Concerning our 'smaller' DL, Ken, you have to keep in mind that although Jones is smaller than the Pats DEs of years prior such as Warren or Seymour, he is still a run stopping beast. He is 270 lbs and 6'6. His tremendous wingspan and motor allows him to set the edge with great leverage and he also has the speed and athleticism to pursue backside plays which overall imo makes him an upgrade in the run defense game vs our mismash of replacement/aging DEs who were manning the position in years prior..
Maybe Jones might "mature" into a 270-285lb DE, but he's a lot closer to 260 right now than those numbers. But what makes this run stopping DE tandem so surprising is the job Ninko is doing. He's also in the 260 range, but he is relatively short AND with short arms....all the things Jones is NOT, and all the things you'd think you WOULDN'T want your starting 3 down DE to be.
About the only thing that Ninko has going for him is his production. Somehow he's managed to produce a respectable amount of pressures, sacks forced fumbles and big plays that belie his unorthodox size and athletic metrics
Cunningham has become a good #3 in that DE rotation, and we really don't know what we have in Scott and Bequette at this point.
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In addition to that Wilfork and Love are probably the best interior run stopping tandem in the NFL. Wilfork is arguably the best NT in football right now and Love simply does not get moved easily. Add in the fact that Mayo is still a tackling machine and Spikes has taken his game to another level and you get the results of the Pats being a top 10 run stopping unit in the NFL. I see this continuing to be the case the rest of the season and they even have a shot of cracking the top 5 if everyone continus to improve, particularly Hightower who has not quite hit his stride yet but has enormous potential..
I don't know about "the best" tandem, but right up there at the top and Brace and Deadrick give us 2 very good back ups for depth. I'm comfortable with either guy in at DT
As to the LB's Mayo has finally become more than just a tackling machine and is starting to make more "big plays" answering his critics. Spikes is a physical force in the middle of the defense and is an impact player when he doesn't guess too much. Hightower's "potential" is clear to see. He can really do it all. Run support, pass rush, and better than expected in coverage, All that plus being a solid tackler and a big hitter. Still its Hightower, not Jones who seems like he needs a big more time to develop, where most of us thought it would be the other way around. Yet I wouldn't trade either of them.
Glad you agree with my thoughts on the empty backfield. It has its place but not like 2007. The running game is just too much of a threat not to present it as a option to the defense at every opportunity. On the opposite trend, I'd like to see us pass more from that 3TE plus a FB formation we show every once in a while.
