Last year, no team was more active in free agency than the New England Patriots. Armed with a surplus of space under the cap and facing a number of holes to fill, Bill Belichick and company were aggressive in the weeks leading up to the draft, adding talent on both sides of the football.
While that spending spree did see the Patriots return to the playoffs, in rookie quarterback Mac Jones’ debut season, it did not translate to a playoff victory, something certainly on the mind of owner Robert Kraft.
However, this off-season has been more of a typical New England free agency period. The Patriots have been patient, with an early focus on bringing some players back such as Devin McCourty and Trent Brown, while adding some new faces like Ty Montgomery and a familiar one in cornerback — and Super Bowl hero — Malcolm Butler.
The latest addition also addresses the secondary, as New England has signed safety Jabrill Peppers to a one-year deal. The former first-round selection is now on his third team, and is currently working his way back after a knee injury cut his season short in 2021.
This move from Belichick and the Patriots is in many ways a quintessential New England addition. It gets to the notion of how the Patriots typically address the off-season.
By asking the question: What can he do?
At one time, Peppers was viewed as a traditional deep safety. During his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns, Peppers aligned in the deep middle of the field on nearly half of his snaps, and spent another large portion of his playing time aligned as a half-field safety.
In the years since, however, Peppers has seen his role change, and his alignments bring him closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. According to charting data from Pro Football Focus, Peppers spent 648 snaps as a free safety during his rookie campaign with the Cleveland Browns.
When he moved to the New York Giants for the 2019 season, Peppers started to see more alignments in the box. Peppers saw 447 snaps in the box during the 2019 campaign, and another 383 in the box during the 2020 season.
During 2020, for example, when Peppers was not in the box, he was often in the slot. In addition to his 383 snaps in the box during 2020 he saw another 264 aligned as a slot defender.
Before his ACL injury cut his 2021 campaign short, some of his best work came not just aligned in the box, but as a presence off the edge rushing the passer. A few years ago, the idea of an “edge safety” came into vogue, perhaps coinciding with the Jamal Adams trade to the Seattle Seahawks.
That might give us a window into how Belichick plans on using Peppers in the season ahead, when he is ready to see the field.
A constant refrain in New England the past few seasons — and off-seasons — has been that the Patriots need to add athleticism on the second level of their defense. That area of the field is going through a bit of a transition this off-season, as players like Kyle Van Noy are no longer with the Patriots and both Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins are free agents.
While the Patriots have made additions at the second level, adding players like Ronnie Perkins, Anfernee Jennings, Cameron McGrone and Josh Uche via the draft and then veterans in Mack Wilson, Raekwon McMillan and Matt Judon, the Patriots have also relied on safety help to bolster the second level of their defense.
For years it was Patrick Chung, who would give New England a “third linebacker” on the field and some positional flexibility in their defensive front. In recent years Adrian Phillips has filled that role, along with Kyle Dugger. Dugger, however, has also shown the ability to play in a more traditional deep safety role, and with McCourty nearing the end of his career one could see Dugger used more as a deep safety in 2022 and beyond.
Meaning there is a chance for Peppers to carve out a role along the second level in that hybrid linebacker/safety spot for the Patriots.
For example, if the goal is to add athleticism from the second level of the defense, plays like this might be part of what New England is seeking:
Peppers attacks the pocket from the second level, and while the running back comes across the formation to cut him, Peppers has the athleticism to recover from the cut and get to the quarterback for the sack.
Unfortunately, Peppers would injure his knee in the second half of this game, ending his season.
Here against the Atlanta Falcons, the Giants bring an overload pressure off the right edge of the offense. Peppers is left unblocked with a free shot at Matt Ryan, and forces the quarterback to make a back-foot throw into traffic that should have been intercepted:
Due to his presence near the line of scrimmage, Peppers can also be a factor against the run. On this snap against the Denver Broncos, Peppers is down on the line and is on the backside of an outside run to the right. But you see that athleticism for a box safety result in a tackle for a loss as he chases this run down from behind:
However, there are moments where opposing offensive coordinators can create favorable matchups against Peppers, which brings us to some of his limitations. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 6, Sean McVay found ways to get Peppers matched up against Cooper Kupp, with success. On this 2nd and 10 play, Peppers is in man coverage against Kupp, who works himself open on this deep out route:
Back in Week 4 against the New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton used a pre-snap shift to bump tight end Juwan Johnson out towards the boundary, getting him matched up against Peppers in man coverage. Johnson runs a post route and works across the face of the defender for the touchdown, as Peppers bites on the move to the outside:
So for Belichick and the New England defensive staff, the task with Peppers will using him down in the box and letting him either attack downhill, or play in zone coverage. Trusting him in man coverage situations, or as a deep safety, might be something the Patriots look to avoid, given his experience in recent years as well as his skill-set.
This could also be a window into New England’s thinking schematically. Many who cover the Patriots have theorized that the departure of J.C. Jackson, coupled with the Butler acquisition, is a sign that New England will continue a trend that began last year, and utilize more zone coverage in the secondary. Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, who covers the Patriots now for Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub, had this to say after the Butler news:
Look at the Buffalo games. What were the Patriots doing to their wide receivers? They were chasing them constantly across the field. Brian Daboll did a great job of knowing when they were going to be in man-to-man coverage. He had these long deep crossers, where guys were just chasing…
The zone takes that away. You don’t have to be as fast on defense, when you’re playing zone. You just let the guys come to your zone. So all that speed you’re talking about, can be negated by playing more zone-type, hybrid type coverages. That’s what I’m anticipating the Patriots will do to kind of combat the speed, particularly in Miami, which is off the charts fast . . . It’s crazy scary.
Given what Peppers does well — and where he struggles — this move could be a sign that Johnson’s thinking is on the money.