WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — If you were impressed with Christian Barmore's rookie season for the Patriots, the former Alabama defensive tackle doesn't share your opinion.
"To me, everybody says I had a real great year but I think there's a lot I could have done better," Barmore said in an exclusive conversation with BostonSportsJournal.com on Friday. "I missed a lot of sacks and stuff like that. I should have made more things happen. My focus is no mistakes that I did last year because I knew what my mistakes were. So really my goal is to just squeeze anything, when they double or anything like that, get into the backfield and make that play, don't miss any plays - plays you miss could hurt the team.
"Even if they say it's not your fault, but it is your fault, you know what I'm saying? Because you could have made that one happen. My mission this whole year ... I've learned from all that, the offseason too, like literally the plays I knew should have made, I'm going to make them this season. So this whole season is about that."
That is bad news for the rest of the NFL.
Barmore, after a draft day slide that is still very much on his mind (he was very honest about that in our conversation), had an outstanding rookie campaign. As a role player (55 percent of snaps) playing mostly as a designated pass rusher (67 percent of his snaps were rushing the passer), Barmore was still the second-best pass rusher on the team by every measure to Matthew Judon, who played nearly 400 more snaps than the rookie.
BSJ's stats, which do not align with other services.
The next step for Barmore is to earn the respect of the coaches against the run to get more snaps. Bill Belichick said Barmore has made gains in those areas, and it has shown in camp and the preseason.
"I think he’s improved ... better fundamentals, better techniques, better understanding of the blocking schemes," Belichick said this week. "He’s played a lot of different positions from three (technique) to two to one to zero, little bit of five-technique. Just the volume of that, it’s not the easiest thing, especially from a young player. I think he’s gotten more comfortable with that. Guys he has, he’s playing with them, DG [Davon Godchaux], [Lawrence] Guy, Carl [Davis Jr.], Dan [Ekuale] when he was here. Those guys are pretty good. I think they’ve all worked well with him. He’s worked well with them. So I think it’s good to have that same continuity to have those same guys back."
Barmore has a goal in mind.
"I want to be a guy who doesn't come off the field," he said.
Barmore could well get his wish. According to sources around the team, the Patriots are planning for Barmore to be a big part of their defense this season — and it could start in Week 1 against a Dolphins team that features a center in Connor Williams who could be a weak spot. Taking advantage of Barmore's strength and quickness against a center would involve him playing 1 or Zero technique. With the heat playing a big factor, and it being the first game of the season, don't expect any Patriots defensive lineman to play a ton of snaps — but expect Barmore's role to increase as the season progresses.
Some players who experience success as rookies can rest on their laurels and enjoy the fruits of their labor. But Barmore hasn't done that — Judon noted Barmore returned in better shape and he's expecting big things from his potential inside/outside pass rushing partner.
"It's just growth from year one to year two," Judon said. "Changing his body, changing his mentality, just you know, kind of growth that you would like to see out of a player, such as his caliber, from year one to year two. But he got to put it all out there on the field, right? Training Camp and OTAs we've seen that but we got to see what he does this year. And I think he's gonna do great things for us."
Draft Day Drop
There are several teams in the NFL who did not expect Barmore to be in this position. As we reported at the time of the 2021 draft, when Barmore unexpectedly slid out of the first round, some teams had concerns about what kind of professional Barmore would be. Even Belichick, who traded two fourth-round picks to move up eight spots from 46 to 38 and pick Barmore, noted at the time how rare it was for a player like that to be available at that stage.
"It's pretty unusual to get the first defensive tackle to be drafted at that point and the first interior defensive lineman to be drafted at that point in the draft, so we traded up," Belichick said. "Felt good about acquiring that and look forward to working with Christian."
Barmore continues to use that as motivation.
"Yeah, I can say that, yeah," he said. "But I thank God I'm here because I know that I could ... people thought I was off the field (problems) kind of guy, misunderstood kind of guy but they didn't know who I was. I was just like a real competitor on the field and just I just love playing the game of football. ... They called me a troublemaker, but I was never a troublemaker. I never got locked up in college. I never failed a drug test. I made all my classes. I ain't never had academic misconduct and I was just someone they didn't know about because it was all rumors, it was not true. I'm doing the best I can to be here and be the best player I can be for this team and be a good teammate to everybody and be coached."
Barmore is well aware of what teams were saying about him, and how teams passed on him. What were the issues? From our reporting after the first round (before the Patriots picked him) when Barmore was still on the board and would make sense for New England:
But there's a flip side with Barmore that will need to be dealt with for the Belichick bet to pay off. I know of at least one team that took Barmore off their draft board. Another had a late second-round grade on him. Both were teams that play similar schemes to the Patriots, and had an interest in interior defensive players.
...
First of all, Barmore did drop. If he was a clean prospect, he was clearly a first-round talent, especially this year. This was not about the quarterbacks pushing people down the board or anything like that.
Friday morning, after taking a look at the first-round results and seeing which players were available that might interest the Patriots, I made some calls, and most of them centered on Barmore due to his position and college. I wanted to know why some key teams passed on him, hours before the Patriots would trade up for him. That led to this thumbnail:
Christian Barmore, NT, Alabama (6-3, 310): Tremendous first-round talent with ability against the run and the rush, but big-time red flags off the field that caused him to drop out of the first round. Nick Saban has spoken well publicly of him. If he’s there, this is an old-school Belichick pick.
What I heard was interesting. And I am just passing on the information I received before he landed on the Patriots — there was no anti-New England bias.
"Yeah, we looked hard at him, could use a player like him ... Barmore was not for us," said one team.
\What was the issue? I'm not going to divulge specific information to protect my sources and their relationships, but it boils down to this: there are a lot of questions about Barmore's intelligence and how it might manifest itself once he's out of the more controlling collegiate environment and has more freedom.
The team that had the late second-round grade on Barmore said that was the earliest they would have been comfortable with the risk.
"Alabama barely held him together," said an NFC scout. "As a pro, he's a real wild-card."
I asked another scout if he had any specifics, and he said that just general accountability — getting to practice and class — was a struggle for him and Barmore has to be in a very tightly controlled environment, like Alabama has, to succeed. Barmore also was in a very heavy rotation — most players with his talent play upwards of 70 percent of snaps. His playing time just kept dropping to about a 50-50 split. That's very unusual and sent scouts digging for answers.
"I think he's going to be a big-time bust," said one scout, again, before the Patriots picked him.
The Patriots have to know all this. Obviously, Nick Saban didn't completely wave Belichick off Barmore, so there should be some comfort there with the risk.
And here's the other thing: Barmore's tape is really good. There is no indication on the film that he has any issues, outside of his playing time split and also that he brings it in big games — he was terrific in the playoff games this year — but completely disappears in others. That can happen; it's not totally unusual for college-age players.
"They said teams were concerned about my off-the-field issues the whole time, about me fighting my teammates, fighting the coaches, and they said I was not doing what I was supposed to do," Barmore said. "But I never — literally never — missed a game in college, I never missed a game. I know people that missed games that did some stupid stuff that still went in the first (round). I'm gonna bring it up because that's in the past but it's alright because God made me come here and I thank God for it.
"I just know that those people that said things about me, they were not true. And I know I am not the type of person — you can ask all my teammates at college, even here — like I'm a humble person, I'm not a selfish kind of guy. I feel like I do make the team better. It seemed like the hard work you put in in college and especially like, you know, I mean, like all the stuff you did, especially going to class and they say these things ... it hurts, it really hurts me, because I know that I did what I had to do in class. I literally got like 20 credits so I could graduate in two semesters. So I know I did my part. So it was just a misunderstanding. I guess people were just saying stuff about me to get ahead, I guess."
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
Teams got it flat-out wrong, and he knows which teams
Here's the thing about the teams that passed on Barmore: they were completely wrong with their concerns. There were serious questions about Barmore's football IQ, but on film, Barmore has constantly been a smart player. Knowing what other teams thought about Barmore, I looked for that all during his rookie campaign and I couldn't find one instance where I thought, 'He's having issues doing what he's supposed to be doing.' And you can clearly see that on film. It was never there. And he's been great in the locker room too. Barmore's puzzled by those scouting reports as well.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out because like literally there's a lot you have to do on the d-line," Barmore said. "Like get in your gap, play your run and play the technique. So that's what I'm trying to figure out because I know my IQ is really good and I know I can get even better so it's just like they always say stuff like that, guess to make you go down whatever but I know those teams missed wrong about my IQ. But it's all right. I thought it was because of the off-the-field issues and stuff like that. It was never about football, I guess because I know that I could be a smart football player. All I've got to do is just follow the scheme, follow the defense and just follow everybody with what I have to do."
Some of those teams that passed on Barmore are on the team's schedule this season. Let's just say he's aware of that.
"Yeah, definitely looking to wreck some teams, teams that took me off the radar," he said. "They would call me so many times. I'm like, okay, then they pass on me again, you know what I'm saying? It was just crazy. I know them teams, yeah."
Barmore didn't slack off after his rookie season, he's gotten better. The Patriots are looking to increase his role. And Barmore has all the motivation he needs for another gear with the teams that passed on him.
Sounds like someone's ready for this season.
"Definitely expect to have a big year," Barmore said. "Just keeping my head down and ball out. Just literally just focus on what I got to do. You know, move on. It really is about being the best player you can be for this team."