Chase Winovich is making the most of his time on the field this summer.
Winovich has seen a whole lot of action through the New England Patriots’ first two preseason games. After a solid professional debut against the Detroit Lions, Winovich followed up with an even better showing this past weekend against the Tennessee Titans. The young pass-rusher recorded four total tackles, including a sack and two stops for a loss.
The 24-year-old’s early performances haven’t been defined by stats, though. Winovich plays with the type of energy and edge that any team across the league would welcome with open arms. Much like most football fans and media members alike, NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling is awfully impressed by what he’s seen from Winovich thus far.
“They got a guy in the third round, Chase Winovich — I’m sure you’ve watched him at Michigan — who has a motor of the likes of which you just don’t see,” Wesseling said Tuesday on the “Rich Eisen Show.” “This guy’s Rambo. He’s up in the trees, he’s in the cave, he’s down by the river bed, You’re looking for him every play because the Titans want to get a good look at Ryan Tannehill, their fancy, new backup quarterback, and Winovich is singlehandedly dismantling their entire offense for a whole stretch of the second quarter into the third quarter. You finally get him blocked because here’s what guys are doing to Chase Winovich after he beats their right tackle and left tackle over and over again: They have a tight end suplex him or something, or the right tackle finally gets frustrated and picks him up and throws him, gets a holding penalty. They finally get done with that, they block him. Special teams, he tracks down the returner. This guy is everywhere on the field.”
In wake of Trey Flowers’ departure, there are question marks surrounding the Patriots’ pass rush heading into the 2019 season. New England helped bolster the unit with the addition of Michael Bennett, and Winovich is shaping up to be an impact player from Day 1. The secondary all but surely will be New England’s greatest area of strength on defense, but it’s safe to say opposing quarterbacks will have their work cut out for them with the Patriots’ front seven.
Week 3 of the preseason typically is when teams’ starters see the most action. If Winovich’s playing time doesn’t see a noticeable dip from the first two weeks, you probably can bank on the third-round pick being a key cog in New England’s defense as the regular season unfolds.
