Adding pieces, looking ahead to camp

Defense, to me, is a huge question. The D-line was just OK last year. Imagine how good Christian Barmore would be next to a space eater like Vince Wilfork. Who is going to set the edge opposite Matthew Judon? Ja’Whaun Bentley is a thumper but he is too slow to cover and if he picks the wrong gap, he can’t recover. Are any of the young linebackers quick enough to go sideline to sideline? It doesn’t appear that there is a shutdown corner which has been a big part of the secondary the last several years. Safety looks like a strong point. If creatively deployed maybe that position group can make up for a lot of deficiencies. I’m concerned that several of the good teams that the Pats play, will do to the defense what the Bills did in the last two games that those teams played. Hope I’m wrong. Looking forward to your thoughts.

I feel your overall assessment of the defense is pretty solid. I would agree with just about every point you made. I love Barmore and feel he is the strength up front but I do worry if Davon Godchaux and Lawrence Guy are enough to help him and the rest of the front do a better job of stopping the run. Judon had a great first half of last season but tailed off dramatically after that. And I agree there is no obvious candidate to line up on the opposite side. I believe Ronnie Perkins will get a chance to do so, but he and Josh Uche are unproven commodities at this point. The linebacker group has a lot of bodies with Bentley, Raekwon McMillan, Mack Wilson, Cameron McGrone and Jahlani Tavai but very few proven performers. I do feel like there is more speed in that group compared to veterans Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy who played last year. But that doesn’t mean they have the ability to play at that level. The cornerback spot is thin after losing Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson. Rookies Jack Jones and Marcus Jones may need to contribute immediately and that isn’t an easy thing to rely on. The safeties are deep and I agree with you in that we…