4 New England Patriots defensive players who will wreak havoc in 2022

2. Kyle Dugger will be the swiss army knife of the New England Patriots defense

New England Patriots hard-hitting safety Kyle Dugger is the prime example of why Bill Belichick takes chances and reach in the draft.

The 2020 second-round draft pick out of Lenoir-Rhyne University put some respect on his name in 2021 with 92 combined tackles and four interceptions.  His hard-hitting style of football reminded many of Patrick Chung, which is how Belichick is and will use him.

Following a Year 2 leap, there is no reason to believe Dugger won’t make another leap in Year 3, one that will catapult him into one of the top safeties in the NFL.  Yes, I said it…one of the best because of his combination of speed, physicality, and high IQ; a combination of skills that teammate Devin McCourty highlights as the reason why “sky’s the limit” for the third-year safety.

"“I love Dug,” McCourty said back in June.  “The way he’s able to not care about what people are saying about him, what’s he’s done in the past – being a DII player – he doesn’t care about any of that.  Dug shows up, can do everything, can play in the deep part of the field, can cover. “Obviously, if you watched any of our games, you know he can knock your head off.  I just love watching him grow.  I think sky’s the limit for him.”"

There is no doubt about that.  As he has emerged as one of the Patriots best defenders, expect Dugger to be the centerpiece of that position-less football Belichick will be bringing to the table in 2022.  Like Uche and Wilson, he will be a player flying all around the field wreaking havoc and he’ll do it in that hybrid role Belichick loves, except he’ll grow to be even better than Chung and you can mark my words.