Bedard's Breakdown (defense): Chase Winovich pops in variety of ways in NFL debut

When you win your preseason opener 31-3 over the Lions, that means that a lot of young players had good performances. The Patriots certainly had that from Jakobi Meyers, N'Keal Harry, Jarrett Stidham and Dan Skipper on offense, to Derek Rivers and Ja'Whaun Bentley on defense, and Jake Bailey on special teams.

But you could make a very convincing argument that no player stood out more than Chase Winovich, the team's third-round pick out of Michigan.

In fact, I'll make that argument, enthusiastically. Sure, all his production came in the second half and against the reserves on a Lions' offensive line that was atrocious. But the variety of ways that Winovich stood out was impressive and sort of gets your mind going on how the Patriots could use him (and probably did the same for the coaches).

Plays that stood out:

11:17 3Q: Winovich comes screaming off the edge to disrupt a pass in the flat that was wide open.
11:12 3Q: Another speed rush where he showed great bend around the edge to help flush David Fales from the pocket.
9:25 3Q: Run comes right at him and Winovich did a great job stacking TE Isaac Nauta, controlling the player so he could play both gaps, then disengaged and made the tackle.
8:37 3Q: Nauta tries to leak into the flat off playaction but Winovich does his job by making contact and disrupting the route on an incomplete. Should have probably stayed in the flat a bit longer, but a good heads-up play.
8:41 3Q: Fakes helping to cover the slot and then provides a good rush on an incompletion on third down.



And that's all before we get into the three different sacks he was on (I gave him credit for one full and two half-sacks), where he showed speed, power and an underrated bend around the edge. All told, he impacted six plays directly on just 24 snaps. To impact 25 percent of your snaps, that's impressive. And that's what Winovich was in his debut.

Now, let's see him continue this against better competition. This performance is sure to get him more opportunities to do so from the coaches.

Here are the defensive positional ratings and charts against the Lions, then we'll get into 3 up/down, and the bubble players who helped/hurt themselves the most:

[table id=331 /]

Defensive line (5 out of 5)

Overall, this was a sterling performance by the defensive line. Had only three miscues — a gap and edge by Deatrich Wise and an edge by Trent Harris. That's it. Now, it certainly helped that the Lions' starting offensive line only played six plays (first series) and their reserve offensive linemen are terrible, but execution doesn't care about talent. ... Looked like Danny Shelton’s sack came when a receiver ran a wrong route. … Rivers was part of a whole group of players (Terrence Brooks, Joejuan Williams) who were way out of position on Ty Johnson’s 17-yard run to open the second half. Rivers will need to prove he can set the edge to stick. … Winovich needs to watch going low to hit QBs, which he has also done in practice. If he does that against franchise NFL QBs, he's going to get flagged … DT Nick Thurman showed great get-off speed on a fourth-quarter sack by Terez Hall that I gave to Thurman and Winovich (Hall came in late). He’s shown the same in one-on-one drills. Thurman is making a push to make this team, maybe at Butler's expense. ... Wise got run over in the run game. He and Adam Butler both made zero impact. That goes with the camps they've had. ... Harris (three hurries) just continues to show up. ... Since Byron Cowart returned from injury, he just continues to get better. Three impactful plays in this one was impressive.

Linebackers (5 out of 5)

Because the defensive line was so good, there wasn't much for these guys to do. But the Patriots did blitz an eye-popping 12 of 27 dropbacks (44.4 percent), in case anyone was worried about this scheme after Brian Flores. ... Jamie Collins beat Tyrell Crosby, who’s no left tackle, with pure speed. … Nice job by Ja’Whaun Bentley splitting the double team on a game with Shilique Calhoun (1.5 sacks) for Bentley’s sack. Not a good job by the offensive line. ... Calvin Munson continues to play well. Christian Sam lost his gap once.

Secondary (2.5 out of 5)

Some issues here that will need to get cleaned up by the coaches this week, especially out of Duke Dawson and Joejuan Williams. ... Dawson just let Brandon Powell easily cross his face for the opening 24-yard third-down conversion. Duron Harmon had a chance to make a play but he was a step slow having to keep an eye on the running back out of the backfield. Dawson allowed three plays over 20 yards and had a penalty. … Looked like Obi Melifonwu lost track of man coverage on a playfake for 16 yards to Jesse James. … Excellent pass breakup by JC Jackson on a deep route to Andy Jones with 2:19 left in the first quarter. And an underrated pressure (Pats brought six rushers) by LB Calvin Munson. … Williams was caught looking into the backfield on Chris Lacy’s 10-yard catch with 4:28 left in second quarter. In the future, he’ll anticipate the play and beat the receiver to the spot.

THREE UP

Edge Chase Winovich: Just an all-around stud with six impactful plays in the second half. And he's no one-trick pony.

Edge Derek Rivers: Winovich showed a lot more versatility as a rookie but this was a good step by Rivers, who needs to continue to have these types of game.

DT Byron Cowart: Showed some pass-rush skills in college but we weren't sure if that would translate to the pros. Well, it did in the first game.

THREE DOWN

CB Duke Dawson: This has a real Cyrus Jones feel to it, but hopefully I'm wrong. He seems to be caught flat-footed all the time and that leads to being a step or two late on plays.

CB Joejuan Williams: Like Dawson, seems to like looking into the backfield. Will learn in time to anticipate better and be one step ahead. Also had a dumb personal foul penalty.

DE Deatrich Wise: He's obviously not 100 percent but he was not much of a force in his eight plays.

GAINING GROUND

DT Nick Thurman: The former Texans and Bucs interior lineman has flashed in practice and his three impactful plays in this one will only help his cause. For a big guy, he has a great first step.

LOSING GROUND

DT Adam Butler: He's been the anti-Thurman at the same position — not impressive in practice and that continued in the game where he didn't show up. The quickness he's always had doesn't appear to be there as much. Looks like he's in for a battle with guys like Thurman, Cowart and even David Parry playing well.