New England Patriots: Ja’Whaun Bentley should be starting

With 3 preseason games under his NFL belt, New England Patriots linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley should be the week 1 starter.

This is becoming a less controversial topic week after week. Drafted in the just the 5th round this year, Ja’Whaun Bentley is already making worlds of change for a New England Patriots defense that had no backbone last year.

The primary reason the Patriots didn’t come away with a sixth ring last season can be accredited to no presence in the middle of the field, as the peppy Eagles attack threw all over them.

An injured Dont’a Hightower, who was the heartbeat of the defense and the man who calls the plays as they happen was absent most of last year due to a torn pec.

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The time has come for a new man to come into the fold in the linebacker group and become a stud. No more flex seal fix guys such as Elandon Roberts and Harvey Langi. The Pats need a cornerstone.

The dynasty was built off the back of a great defense with guys like Ty Law, Willie McGinest, and Richard Seymour.

Another key piece was middle linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who led the defense for almost 12 years. Since his departure in 2009, the Patriots have lacked that deep interior presence and switched schemes to more modern 3-4 and 46 defenses.

Bentley is an old-school linebacker, a guy who is great at stopping the run game and has nasty downhill power. The NFL is definitely transitioning away from this, but Bentley could be paired with a more coverage based linebacker like Roberts.

So far, Bentley has looked like a beast all around. Handling tight end and running back assignments with no issue in the first three weeks, only allowing 4/7 passes for 31 yards with a PBU.

In the ground game, Ja’Whaun has been unstoppable. Leading the team with 16 tackles, 2 run stuff, and garnering a scoop and score in week 2 against the Eagles.

Bentley is similar to Jerod Mayo, a guy who is a complete tackler and reads what the offense gives him. Although Mayo never really had speed and worked better laterally, Bentley looks like he has a jolt in him.

Mayo couldn’t play the middle as well as Bentley, who is a Brandon Spikes clone in that regard. Hitting the hole hard with tremendous downhill gap closing.

Being only 21, the potential for Bentley to grow his skills within the Patriots organization is big.

I’m not saying Bentley is gonna make the Pro-Bowl, it’s only preseason football. However, every week he looks less and less like a dark horse to be the starter in the middle of the defense.