New England Patriots: Chase Winovich will be a Year 2 defensive stud

New England Patriots 2019 third-round pick Chase Winovich has a big Year 2 jump ahead of him, which will be good for a team in transition.

Coming off a successful rookie season with the New England Patriots, edge rusher Chase Winovich is taking that success on the field and what he learned off the field to help make him an even better player in 2020.

As growth is part of the game for a young, talented player like Winovich, the hunger to get better and better is what make a talented player become a championship level player.

Of course, playing under a head coach like Bill Belichick contributes to that learning curve.

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With 26 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 16 games played, Chase Winovich came as advertised. Contributing both on defense and special teams, the Michigan product reflected on a rookie season he did find to be challenging despite his success on the field.

"“It was challenging is the best way I can put it, just in a different way,” Winovich said, via Patriots.com. “Just the competition’s really high and there’s the amount of information and just the learning curve that comes with the transition is inevitable. And I’m just fortunate that I had a great cast of teammates and coaches just surrounding me and constantly providing insight and guidance so they could help to make it as smooth as possible.”"

With a readiness to improve even before camp started, Chase Winovich showcased a dedication and high motor that quickly established him as a special player New England Patriots fans would love. It showed right away in the preseason.

"“I felt like going through training camp and preseason games, especially with Detroit and Tennessee, I was kind of able to display some of the versatility and show some of the growth and some of the hard work that I put in, in terms of grasping everything physically and mentally,” Winovich continued. “And so going through the season, it was just a matter of building off of that and really just trying to work on little things and be more consistent.”"

He certainly did that as he saw his snaps increase as the regular season progressed.

Chase Winovich will be an instant leader for the New England Patriots

A legend in the making, Chase Winovich benefitted by playing behind established veteran players like Kyle Van Noy, Donta’ Hightower, Jamie Collins and John Simon.

With Van Noy and Collins gone, the value of Winovich will be even greater. Not only will he be expected to make a big Year 2 jump, he will also catapult into a leadership role as former Michigan teammate Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings come in as rookies trying to find similar success as Winovich did in his rookie season.

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With that, his role is expected to increase on and off the field. Taking that leadership and continuing to make good plays in key situations will come to define Chase Winovich on a defense that will still be good, but out to prove they can be even better than last season despite the players lost.

With the New England Patriots secondary the strength of the defense, Winovich is one of the players in the front seven who can disrupt things and he will in his second season. Not only will he be put in position to do so, his commitment to the game and high energy will make him a defensive stud in Year 2 and it will be fun to watch.

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