Can DE Deatrich Wise make the leap from rookie part-timer to premiere pass rusher?

FOXBOROUGH — Patriots coach Bill Belichick has said on occasion the toughest transitional year for a player isn’t going from college to the NFL, but from Year One to Year Two in the NFL. The understanding? You are now a known commodity. There’s plenty of film out there. You can’t surprise anyone. That means you have to come up with something new.

Heading into 2018, Deatrich Wise is facing that challenge.

The defensive lineman was a bit of a revelation last year — the angular fourth-round pick out of Arkansas, who stands 6-foot-5 with almost 36-inch arms — proved to be difficult to block for many, and developed into one of the more impressive young pass rushers in the league. There was some up-and-down play at the end of the season, but all in all, it was a good rookie year for Wise, who played 51 percent of the snaps and finished third on the team with five sacks.

According to Pro Football Focus, his 37 total pressures tied with Myles Garrett and Derek Barnett for the most pressures of all rookie 4-3 defensive ends. As the year went on, there was more of this from the youngster -- on this play against the Bills, he's lined up at right defensive end.



Now, there will be additional expectations on his shoulders. Going into his second year, the 23-year-old will be asked to step his game up and contribute that much more to a pass rush that was inconsistent at times. As some have predicted, can he make the leap and go from rotational piece of New England’s front seven to double-digit sack artist?

“Really, the only challenge for me is focusing on myself and improving myself,” he said after Tuesday’s minicamp session. “Making sure I pay attention to detail and pay attention to all the small things of the game and everything that comes with it.”

SEE ALSO — Bedard: So far, rookie Wise looks like the real deal

The improvement has certainly been there, at least in the limited time we’ve seen him this spring. Wise has appeared active along the edge, working with a variety of new teammates (Adrian Clayborn, Derek Rivers) and established linemen (Trey Flowers) to generate pressure on the outside. With the return of Dont’a Hightower, there’s a feeling the Patriots’ front seven will do a better job generating heat than it did last year.

“We have great camaraderie between us,” Wise said of the defensive front. “We’re a young group, but we’ve all played together, so we have that chemistry. We know each other know. We’re looking forward it playing together, I feel like it’ll be great.”

While he’ll get a boost from the defenders around him, in the end, he knows that his success or failure in 2017 will ultimately rest on his broad shoulders. The 6-foot-5, 271-pounder has a clear focus on what’s important and where he’s headed. Now, he simply has to execute, and the rest will take care of itself.

“The only thing I have to do is improve every day,” he said. “Everything else will come.”