New England Patriots: Matt Judon rushing towards All-Pro elite status

New England Patriots linebacker/edge rusher supreme, Matt Judon is playing so well that he may be heading for an All-Pro designation. Now that’s a free agent signing right there.

As an observer who is not shy about taking the New England Patriots brass to task for poor personnel moves, it’s only fair to pat them on the back when they get it right.

And boy, they got it right on Matt Judon when they signed him away from the always astute personnel operation known as the Baltimore Ravens.

Judon was highly touted in this space and elsewhere by Patriots observers and he’s exceeding those expectations thus far. He’s been simply sensational.

The New England Patriots paid for quality and got it in Matt Judon

There’s an old saying that, “You get what you pay for”. How true that has been with Matthew Judon thus far in his New England Patriots tenure.

The Patriots ponied up big bucks for Judon early in free agency and they have never looked back. His contract was for four years and $56m with $32M guaranteed. That’s not chump change.

Yet, thus far in his nine games with the Patriots, he’s looked the part of the Pro-Bowler that he is,  and then some. Judon has racked up nine sacks in nine games. Nice numbers and easy arithmetic.

That’s a sack a game and those types of stats haven’t been seen around here since maybe Patriots and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Andre Tippett was patrolling the edge for New England.

The only major obstacles to his perhaps even being Defensive Player of the Year, may be two players. One would be the All-World defensive tackle, Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams.

Donald may be the best pure football player not named Tom Brady in the entire NFL on either offense or defense.

The other player, the Patriots will face on Sunday on Week 10 at Gillette Stadium when they face off against the Cleveland Browns. That would be their galactico defensive end, Myles Garrett.

Garrett has racked up 12 sacks in nine games. Those are sick statistics. And the Browns’ defensive end is only 25 years old. He’ll be a handful for new England’s inconsistent offensive line to handle.

New England Patriots Matt Judon has added a new dimension to the defense

Matt Judon has had such a dramatic impact on the Patriots’ defense because they lacked his most impactful attribute last season and before. That would be pass-rushing, and, above-all, sacks.

The team was led by Jamie Collins in 2019 with seven sacks and by Chase Winovich in 2020 with 5.5 sacks. Not very strong right there. Judon has nine in nine thus far. A sizeable increase already.

Judon also has 16 quarterback hits and 36 tackles to go along with his superb sack totals thus far. In short, he’s been a one-man wrecking crew from the edge.

In addition to his pass-rushing prowess, Judon is a leader, folks. As in capital “L”. He takes the podium after every game and tells it like it is.

And it’s clear, almost without a doubt, that he will be a captain on the 2022 New England Patriots defense, and likely every year thereafter he wears the red, white, blue, and silver.

So, nine games into his tenure, the easy verdict for Matt Judon is any superlative you may want to attach. He’s been simply put, sensational.

Thankfully, for his coaches, his team, and its fans, there’s a lot more to come. And that may include playoff games, as well. Matt Judon, a nice addition for certain.