Will Brian Cowart be The anchor of the defensive line?

In 2018, Danny Shelton was a nobody who the Patriots traded for, a 4-3  bust from Cleveland. In 2019 he signed a very team friendly deal and went on to become one of the best 3-4 defensive tackles in the NFL. This spring, Danny Shelton got paid.

The Patriots were tasked with finding a replacement and it looks like he was already on the roster. The Patriots former 2019 fifth rounder, who they selected with the 159th pick.

Bill Belichick referred to Brian Cowart as "explosive". Cowart is not just explosive, he's big and he's been dominating the Patriots offensive line. Cowart has been impressing coaches all year.

Now, Cowart's main competition has been Dedric Wise. Chris Mason wrote, "Wise has shown impressive improvement early in camp. He may be due for a breakout season." Which is always good news to about the former 2017 draft pick.

But back to Cowart, Patriots personal said they drafted him back in 2019 to help with run defense. However, he has been leading the way and making life very difficult for the Patriots quarterbacks, especially one Cam Newton. 

Belichick was asked about Cowart and said this about his young defensive tackle. “I think he’s been primarily a run player throughout his career, when he was at Auburn and also when he  was at Maryland. I’m not saying he can’t rush the passer, but I’d say the pass rush is an area that he’s worked hard to develop and improve on because he hasn’t had as much experience or exposure with it, but he’s a very strong and physical player. I think he’s one of the most explosive players that we’ve had or do have.

But, really for him, it’s a lot about experience and technique and he made a ton of growth in the last 12 months here from where he was last year in training camp. That’s going to hopefully continue to ascend. His pass rush techniques have gotten much better. DeMarcus [Covington] and Joe Kim have both worked very hard with him on developing things that will work for him, not necessarily what another player does or doesn’t do, but really trying to utilize his strengths and skillset.”

Cowart has quietly developed and it's showing this camp with his standout performance. At no point did I ready anybody that had him listed higher than fourth on the Patriots depth chart prior to this camp.

Belichick continued, “I’d say his development in both areas has been significant, but he’s probably made more growth in the pass rush area, just because he didn’t do it as much (last year). He played a lot of four-technique at Maryland, which isn’t the most advantageous position to rush from, but he played it well — I’m not saying that. I’d say we have a little more variety and balance here than what he had in college, or even going back to Auburn.” (Auburn as of late is Belichick's new favorite school)

Cowart is showing he can be and is  an every down player. If he continues this, the Patriots can continue to get creative on both pass and rushing downs. Whether the Patriots use two lineman or five. The big key is can he stop big bodied  power running Backs. The Patriots still have time to bring in some no name runner to test the strength of the defensive line who had a hole in the center of their line, even with Shelton last season.