New England Patriots: Christian Barmore on a fast track to the top

New England Patriots rookie defensive lineman Christian Barmore is on a fast track to the top of the NFL and he’s the Patriots’ best since Vince Wilfork. How’s that for openers?

If that sounds like high praise, it is indeed. This young player is impressive and he’s growing with every additional snap he’s getting.

Barmore was the team’s second-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft last April. He was routinely looked upon as one of if not the best defensive tackle in the draft.

Yet, Barmore, an Alabama national champion somehow fortuitously for the Patriots slipped into the second round. That was luck and acumen displayed by the Patriots who traded up to get him.

New England Patriots Barmore can be among the very best in the NFL

As an observer who can be critical of the Patriots’ personnel operation and its rather poor drafting and other moves, that is certainly not the case with their top two draft picks in 2021.

Mac Jones, the first-round pick has star quality written all over his game. Lots have been written about this young phenom. Jones is doing things no other rookie quarterback has ever done.

Yet, Barmore is also a special player at least based on early observation. As he continues to get more snaps, he is beginning to show dominant traits.

Those are traits not seen in these parts since former Patriots Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, and Ted Washington were patrolling the defensive line for the red, white, blue, and silver.

Those three players were champions, folks and if Barmore continues his upward progression he can reach those same lofty heights. He’s that good.

What makes New England Patriot Christian Barmore special

Christian Barmore has awesome size for an NFL defensive tackle/end. He stands 6’4″ tall and is under-listed a bit perhaps at only 310 pounds. And he’s strong.

Against the Jets last Sunday, he began to emerge not only as a dominant force but also on the stat sheet. He logged six total tackles with 4 unassisted.

Yet, it was not only the stat sheet that showed his emergent dominance. It was his entire body of work against the Jets. He was terrific.

Barmore’s ability to push the pocket was so demonstrative that the Jets were forced to deploy two or even three blockers to try to impede his progress to the quarterback.

While he has yet to log a sack, it’s only a matter of time. His pass rush and upfield burst are so disruptive that they will lead to his sacks and sacks for his teammates, as well.

Not much attention is usually placed on either offensive or defensive line play unless there may be a special player like John Hannah or Anthony Munoz on offense or a Richard Seymour or Aaron Donald on defense.

Players like that are so special that they command attention since they are so proficient at their game that they eclipse even fellow Pro-Bowl types against whom they play.

Christian Barmore is only seven games into his NFL career yet is already commanding that attention at least from this observer.

He’s a special player and worth watching even as an interior defensive lineman on every play he’s on the field. And those plays should be increasing exponentially. He’s becoming indispensable.

The New England Patriots have not generally been a good drafting team. Yet, New England Patriots owner, Mr. Robert Kraft made it quite clear that a 7-9 record was not good enough.

He uncharacteristically and demonstrably made it clear early this year that he wanted a great draft and a top new quarterback around whom to build his next round of excellence.

He got both in the persons of Mac Jones, who has Pro-Bowl and even All-Pro potential, and in Christian Barmore who has those same potentialities.

Each is worth the price of admission or paying special attention to while watching games on your favorite TV each and every time they step on the field.

That’s what this space definitely calls a great draft. Let’s see how far these two top rookies can take the 2021 version of the New England Patriots. It may be further than we thought.