New England Patriots: Top first-round targets in 2020 NFL Draft

Current DTs: Lawrence Guy, Byron Cowart

New England has always found a way to succeed with well-priced players on the interior of the defensive line, but with the new trend of NFL defenses being the presence of dynamic interior pass-rushers (ex: Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, etc) a new piece in the middle could be a key to future success.

As mentioned, dynamic interior pass-rushers have become the newest trend in NFL defenses because of their ability to disrupt the quarterback. Quarterbacks rely on a clean pocket to make their reads and deliver the football, but if the pocket is disrupted by one of these homewreckers, quarterbacks are forced to miss their open reads because of said pressure directly in their face flushing them out of the pocket.

Raekwon Davis is a 6-foot-7 defensive tackle coming off of a disappointing senior season at Alabama, marred by injuries, who has the size and athleticism to operate as one of these new-age interior defensive linemen. Much of his play at Alabama relied upon his size and athleticism, which will work at the collegiate level but can’t reliably translate to the NFL level without improvement to his technique.

In New England, the cheap defensive tackle has reigned supreme since their primary purpose has been in run defense. With a new era coming to the forefront at Gillette stadium, it may be time for Belichick to have himself his first homewrecking defensive tackle since Richard Seymour.