How Does Loss of Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner Affect Patriots Defense?

Goodbye, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. Hello, Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler, Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard.

The New England Patriots chose not to pick up the options for their two starting cornerbacks of 2014 and are now looking to the young blood of their secondary to pick up the slack.

Remember that aggressive man-to-man press coverage we saw from the Patriots last year? Those memories are all that are left of the defensive scheme the Patriots used in 2014. With Revis and Browner gone, the Patriots are most likely transitioning to a soft zone coverage scheme. 

In layman's terms, it will be more "bend, don't break" than "break your face." 

Player	Revis	Browner	Ryan	Arrington	Dennard	Butler
Snaps	1032	591	500	451	241	187
Comp	41	31	33	25	15	15
Att	79	54	56	45	22	27
Comp %	51.9	57.4	58.9	55.6	68.2	55.6
Yds	557	455	471	298	216	267
TD	2	2	2	1	2	2
INT	2	1	2	0	1	0
PBU	11	6	5	3	1	5
Rate	72.6	89.7	83.3	83.4	111.2	114.3

Revis and Browner were dominant perimeter cornerbacks capable of jamming and covering top-end boundary receivers. The Patriots don't have anyone like that anymore. Alfonzo Dennard and Malcolm Butler are the players most likely to play a majority of the snaps on the outside, with Kyle Arrington and Logan Ryan sharing the duties in the slot.

On top of the abilities of Revis and Browner, the Patriots also lose out on their experience. Between them, Dennard, Butler, Ryan and Arrington played a combined 1,398 snaps in the 2014 regular season, according to Pro Football Focus. On his own, Revis played 1,032 snaps. Despite a four-game suspension, Browner played 591 snaps—more than any other other backup cornerback listed above.

With more zone looks in 2015, it's even more important that the Patriots were able to retain safety Devin McCourty. The Patriots need a top-flight safety to close up the back end and prevent long passes. McCourty did a fantastic job in that role as the lone deep safety and in Cover 3, and he'll have an even bigger responsibility in 2015 as he tries to hold up in coverage with less talented cornerbacks in front of him.

Indeed, it's going to be a much different look from the Patriots defense in 2015, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work. It just means the Patriots have to change their approach, as Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal appropriately points out. 

In 2014, they invested heavily in their coverage unit. This offseason, they have already put a big buck down on McCourty, but they will also need to put more resources into their pass rush.

They have already begun that process by signing outside linebacker Jabaal Sheard. The former 37th overall pick of the 2011 draft has proven he can be a productive pass-rusher in his four-year career, despite notching fewer sacks in each season of his career—from 8.5 as a rookie to two in 2014.

Sheard rushed the passer 326 times as an outside linebacker in 2014 and notched 30 pressures (24 hurries, four hits, two sacks), according to Pro Football Focus; but he was more productive as a 4-3 defensive end in 2011 when he notched 55 total pressures (42 hurries, four hits, nine "total" sacks) on 464 pass-rush attempts. 

The Patriots run a mix of 3-4 and 4-3 fronts, and so Sheard will find a role regardless of their scheme and game plan, which can change from week to week. In any case, his primary role will be to supplement the snaps of the starting edge defenders, Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich. 

Player	Ninkovich	Cha. Jones	Ayers	Hightower	Collins
Snaps	1040	577	390	850	942
Hurries	33	19	23	17	16
Hits	10	6	4	9	6
Sacks	8	7	4	8	4
Total	51	32	31	34	26

They could continue to revamp their pass rush by adding talent to the interior of the defensive line. The Patriots have shown interest in free-agent defensive tackle Nick Fairley, according to Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal, and also in defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post. 

After cutting ties with defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, the Patriots are in need of interior linemen, but either way, a disruptive defensive line will be of prime importance without the top-end coverage unit the Patriots employed last year. 

Aggressive pressure would only help the defensive backs in their endeavor to cover and would also give them more opportunities to put their ball-hawking skills to use with an increase in the amount of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Ryan, Arrington, Dennard and Butler can all be serviceable cornerbacks, but a potent pass rush can make serviceable cornerbacks look great. If the Patriots can improve up front, their defense could still be very effective in 2015.