The Chase Winovich we've seen in spurts was on full display against the Ravens.
Given a role that played into his inherent aggressiveness, Winovich flourished with one of the most impactful games you'll ever see from a Patriots: 12 impactful plays overall, including eight QB hurries and 1.5 stuffs.
It was a monster game for the second-year linebacker, and it naturally set off a bunch of questions about why Winovich's snap counts had diminished in previous weeks.
Some people think it was his radio interviews on 98.5 The SportsHub. Bill Belichick just said Winovich's role wasn't featured as much.
The truth? It was probably a little bit of everything.
But I'm not so sure Sunday night really changes things all that much for Winovich — unless the Patriots move him full-time to ILB (which we advocated for earlier in the season). Why? Because I'm still not sure Winovich has earned Belichick's full trust, and you're not getting a consistent, major role unless that happens. And I'm not sure he ever will, unless Winovich fully buys into what it means to be a Patriot.
Why doesn't Belichick trust Winovich?
Well, there's two components with that, on the field and off it.
On the field, when you play on the edge for the Patriots, you better do your job and set the edge. Winovich had a great opener against the Dolphins, but started to drop off against the Seahawks and Raiders, and that even showed up in the ProFootballFocus.com grades.
Winovich's last start came against the Broncos, and he was terrible in that game. Then, early against the 49ers, Winovich had a play that sort of personified who he is as a player, and the reason for the lack of playing time. It's about the second play on the video below.
The Patriots probably worked on this play all week because it's a staple of the 49ers. Deebo Samuel comes in motion as the snap happens, and Winovich has to read the play. Rob Ninkovich and Kyle Van Noy — two players Belichick trusted implicitly — would have continued into the flat with Samuel and left Garoppolo without anyone to throw to. Instead, Winovich made a selfish play to rush the quarterback, leaving Samuel wide open, and he gained 23 yards.
Winovich at this point was reduced to just a sub-package rusher because the Patriots didn't trust him against the run. When the Patriots couldn't stop a nosebleed with the worst first and second down defense to even get the opponent into pass situations, Winovich rarely got on the field. That happens. If the Patriots could stop the run, then he would have been on the field a lot more.
But there's also the other issues with Winovich, which Bob McGinn revealed in his pre-draft scouting reports:
“He’s kind of a big-time millennial guy,” said a second scout. “He really started to feel himself in the branding. Some of that stuff bothers me. But then he is a good football player.” … “He plays his butt off. He’s a complete player. He refuses not to be. He’s one of those guys that has the heart of a lion. His intensity is infectious.” … “He’s like a big, dumb puppy,” a fourth scout said. “He wants attention all the time. He could polarize teammates that way. The older guys will roll their eyes at him and the younger guys think he’s the man.”
I don't really care what Winovich says in radio interviews (although publicly questioning the gameplans, which he did at one point, is a big no, no). But his obvious self-involvement flies in the face of everything Belichick and, especially, the Patriots' defense is about. That 49ers play by Winovich was selfish — he was choosing to make a play for himself over what was best for the scheme. That's who he is, inherently. Looking through Adam Richins' postgame photos, I was struck by the two where Winovich appears to be looking into the camera in the middle of the game. I asked Adam if he was, and he said, "Definitely."
(Adam Richins for BSJ)This is what I mean, and leads me to question whether Winovich is a long-term fit here. The type of person Belichick wants on the field and in his scheme doesn't even have cameras on his mind ever, let alone in the middle of the game. If he's thinking about the camera, he's not thinking about doing his job.
If he plays like he did on Sunday night, Belichick might be willing to make an exception. The outside linebacker role freed Winovich up to be aggressive either taking on blockers at the point of attack if the strong side of the formation was to him, or chasing down the play on the backside if Winovich was on the weakside and off the ball. And a weakened Ravens' line gave him opportunities to win on passing downs.
"One thing about Chase, he's always willing and ready to do whatever you ask him to do," Belichick said today. "So, he learned the assignments on that and what to do and I thought I did a good job of it."
There is, however, a big difference between being "willing and ready," and it's another thing to execute on the field. Winovich did that on Sunday night. He hasn't always done that.
Belichick has always made exceptions for players who were different kinds of cats — but only if that happened off the field. Lawrence Taylor was a three-ring circus off the field, but he was a consumed maniac on gameday. If Winovich just said weird stuff about aliens and conspiracy theories, I doubt Belichick would care all that much. He cares immensely if the player does Do His Job on every play and stay within the framework of the scheme. That's where Winovich has had issues to this point. That's why he hasn't played more.
Can that change? Absolutely. If Winovich matures and learns to leave his millennial stuff at the door, then absolutely he can be a very good player here. But if he continues to worry more about cameras than his assignment on that particular play, he's just not going to be a fit here long-term, even if he dominates like he did on Sunday night.
Like deciding between covering the receiver or rushing the quarterback, it's up to Winovich.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)Here are the positional ratings
