre-Paul but he really lacks discipline, I was expecting him to make bigger strides in year 2 and I have not seen it thus far. I still like him on the roster, I think you just use him in pass rush situations and let him pin his ears back and go after the QB.
Will Smith looks to be done to me, but he is also in terrible football shape in my opinion so maybe if he can improve that he can get back to near the player he was back in 2010-2011. There was part of last nights broadcast when they showed Smith huffing and puffing like he was a 65 year old fat guy who had been smoking for the past 50 years.
Jake Bequette, I am done holding out hope for him, seriously the kid does not seem interested in football at all, he actually seems bothered when he is on the field, or in a daze. I do not get it, world of potential, shows up in practice but he does not ever do anything in games. His ticket is stamped.
I am not sure at this point how it all comes together, I think there will be more DL on the team than DEs this season with Belichick using more heavy front 7 and then using OLBs like Hightower, Collins, and Fleming at DE/OLB in sub packages.