Based on the Latest Trade Rumors, Mike Vrabel is About to Clean House on the Patriots Defense

Eric Canha. Shutterstock Images.

When the Krafts hired Mike Vrabel in early January, it meant the first change in their franchise's defensive scheme since the 20th century. That is literally true. While their defense evolved, adjusted, tweaked, and adapted over the years, it was still never anything but a variation of the one Bill Belichick developed during the Young Sheldon stage of his career. Which means we've got a guy bringing in a new system for the first time since the Clinton Administration. 

And if the latest rumors are to be believed, Vrabel's plan has no place for two of the foundational players from the Belichick/Jerod Mayo era:

Source -  Patriots safety Kyle Dugger and outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings are known to be available for trade with less than a week left until the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline, according to league sources.

The Patriots recently raised Dugger’s name in talks with at least one team, while the front office has long been willing to take offers on him and Jennings, sources said.

The writing seems to be on the wall for Dugger, who played through the end of last Saturday’s preseason game in Minnesota and practiced with the scout-team defense this week. …

Jennings’ name was raised in exploratory discussions earlier this summer, according to a source. … The 27-year-old has been cast as a questionable scheme fit in coach Mike Vrabel’s new, attacking style of defense. 

It's that turn of a phrase that makes this report so compelling. I mean, anyone who's watched Dugger and Jennings still on the field late in preseason games, surrounded by guys with big dreams and hopefully even bigger connections in the job market because they're going to be needing them soon, could see they were being demoted. 

Still, this signals a dramatic shift in how things have been done around here for the past quarter of a century. These two were vital organs in the body of Mayo's system last year. Despite missing four games, Dugger was still fifth on the defense in total snaps. Jennings had seen his snap count go up every year of his career, from less than 300 as a rookie to 831 last season, good for third on the team behind only Christian Gonzalez and Jahlani Tavai. And it should be noted that Tavai got hurt in OTAs, hasn't seen the field. So things aren't looking good for him, either. 

Again, assuming all this is true, we can expect that what we've been hearing about "Vrabel's new, attacking style of defense" will be exactly that. His teams from the time he was the DC in Houston (2017) through his six seasons in Tennessee (2018-23), were built around a tough, aggressive, disruptive style, with linemen shooting gaps, and the front-7 controlling the line of scrimmage. 

Against the run, it's linebackers and safeties coming downhill to take on lead blockers and plug holes, which led to his teams being consistently in the Top 10 in rushing D, and No. 1 in 2018. 

In the passing game, he likes to employ stunts and twists to create chaos, with press man coverage on the outside. Which led most of his units to be among the best in the league in metrics like fewest points per drive. Vrabel also values versatility.  Linebackers and in-the-box safeties who can be trusted to cover tight ends, which hasn't been part of Dugger's skillset since he got hurt. 

One guy who fit perfectly into this attacking style is Harold Landry, which is why he's here now. And it looks for all the world like Jennings might not be. Keion White got visibly frustrated by the way he was being utilized by Mayo's staff last year after opening the season with five sacks through the first two games and 35 total pressures over a 10-week span, to just 10 pressures over the last seven games. 

And we can add another potential system fit, UDFA Elijah Ponder out of Cal-Poly:

Advertisement

All of this signals that Pats fans who've been frustrated by the dreaded "Bend But Don't Break" schemes of the past 25 years - and that includes all the ones that were Top 10 in the league, shut down the Greatest Show on Turf, Peyton Manning's Colts and the 2018 Rams - are about to get their wish. Whether that's a "Be careful what you wish for" scenario or not remains to be seen. 

What this also would (will?) do, is put a ribbon on yet another failed Patriots draft. Both Dugger (2nd round, 37th overall) and Jennings (3rd, 87th) were fruit off the poison tree that was the 2020 draft. The one that gave us Josh Uche (traded for a 6th last year), two tight ends who never produced a thing and a kicker who didn't make the roster. Only Michael Onwenu (6th, 182nd) will remain from the 10 selections, most of whom should be entering their primes at this point, not out of football or the subject of late August trade rumors.

To bottom this line, every 25 years or so, change can be good.