New England Patriots: 3 players primed to spook Justin Herbert

2. New England Patriots rookie Christian Barmore a disruptive force of nature

While all the talk has surrounded New England Patriots first-round pick Mac Jones, its time to start paying attention to second-round pick Christian Barmore.

A first-round talent, Barmore has been making his presence felt in the middle of that Patriots defense over the last few weeks.  Both his versatility and disruptive nature is becoming more and more apparent as his snaps increase.

With his pass rush ability up the middle, Barmore could present a frightening force in the face of Justin Herbert all afternoon as he has a total of 17 quarterback hurries this season.  But, even if he doesn’t get to Herbert, the double teams he draws should help other players get to the Chargers quarterback.

In other words, it could be a monster game for the Alabama product who has Belichick singing his praises.

"“I think Christian has done a good job of developing all phases of his game. He’s improved in the run game. He’s improved in the pass rush,” Belichick said. “He’s a versatile player that’s played a number of spots for us — 5-technique, 3-technique; he’s also played on the nose. That’s a lot of things that can happen to a defensive lineman. The different blocking schemes, different types of pass protections, different reads, and then you mix that in with multiple defensive calls and so forth. Quite a bit can be going on there, and I think he’s handled that well.”"

Don’t be surprised if Barmore records his first NFL sack in this game.  At the very least, he should play a big role in shopping the running game of the Chargers.