It's Never Been Easier For The Patriots To Switch To A Variation Of The Three Down Dime.

Jabrill Peppers spoke to the media and some of the media made a big deal about him mentioning three safety looks. The Patriots like to run the big nickle and there's nothing saying that they have to run with three corners in the nickle. However, let's say the media is right and a change is coming. I've said that the 5-6 which is a variation of the 3-2-6 with five linemen, is the future of football. So what do the Patriots need to operate it?

Obviously the Patriots need to get themselves a premium outside corner in this draft. The Patriots had injuries last season but without Gilmore, the hole in the Patriots secondary was largely visible and now they no longer have Jackson. Belichick knows how to find corners, so I'm not too worried about this position. Unlike in 2021, expect a corner udfa to make the 53 man roster.

Linebacker has been on my board for the Patriots but they're set at linebacker if they wanna run a three down dime of some form. Safety however becomes of need. Devon McCourty is to be considered year to year at this point. So the Patriots need not only make sure they have his replacement on the roster but another linebacker strong safety hybrid as well.

With Perkins, McGrone, and the rest of the guys coming off of Injury, I believe the Patriots have enough edge guys to cover the 'Jack' position on both sides of the line. Which leaves interior defensive line. I get they drafted one last year but they don't have the rest of what they need behind him.

The Patriots have Barmore. He's a hybrid end tackle. He requires double teams. The Patriots need to acquire another hybrid from the Barmore mold. He doesn't have to be as elite. The Patriots also need to acquire a true nose guard. They need a Vince Wolfork, a Danny Shelton. A big guy who isn't as athletic as Barmore but pushes the pocket and stops the run.  If the Patriots can acquire one of each interior guy, they'd have six to seven blockers accounted for, leaving whomever the Patriots want to send at the quarterback pretty much free to go get at him.

This is all hypothetical. There's no guarantee that this is the direction the Patriots want to go in but if they want to, it's very doable with this draft class. With the way teams are building their offenses, this would give the Patriots a huge advantage in being able to stop teams like Baltimore, Buffalo, and K.C. but teams like Tennessee would be an issue. 

The biggest mistake the NFL could do is let Jordan Davis fall to the Patriots at pick 21. In the defense I discussed, he's more valuable than any first round corner prospect. He's the ultimate combination of Barmore and Wilfork and requires triple teams. Some teams had to triple team Barmore last season. So if they got their hands on Davis, Godchaux or Guy could be all they need in the middle of that line. And the Patriots would have a top front seven unit.

It's fun to think about but honestly and I'd love to be right, however I do not believe Belichick is ready to abandon the nickle formation for the dime. He values having that thumper linebacker on the field for teams that run. Bill could find a way to get a thumper on the field in the dime but at the expense of speed at the edge which is why he won't.

Last season Bill showed how even in the modern NFL, an offense built right doesn't need to throw the ball every game to win. And with that Bill will always be worried about the running game, even if the league is predominantly setup for big passing attacks. And that's why I do not believe Belichick is willing to go to the dime. He's old school and knows the importance of a good run defense and being old school, Bill believes he needs linebackers to stop the run.