Is It Time For This Much-Maligned Patriots Linebacker To Get Credit?

FOXBORO, Mass. — During training camp, Bill Belichick indicated linebacker Jahlani Tavai could have a large role this season.

“I think he’ll be a big factor for us this year on all four downs,” Belichick said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “Not just defensively but also in the kicking game.”

Many thought Belichick was kidding, considering Tavai only saw 56 defensive snaps last season.

He wasn’t.

Through five games, Tavai ranks second among Patriots linebackers with 158 defensive snaps (Ja’Whaun Bentley is first). The 26-year-old also has played on 76.5% of New England’s special teams snaps. Tavai’s workload has increased every week since the season opener, with his usage rising from 24% of defensive snaps in Week 2 to 79% in Sunday’s 29-0 win over the Lions. The poor performance of other Patriots linebackers probably has something to do with that, but we digress.

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Few could’ve expected this when the Patriots signed Tavai to their practice squad ahead of the 2021 season opener. The 2019 second-round pick, who was signed to the 53-man roster a month later, was written off as little more than an example of Belichick allowing Matt Patricia to bring in one of his failed Detroit draft picks. And maybe there was some truth to that theory.

But none of that matters anymore, because the reality is that Tavai arguably has been New England’s best linebacker this season. Whether that says more about him or the Patriots might be up for debate, but Tavai nevertheless deserves some long-overdue credit.

The Hawaii product currently ranks as the 14th-best linebacker by Pro Football Focus. He’s registered one sack, two quarterback pressures and 19 tackles, and has one of the highest PFF pass-coverage grades among all linebackers despite not being especially fast.

“Great football player,” Bentley said about Tavai during a press conference last week. “Great thinker. Being on the field, it’s one thing having athletic ability to do things, but (it’s another) thinking ahead.”

Tavai’s greatest asset might be his versatility. Per PFF, he’s played 81 snaps in run defense, 27 in pass rush and 49 in pass coverage. Tavai essentially has replaced Kyle Van Noy as the Patriots’ do-everything linebacker.

Check out this breakdown:

Belichick on Monday went into fascinating (and long) detail when talking about the benefits of Tavai’s versatility.

“He has a multitude of things we have asked him to do defensively,” Belichick said during a Zoom call. “It’s given our defense some flexibility and versatility and that’s valuable for the different offenses you have to match up against. For example, yesterday with the Lions — again, the best running team in the league — they ran some 13-personnel, they ran some 13-jumbo, (Matt) Nelson wasn’t active yesterday. They used (Dan) Skipper in that role. So, you go anywhere from 13-jumbo to 11-personnel to a lot of 12-personnel, and 12 with Hockenson or without Hockenson. Detroit was an example of a team that created a lot of different groups and a lot of different types of defensive calls that we needed to defend them. Which hasn’t been uncommon this year and probably the way it’s going to be a big part of the year all season.

“Jahlani’s a player that gives you some versatility to match up to guys like that. One of the plays that Detroit ran was when they had 11-personnel on the field and they quickly subbed to 13 and ran that out there to get our smaller players on the field, if you will. Then bring the big guys in and run the ball. We handled that play pretty well for a short gain with our passing game people on the field against their running set. But I think that kind of speaks to the level of comfort we have and the flexibility we have defensively to play interchangeably through those types of situations. We have a number of players like that, but Jahlani is certainly one of them.

Belichick added: “He’s a smart kid. Has done a good job for us. Again, to be able to have all those roles that comes with a player who’s not only smart but also instinctive, and can be put in different positions from play-to-play from down-to-down and still react and function at a high level at multiple spots without us having to substitute multiple players on every play and then tell the offense what grouping we have in and what we’re going to be. He’s been great.”

Is Tavai a Pro Bowl-caliber player? Probably not. And his solid play this season doesn’t negate the fact that the Patriots should’ve added more linebacker talent during the offseason.

But it’s also scary to imagine where New England’s linebacking corps would be without the emergence of Tavai. Against all odds, he’s become an indispensable piece of the Patriots’ defense.

And Belichick saw it coming.