By Jon Lyons
NEFJ Correspondent
The Patriots are 2-9. Nearly everything about the once dynastic team is bad. Week in and week out, they find new ways to lose or new mistakes to make. Despite this, there are three players whose effort and play continue to stand out. In a lost season, the play of Christian Barmore, Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers has been strong and showed that those three should be significant parts of the Patriots rebuild.
Christian Barmore
Barmore was a second-round pick in 2021 and immediately flashed high end potential at defensive tackle. An injury plagued 2022 limited his effectiveness, but in 2023 he has put it all together. He has played in all 11 games and registered 19 tackles, four sacks, six pass deflections, and 3.5 run stuffs. Barmore’s 70.0 PFF grade is 30th among defensive tackles and his 79.8 pass rush grade is ninth. His four batted passes at the line of scrimmage, per PFF, is tied for second among defensive tackles. Barmore looks like a long term fit at defensive tackle and, with continued development, the potential to be one of the best defensive tackles in the league from a pass rush perspective.
Jabrill Peppers
The Patriots took a flyer on Jabrill Peppers when they signed him in April of 2022. Since then, he has become an integral part of their defense, a team leader, and is now one of the best players on the team and one of the top safeties in the NFL. Peppers has been the Patriots’ most physical defensive player and has 42 solo tackles, a forced fumble, an interception and six passes broken up. He has one sack and 5.5 tackles for loss. His 85.9 PFF grade is fourth in the NFL among safeties. His 92.6 run defense grade is first at the position and his 77.4 coverage grade is 13th. The Patriots have used Peppers all over the place, with 288 snaps at free safety, 176 in the box, 34 on the line and 59 at corner. This variety of alignment makes him one of the most versatile defensive players in the NFL. In addition to his stellar performance on the field, Peppers has emerged as a leader on and off of it.
Kyle Dugger
The Patriots surprised many in 2020 when they drafted Kyle Dugger out of Division II in the second round of the 2020 draft. Since then, Dugger has been a key piece of their defense and his athleticism shows up every week. This season Dugger has 48 solo tackles, two interceptions and four pass breakups. He also has one sack and 5.5 tackles for loss. He’s been everywhere on the field, playing all the way from deep safety to the line of scrimmage. While his 65.2 overall PFF grade is tied for 58th among safeties, his 84.0 run defense grade is seventh among safeties. Dugger still needs to develop in pass coverage, but overall he has played well and is someone the Patriots should to sign to a contract extension after the season. He seems like an ideal fit for their box safety/ Patrick Chung role.
Any time a team has a bad season, players and coaches have a higher likelihood of being selfish and blaming others. It’s human nature. For these three players, a bad situation around them has not prevented them from playing excellent football and still showing up every day and doing things the right way. Yes, they get paid a lot of money. But that hasn’t stopped many other players on bad teams from making the wrong choices. Instead, these three have established themselves as worthy pieces of the future.