Is New England Patriots rookie Kyle Dugger similar to All-Pro safety Derwin James? At least one member of the New England Patriots thinks so.
Adrian Phillips said Monday that Dugger reminds him of James. Phillips was teammates with James while a member of the Chargers. Dugger, New England’s first-round pick has been getting praise in his rookie year. He will undoubtedly be a key piece of the New England defense, as they look to get younger in several positional areas.
In the meantime, Phillips thinks highly of Dugger, and had strong impressions of him immediately after the two first met.
“And the way that he just picked (the Patriots defensive scheme) up and he’s able to talk ball, seeing that in a rookie, you really don’t see that a lot of times. The only other time that I’ve really seen that was with Derwin James. So I noticed that a little bit. And when you see him in person, it’s just his physical stature — like 6-2, 6-3, you know, big guy. And he’s running, and he’s able to cover the tight ends, he can get down in the box, he can knock some heads off. So he’s solid.”
With a defensive-minded head coach in Bill Belichick, New England could be a good fit for Dugger. So far, it appears he is well on his way to making a positive impact.