Chase Winovich's Rookie Stats Should Have You Excited About His Future
One of the best values the New England Patriots were able to acquire in the 2019 NFL Draft was edge defender Chase Winovich.
As a player that played alongside Rashan Gary at Michigan, Winovich slipped down the draft board last year because of the hype surrounding Gary. The Green Bay Packers ended up taking Gary in the first round, and Winovich fell into the Patriots' lap in the third round. Because of that, Winovich was labeled by many as the best value addition by any team in the league during the draft last year.
During his rookie season, Winovich was a rotational piece in the front-seven for the Patriots. But despite being just a rotational piece, the former Wolverine found himself in elite company once his first season in the NFL came to an end.
Winovich is one of two players in the Bill Belichick era to record at least 5.5 sacks and 10 QB hits as a rookie. The other player is Chandler Jones (per Boston Sports Info).
Last season, Winovich had 5.5 sacks, 10 QB hits and four tackles for loss. In Jones' rookie season - which was 2012 - he had six sacks, 12 QB hits and eight tackles for loss. While Jones' stats were a little bit better than Winovich's were when comparing their rookie seasons, it's also worth noting that Jones played 67% of the defensive snaps in 2012, meanwhile Winovich played in 29% of the defensive snaps in 2019 (per Pro Football Reference). To add even more context, Winovich earned a 72.2 overall PFF grade last season, and Jones back in 2012 earned an overall grade of 76.4.
Jones - even after being traded to Arizona in 2016 - has been amongst the league's pass rushers over the past seven years. He has recorded double-digit sacks in all but two seasons to-date. His best season was in 2019, when he recorded 19 sacks. So if Winovich is on the same trajectory as New England's 2012 first round pick, then the Patriots have an elite pass rusher on their hands yet again.
Now that New England is without linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins - who were their top two pass rushers last season - the Patriots will be on the lookout for another pass rusher to plug in opposite of Winovich on the defensive line. If they are able to find that player in the 2020 NFL Draft, then the six-time Super Bowl champions could have one of the best, young pass rush tandems in the entire league.
