Patriots' Dugger & Peppers Stack Up Nicely in PFF's Safety Rankings

The New England Patriots saw their fair share of ups and downs defensively through last season's shaky 4-13 campaign. However, one factor has remained certain through this unit's recently-faced challenges, and that's the talent they possess at the safety position.

Over the past two seasons, Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers have developed into one of the best safety tandems the league has to offer, especially in defending the run. Since New England decided to bring Peppers in from the New York Giants, these two have cemented themselves as mainstays within this defensive core and have been one of the largest bright spots on the roster entirely.

The Patriots' defensive back duo received some high praise during Pro Football Focus' latest safety rankings, which dove into their top 32 players at the position ahead of 2024.

For starters, Dugger came into the list on the tail-end of the top ten, ranking as the ninth-best safety in the NFL, right behind Green Bay Packers' Xavier McKinney. Zoltan Buday of PFF detailed his rationale of Dugger's placement, mentioning his recent coverage struggles that prevent him from seeing a higher spot on the list:

"Dugger, who signed a four-year contract after being franchise-tagged earlier this offseason, played a career-high 1,116 snaps in 2023, but it was his lowest-graded season due to some coverage struggles. He earned a career-low 50.0 coverage grade after earning 73.0-plus marks in back-to-back seasons. Dugger somewhat made up for it with a career-high 79.6 run-defense grade, though."
Zoltan Buday, PFF

One of the main priorities New England undertook this offseason was ensuring Dugger was locked into a contract long-term. By signing a $58 million dollar deal to keep him in Foxboro until 2027, the Patriots achieved their goal and locked up a top talent at the position for the next four seasons. Considering the impact he's had on their strong run defense in recent years, it's a decision this team will look back fondly on as long as he sees slight improvements in pass coverage.

As for Peppers, he came in ranked 11th-ranked safety in the NFL-- one spot out of the top ten, right below New Orleans Saints' Tyrann Mathieu. Buday later dealt some high praise towards the Patriot safety's way, despite suffering from some injury concern as of late:

"Peppers completely revived his career over the past two seasons in New England. His 91.6 PFF run-defense grade with the Patriots ranks second among safeties, behind only Antoine Winfield Jr., while his 83.1 coverage grade over the past two years ranks 12th. However, durability remains an issue for Peppers. Even though he played a career-high number of snaps in 2023, he still missed two games and has yet to play more than 1,000 snaps in a season."
Zoltan Buday, PFF

Peppers has been elite when he's on the field, but as the saying goes: the best ability is availability. We saw how the Patriots' defense depleted last year with big names like Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez missing extensive time. New England can't afford to suffer the same fate moving forward if their defense wants to be a consistent, well-oiled machine.

The pieces are slowly coming together for this Patriots' defense, and the added security at the safety position can help be a significant building block in getting this unit back to the top of the league. New England ranked as the 15th-best defensive team in 2023 and has ample opportunity to see an increase for the year ahead.

Now with a talented and healthy defense to enter the 2024 season with, expect these two Patriots defensive backs to continue making a massive impact.

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