Unlike a lot of other teams — and this is part of the reason why they're the Patriots and everyone else isn't — the Patriots do not hand their draft picks starting positions or main roles before they even set foot on a field or prove themselves. Often, that's a path to failure for many rookies. The Patriots, instead, put their rookies on the road to success by giving them smaller, defined roles to start and then, perhaps, that can be expanded once they master the basics.
Michael Lombardi, who has longtime ties to Bill Belichick and was recently a personnel executive with the team, touched on this in his podcast, The GM Shuffle, a few months ago as he related the story about how 49ers draft pick (and future Hall of Famer) Charles Haley was taught only the defense for passing situations as a designated pass rusher as a rookie.
"Once you draft these guys, you have to have a plan for these guys because if you give them the Manhattan phone directory and say, 'Learn this,' he ain't learning it — you might as well put him off for next year. So you have to define the role for the player as soon as you draft a player. What New England will do is say (Chase) Winovich, he'll come in and here's his role. He's going to play, this, this, X, Y and Z. That's all. Once he gets that, then maybe we'll teach him a little bit more. We'll start to grow him, allow him to grow more. ... You have to develop the player. That allows him to have an impact on your team moving forward."
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Player: Chase Winovich
Pick: 3rd round, 77th overall
Position: End
Patriots scheme position: Edge
Ht/wgt: 6-2.5, 254
Speed: 4.65
Positional depth chart
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Position thoughts: Let's start this discussion by stipulating that there is a lot of versatility in this group. It's very difficult to label any of these players as X, Y or Z. Things change by the game and within each game — a byproduct of how multiple the Patriots are on defense depending on the opponent.
But you can pretty much put these players into two groups: the 270-pound-plus ends that can play the 4 technique (head up on the tackle) to the 3 (outside shoulder of the guard) in passing situations, and the players that are largely on the edge of the tackle (5 technique) on out. The latter players are usually in the 250-260 range. Think Rob Ninkovich. Speaking of Nink, I basically view Winovich as a Ninkovich replacement a few years after the fact, as John Simon has sort of been the placeholder since last season.
It also gets very complicated — for the Patriots and Winovich — when you realize that player like Kyle Van Noy, Donta' Hightower and Jamie Collins can also be in the mix on the edge at any point in time. And they probably will be.
So there is a lot — a lot — to sort out between end and edge during training camp, preseason and the first four games of the season. Like cornerbacks, this could be a good problem for the Patriots to have and is part of the reason why you saw the rise of the amoeba defense last season. That will not change this year.
For the purposes of this discussion, let's just saw that Winovich will be in the mix with Simon, Derek Rivers and Trent Harris for weakside edge, but I would also not count out Shilique Calhoun. The 6-4, 251-pound former Raiders third-round pick (2016, 75th overall) really showed up in offseason practices and seems to have caught the eye of the coaching staff.
Draft pick comparison: Jermaine Cunningham, 2010 2nd round (53rd overall).
I came to cover the team during the middle of the 2010 season, so that time was a bit hazy for me — and I was pretty much enamored with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski at the time. I forgot about how bad the overall defense was during that time, and Cunningham's playing time is fully representative of that.
Not only did Cunningham play a ton that season, he started 11 games! He would go on to start three more games for the rest of his NFL career — a grand total of 23 games in four more seasons (woof). Of course, one look at the initial depth chart will tell you why: Tully Banta-Cain (good), someone named Marques Murrell, Ninkovich (he would become Ninkovich later that season) and Cunningham. That's it.
Obviously the Patriots are in a much better place now in terms of talent (thank goodness), so you can't really compare Winovich to Cunningham. But I would say Ninkovich's ascension is a more apt comparison. He went from 127 snaps in '09, to 565 in '10, and then he became a full-time starter.
Development plan: Winovich is a very smart player and the role he will have in the Patriots defense is very similar to what he did at Michigan. That gives him a leg up on most rookies coming in. But there will be a transition in terms of how to handle players in motion and those that line up just off the line.
That being said, I don't see any reason why Winovich wouldn't be thrown into a competition involving Simon, Rivers and possibly Calhoun on the edge. Winovich will have an opportunity to catch the coaches' eyes when it comes to one-on-one, pass-rushing drills in camp.
As we've said, Winovich's likely path with the Patriots will be similar to Ninkovich. He'll have to show a lot on special teams, which would get him on the 46-man gameday roster. That will get him in the mix right away with a chance to be a designated pass rusher when the snap counts for the other players are getting up there. To earn more time than that, Winovich is going to have to show he can hold the edge in the running game against NFL tackles and tight ends — and more than just in the second half of preseason games. That could be a bit of a challenge for a rookie. But it's not out of the realm of possibility for him.
Best-case scenario: Winovich hits the ground running in training camp, grabs a major role on special teams, and shows up huge in pass-rushing drills against the better tackles on the Patriots' roster. That will make the Patriots' coaches think long and hard about his potential as a rookie, and then they'll start giving him more reps setting the edge on defense. If Winovich is really doing well, he'll play early in the second and third preseason games. If he succeeds there, there's the very potential that he makes Simon expendable and Winovich is the de-facto starting weakside edge player (when they need it by gameplan). But Van Noy, Hightower and, especially, Collins will complicate all this. Like we said, a ton to sort out.
Worst-case scenario: Outside of injury and missing a lot of time in camp, we have little reason to believe Winovich won't at least be a major contributor on special teams, which will lead to a depth pass-rushing role, especially in blowouts. He could end up being the new Mark Anderson Memorial Victory Cigar sacker late in games.
Winovich's experience in Michigan's scheme and playing for a coordinator like Don Brown really gives him a leg up on most rookies coming to the Patriots' defense. Winovich might not have the highest of ceilings in the world right now due to his limited athletic ability, but his handwork and high motor on the line should mean his floor is a lot higher than most rookies.