We continue our training camp positional preview series by looking at the linebacker room.
Linebackers: Ja'Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai, Sione Takitaki, Raekwon McMillan, Joe Giles-Harris, Christian Elliss, Steele Chambers and Jontrey Hunter.
I can't write about this group without mentioning that the defense allowed a league-low average of just 3.3 yards per carry, the best for the franchise since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger. Consistently putting opponents behind the chains — essentially making them one-dimensional — helped vault the entire unit into the top 10 in DVOA (9th overall) despite suffering some critical injuries on the edge and outside (Judon, Gonzalez).
Bentley is the unquestioned leader of the group, someone who has long been undervalued outside the region but lauded by those inside the walls at One Patriot Place. In fact, no one has heaped more praise on Bentley than his former position coach, now head coach, Jerod Mayo.
"I think he's one of the most underrated linebackers in the game," Mayo said a year ago.
That largely held true for the first 13 weeks of the regular season. Bentley was constantly around the football, either making the tackle himself or proving to be an immovable force at the point of attack. He took on all kinds of blocks and rarely got washed out. The latter doesn't get noticed by the armchair quarterbacks, but it does by those who study the game (not trying to get all football snobby on you, but as you know reading this site, it's not always about the guy who makes the splash play, but the people around them that allow that to happen).
For a second straight season, Bentley was also allowed to be more involved as a pass rusher. He had three QB pressures in Vegas and four the following week in that shocking upset of Buffalo. He's not Dont'a Hightower in that regard, but you do pick up some Hightower vibes, and that's a high compliment as far as I'm concerned.
Again, Mayo on his protege.
"Let's not think Bentley can only play off the ball," he said. "Because he also showed that he could rush the passer. He also showed last year that he could set the edge of the defense and come downhill, making them such a special player. He can do all that stuff at a pretty high level."
Look, this is not to say that Bentley is a Pro Bowl-caliber player. He has yet to get there, and as a soon-to-be 28-year-old (his birthday is in late August), it seems unlikely that there's another big jump forthcoming. In fact, the most important thing for the former Purdue Boilermaker is that he doesn't fade down the stretch this year. I had Bentley playing his two worst games in back-to-back weeks at Denver (week 16) and at Buffalo (week 17) - a rare time when my grades jibed with PFF. Could he have been injured? I'm sure he was hurt. It's December football, and he's an inside linebacker. There's no way Bentley is feeling good by that point in the year. But the free agent signing of TakiTaki has me believing the Pats understand the mileage they've been putting on one of their captains and would like to save him some snaps here and there (he played 984 last season. Only Kyle Dugger (1,116) played more).
I'll admit I was leery of bringing Tavai aboard a few years ago because of the Matt Patricia connection (he played for Matty P in Detroit). But he has changed my mind, building off a solid 2022-23 and turning that into an argument for Tavai being one of the Pats' best defenders in 2023-24. The team rewarded him Tuesday with a three-year extension worth upwards of $21 million ($15 million in guarantees). Maybe a little rich off one season, but if he does it again this season, Tavai would race past that mark in free agency.
He was impactful against the run, especially coming right at him, with nearly double the run stuffs I had Bentley down for. But his coverage is where I saw the most improvement. Tavai had a knack for settling in zones and causing havoc. He had three pass breakups and a pair of interceptions (one a gift from Jabril Peppers), and even when he surrendered a catch, he did a better job of quickly getting the receiver to the ground. That didn't happen the year prior. The Pats are still better served getting their LBs off the field in obviously throwing situations, but the pride of Hawaii turned a negative into a neutral, at the very least.
TakiTaki logged the second-most snaps of any linebacker in Cleveland last season. The Browns' defense was better than the Pats', finishing second in DVOA, and while the former third-round pick wasn't a lynchpin for that unit, he did prove a competent player and played some of his best football late in the year. He is regarded as a sound tackler and an intelligent player, with the versatility to play all three linebacker spots and be a core four special teamer.
We didn't get the chance to see TakiTaki play football this spring. He's dealing with an undisclosed injury that bothered him most of last season. He told Sophie Weller of A To Z Sports that he doesn't expect to miss any time in training camp. Meanwhile, he was still working out on the lower field (away from the media) and taking mental reps.
McMillan is entering his fourth season in New England, but because of season-ending injuries in 2021 and 2023, he's only been able to play for one of them. I have no idea what to expect out of the 27-year-old. I don't know how anyone could. The one thing I do know is that the Patriots didn't just sign him to a free-agent contract but re-upped him again last year, and Mayo has always liked what McMillan has brought to the table beyond the on-field work.
During spring work, Giles-Harris and Elliss both had their moments in coverage. Again, everyone was in shorts and t-shirts (I always feel the need to include that disclaimer), but there were enough players that didn't register so much as a moment that it's worth noting. Elliss is a contributor in the kicking game. Giles-Harris' transaction page hurts the head. This is his third team (Jax and Buffalo). He, too, has hung around in the league, or on the fringes of the league, because of his special teams work. Could he wrest a job away from McMillan? Again, let's see how the summer plays out and what the kickoff and kick return, in particular, look like. That could be a moving target for a while, which may lead to the bottom of the roster turning over quite a bit early in the year.
Chambers was recently signed as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State, where he was an all-conference honorable mention two years running. He's sub-230 pounds and has short arms, but only three years of experience as an LB.
Hunter moved inside for Georgia State this past fall after working as an edge player prior. He's a bit bigger, and if he's going to show, it'll be when the pads come on.