rob ninkovich

The Patriots defensive end group starts and almost ends with Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich. The two combined to play the most snaps by two defensive ends in the NFL.

Behind them the depth is either coming off injury or largely unproven. In a league where your defense lives or dies by their pass rush, do the Pats have enough horses to control the edges for five-plus months?

Here’s our take on the defensive end group.

Ninkovich and Jones are represent what the Patriots defensive end position has evolved into. Bill Belichick’s defensive ends used to look like Richard Seymour and Ty Warren. Now they’re more like outside linebackers in that old system, but playing mostly with their hands in the dirt.

Ninkovich plays primarily on the left side and is stout against the run. He’s also a timely playmaker and extremely durable. Jones has great length and has put up 17.5 sacks in his first two seasons. Jones’ length and athleticism are his biggest strengths.

Both can play every down, but they really shouldn’t be relied upon quite as heavily as they were in 2013, when combined to play 95 percent of the Patriots defensive snaps.

Michael Buchanan started the season off as the designated pass rusher but hit a rookie wall and was essentially replaced by veteran Andre Carter. Buchanan should develop with a full season under his belt and the Pats would love nothing more than if he retakes the DPR spot and becomes a passing-down terror. Whether or not he can hold up on early downs to spell NInkovich and Jones would be icing on the cake.

That job as the third early-down defensive end will likely go to veteran Will Smith, who had a down year in 2012, was moved to outside linebacker in 2013 and promptly tore his ACL before the regular season started.

Can Smith revive his career in New England? It’s certainly possible, but Buchanan obviously has more long term potential and comes at a bargain since he’s a 7th round pick.

If Smith recaptures the magic from earlier in his career, the Pats defense will be deadly and deep.

Jake Bequette enters his third season after two disappointing years. Bequette was a third-round draft pick and at 6’5", 274 pounds certainly has ideal size. He spent most of his time as a wide-9 pass rusher in college, but those skills have yet to translate to the NFL. The writing is on the wall for Bequette this summer, but the door isn’t quite entirely closed on him due to the lack of depth at defensive end. He just might be one injury away from a roster spot. He’s also one sub-par training camp from being out of a job.

Zach Moore was selected in the sixth round out of Division 2 Concordia where he set a school record for sacks (33). He’s raw, but demonstrated the kind of explosion numbers that intrigue. He might be at least a year away, but could be a dark horse in a wide open field behind Jones and Ninkovich.

Projection:

In a perfect world, the Pats wouldn’t have to run Jones and Ninkovich into the ground again this season. They should hope to find a reliable third option who can play base downs and get after the quarterback on passing downs.

This might have to be done via committee with a likely scenario being Smith and Buchanan both working in. Ideally, one of them would emerge as a dual threat.

Jones could be primed to step into the spotlight as an NFL superstar this season with the improved secondary behind him. Ninkovich is no slouch either and is really the poster boy for Bill Belichick’s second defensive evolution with the Patriots.

But if injuries were to strike Jones or Ninkovich the Pats could be in big trouble. This is a position they must be wary of, whether it means adding another player via trade at the end of training camp, or throwing Moore immediately into the fire. Depth at defensive end is critical.

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