Michael Bennett has been a highly disruptive pass rusher throughout his NFL career. Kyle Van Noy sees no reason to believe that would change now that Bennett is suiting up for the New England Patriots.
In fact, Van Noy believes Bennett could be poised for one of his best seasons yet in 2019.
“I think honestly, he has a chance to have a career year. That’s my opinion,” the Patriots linebacker said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand.” “He looks like he’s young and fresh as ever. Just the things he’s able to do at every position — you never know where he could to line up. He’s really good at what he does. He’s very disruptive.
“I’m happy he’s on our team. I’m tired of watching him do it to our offense.”
Bennett, who turns 34 in November, was one of the Patriots’ marquee offseason acquisitions, coming over in a trade from the Philadelphia Eagles in March. The veteran defensive end racked up nine sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 30 quarterback hits for the Eagles last season and looked downright unblockable at times during his first Patriots training camp.
We’ve yet to see much of Bennett in game action for New England — he played just 10 snaps during the preseason and bagged one sack — but the former Seattle Seahawks star can be expected to spearhead a Patriots pass rush that lost sack leader Trey Flowers in free agency.
Bennett’s primary role in the Patriots’ new 3-4 scheme likely will be as an interior rusher on passing downs. He was one of 15 different New England defenders to record a sack during the preseason.
The Patriots open the regular season Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium.
