It's impossible to predict how Bill Belichick and the Patriots are going to deploy their defenders in Sunday's opener against the Eagles. The last practice that was open to the media was on Aug. 23rd. That leaves a lot of time behind closed doors and in the laboratory for the coaches to tinker.
That especially goes for rookies on defense. Normally the Patriots bring their rookies along very slowly, make them focus on excelling in a small role before the coaches put the players in a tough and extended position.
We know that won't be the case for cornerback Christian Gonzalez. He'll be out there every snap.
Second-round pick Keion White should at least get some subpackage looks.
What about third-round pick Marte Mapu? The picture for him is even more hazy, as it took him a while to get cleared for contact, got limited time in the Packers joint practices, and only played against the Titans in the preseason.
But what the Patriots asked Mapu to do against the Titans leads to a legitimate question: could he play a large role against the Eagles? Quite possibly.
Let's look at his game film, and discuss what this could mean.
GAME FILM
POSITIVES
NEGATIVES
PATRIOTS PROJECTION
There's little question the Patriots coaches think a lot of Mapu, both his physical skills and, more importantly, his football IQ. He is way, way ahead of most rookies at the position. Kyle Dugger wasn't asked to do this much. Still isn't, really.
If he made the corrections from this game, that would be an even better sign to the coaches.
I could see Mapu playing a sneaky big role in this game, at least in certain packages. He could line up at times against TE Dallas Goedert, or the RBs. He could spy Jalen Hurts at times as well.
But I also don't think it's out of the question that he gets a lot of free safety time as the season goes along, especially if others (Adrian Phillps, Jalen Mills) struggle at times.
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