With the 4th of July in the rearview mirror, it will be just a few short weeks until training camp is upon us and Patriots football is back. These are the hardest days of the offseason, the final days, when all the football people are on vacation and there’s a vacuum of information.
Still, we’re so close we can all taste it.
Today we dive into another excerpt from my Season Preview (available here for just $5!), focusing on one of the most interesting positional groups on the roster — the defensive ends. While most of the team returns intact, this group is one that has undergone some significant transition.
Trey Flowers emerged as a breakout star in 2016 but after him there are a lot of question marks. How much does Rob Ninkovich have left in the tank? Can Kony Ealy assimilate? What about rookies Derek Rivers and Deatrich Wise?
With the departure of Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long, some of these new players will be playing significant roles and how they perform could decide whether the defense takes a step forward or back.
Here’s my breakdown of the edge players, whether you want to call them defensive ends or outside linebackers.
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