New England Patriots: Ranking team’s top 5 defenders pre-training camp

3.  Dont’a Hightower

As far as the last game the New England Patriots played in their Super Bowl winning season, linebacker Dont’a Hightower should be ranked even higher than this.

Given the nickname “Mr. February” by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Hightower turned it on when the games mattered the most.  In the team’s 13-3 Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, Hightower broke up a pass and had two sacks on Jared Goff.

With the performance, Dont’a Hightower added to his spectacular Super Bowl resume in a season when he was thought to have lost a step.  As injuries have slowed the Alabama product in his career, Hightower was named the Patriots’ most overpaid player with a cap hit of $10.9 million.  While the Bleacher Report article made some good points, the three Super Bowl rings on Hightower’s fingers make him worth the money.

So, as much as his durability or lack thereof frustrate fans during the regular season, Dont’a Hightower makes up for it when the game really counts in February.  As a jack-of-all-trades defender, the veteran linebacker is still one of the New England Patriots top defensive players when he is on the field.