Christian Barmore's sophore campaign hasn't gone the way he and the Patriots hoped it would.
A force on the defensive line during his rookie season, Barmore got off to a slow start in 2022 while facing a huge uptick in double teams. He then missed seven games due to a nagging knee injury.
But the 2021 second-round pick has looked like his usual, dominant self since returning in Week 15. Barmore was impressive in New England's heartbreaking loss to the Las Vegas Raiders (0.5 sacks, three tackles, 66.5 Pro Football Focus grade) and even better in last Saturday's equally distressing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (69.1 PFF grade).
"Good to have him back," Patriots head coach Belichick said during a Monday morning Zoom call. "He looks like he's got his power and explosiveness back. It's good to have him. You know each game -- he's spent a couple of games, each game he's gotten a little bit better. Hopefully, he'll keep trending that way."
Don't expect Barmore to see much of an increased workload. He played 34% of defensive snaps against the Raiders and just 28% against the Bengals. Those numbers are consistent with what he saw before suffering his injury, though down from his usage last season.
The primary reason: run defense. Barmore isn't bad against the run, but New England doesn't play him much in running situations. He saw 11 run-defense snaps in Las Vegas and just four against Cincinnati. Until the Patriots feel more comfortable playing him against the run, Barmore won't become an every-down player.
Still, unlike last season, players such as Josh Uche and Deatrich Wise have given the Patriots supplemental pass rush to complement Matthew Judon. Adding a resurgent Barmore to that mix makes New England's defense even better as the Patriots look to make one final playoff push.
