Mojo's Corner (2020 Camp Reports)

[Philosophers]

The starting D seems to be coming along nicely.

You can't help but see the parallels to a typical New England D. Always appear short on Edge Rushers but pressure the QB well. The Giants don't have a front-line ER but they do have 4 who can play. Belichick has said his perfect D is the same 11 on the field able to handle every situation. Allows disguise. In order to do that, everyone must be versatile.

The Pats D always seems to be no-names: big, physical team-first grunt guys who play assignment football. You don't need All Pros to have a suffocating defense. It's 11 guys playing as 1.

I'm by no means projecting a great D but don't expect the embarrassment of last year. An "eat it" year with bad coaching staff + breaking in rookies and new players. This year the roster is stronger and more experienced, with key holes plugged. McKinney was a tremendous add - his ability at FS frees up the CBs, Peppers & Love to attack short. Graham (like Bill B.) plays a lot of man coverage - you need a great FS to do that. The Pats paid McCourty a boatload for a reason. Last year, they had to protect Old Man Bethea deep. This year, the 3 S package can be the engine driving the D, a la 2011.

Gettleman has built this thing inside/out - the middle of the field should be tough-sledding, run or pass. Similar to how he built that Panthers D.

Having safeties who really are legit tweeners between LBs and CBs and who can hit like LBs but cover more like CBs will allow them to blanket the field.  I like a 3 safety D a lot especially since I see our LBs as no more than adequate.  I think our secondary will be fine.  Darnay Holmes and Julian Love will play multiple positions and the loss of Baker will not be as impactful as many here feel.