Steve Belichick, in many ways, isn't all that different than his old man, especially in the ways that they abhor talking about the future, or doling out compliments — especially about players who really haven't accomplished anything.
So when the Patriots' de-facto defensive coordinator was asked this week about third-year edge player Josh Uche, and Belichick responded with, for that family, effusive praise ... it makes you sit up in your chair a bit.
“I see him as part of the, since it’s the hot word right now, part of the blueprint. I see him being an important piece to the puzzle for us going forward,” Belichick said. “There’s a lot of factors to it besides what he’s going to do. We have to see what everybody else does and work the pieces around from there.
"I see Josh being a big part of this defense. We’ll see how the competition plays out. Josh is another guy who’s doing everything right, who’s putting a lot of hard work in, setting up as well as he could to help us out on the field once we get to camp. It’s all just a building process. He’s done everything right so far.”
Well, knock us over with a feather.
Is this just preseason happy talk? Or are there, finally, legit reasons to expect Uche to make an impact on this defense?
Let's take a look at the Patriots' pressure rates from last season for "pass rushers," and it might surprise you.
Matthew Judon, of course, leads the way despite his late-season downturn. That just shows you how dominating he was for over half a season — and why it's important the Patriots find out why he went south, and how they need to avoid it.
Christian Barmore had a terrific rookie season and while he's not really like the other players, who are more on the edge, including him gives you a sense of what the Patriots will be looking for in terms of effective pressure rates. As opposed to Judon, Barmore's numbers are a bit skewed because he played most of his snaps in passing situations when he could largely pin his ears back. As Barmore plays more on earlier downs, that rate should go down a little bit.
Then came the vets, Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins. Van Noy has always been a good rusher here, and he was effective last season. Collins, even though he was more off the ball, also knows how to get to the QB. However, both were not re-signed by the Patriots (Van Noy went to the Chargers; Collins is unsigned). That should tell you something: a) their pressure rates, if they are expected to get to the QB, are kind of the baseline; and b) Uche was in their ballpark for pressure rates, is younger and cheaper, so why not go with the younger player?
Of course, this was our point most of last season, when Bill Belichick again couldn't quit his older, slower veterans because he didn't want to risk blowing assignments. Sometimes you just have to live with the bad to get the good. A year ago, Belichick refused to do that with Uche, Chase Winovich (oof, look at his pressure rate) and rookie Ronnie Perkins.
Now it appears that Belichick, after watching his team be exposed as too slow down the stretch, is going cold turkey (although you can't rule out Belichick seeing enough at some point, and bringing back Collins and/or Dont'a Hightower).
To this, we say, hallelujah ... and stick with it through the growing pains.
As the numbers show, Uche was effective last year when given a chance. He deserved more time, and is a very good athlete and can help the defense overall.
With Van Noy gone, there's an open audition for the starting three-down edge spot opposite Judon. Uche fits the physical profile, and he's an explosive athlete. He's smart and even if he struggles, he'll eventually figure it out.
Steve Belichick's comments lead you to believe that they are going to give Uche every opportunity to grab a major role. Hopefully that comes with the same rope they showed veterans, because they weren't perfect either.
Uche's time could indeed be now.