New England Patriots Gameday: Top draft pick Kyle Dugger is ballin’

New England Patriots top 2020 draft pick Kyle Dugger is showing he is going to be a good player in the NFL.

Drafted as an athletic, physical tackling machine, New England Patriots rookie safety Kyle Dugger has been one of the bright spots on defense this season.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, the Lenoir-Rhyne product is showing versatility in the way he plays football and is showing just why Bill Belichick drafted him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

While a head-scratcher at the time, the drafting of Dugger makes sense.  With both Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung nearing the end of their NFL careers, a young replacement was necessary, and the physical safety has been ballin’ with 39 tackles in nine games.

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Now, there has been some ups and downs as it would be with any rookie in a Belichick defense, but his ability to play in the box and on the line has impressed one of the veterans he was drafted to eventually replace, Devin McCourty.

"“Aggressive. Physical,” McCourty said of Dugger, via WEEI.  “I said it back when training camp started, he’s not a guy that – like usually coming from a smaller school, D-II and you think the biggest challenge for him is gonna be picking things up – he didn’t come in like that at all.  I was honestly shocked even in the spring as we were reviewing things, how he was able to pick things up.”"

A high football IQ along with his athletic freak ability and it’s easy to see why Belichick took a shot on a player who did not play Division I college football.  Also, with his versatility, the Patriots top draft pick has been seeing his time increase on a week-to-week basis and that should continue against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13 as Belichick will hope to utilize his speed.

With Justin Herbert and his ability to move around the pocket, along with a dynamic running back like Austin Ekeler, the speed of Kyle Dugger will be utilized as he will get more opportunity to play closer to the line of scrimmage, something he did in Week 12 against the Arizona Cardinals.

When asked about Kyle Dugger and his ability to do what the team needs him to do, Bill Belichick praised how quickly he is able to learn and process what’s in front of him.

"“I would say Kye’s the type of player that gets better every day,” Belichick said, via Patriots.com.  “It doesn’t matter whether it’s kickoff coverage, kickoff return, third down, play action.  The more he sees it, the quicker he processes it, the quicker he reacts and the more consistent he becomes.  So, there are some things he hasn’t seen before that are maybe a little new for him, but once he’s seen it and identified it and you’ve explained it to him, he picks it up very quickly.”"

Sounds like the ultimate Bill Belichick type of player in the making.  That also explains why he has seen his playing time increased.  His ability to adjust his game on the fly has become an asset as it’s nice to see a top draft pick producing in his first season.