Terrance Knighton Must Adapt His Game to Fit New England Patriots Defense

If Terrance Knighton isn't the kind of defensive tackle the New England Patriots need, at least he has the right goals.

A former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins nose tackle, Knighton admitted to being a lifelong Patriots fan, and he added that there is one Patriots defensive tackle in particular whom Knighton models himself after. He said:

"

Guys that were great leaders on and off the field and were role models for me growing up and guys that I modeled myself after on the field like a Vince Wilfork. Obviously, big shoes to fill and me being a big guy and playing nose tackle, people will look for me to be like a Wilfork replacement, but I'm not thinking about that. I'm just going to come in, and work hard every day, and just try to create my own niche in the organization.

"

He might not be thinking about himself as a Wilfork replacement, but while that may not be his singular job description, some of Wilfork's old responsibilities will certainly fall on Knighton as a nose tackle in the Patriots defense.

Like Wilfork, Knighton will be asked to take on more than one blocker at a time in order to tilt the numbers in favor of the defensive line. Like Wilfork, Knighton will be asked to hold his ground at the line of scrimmage and plug the gaps, rather than rushing past the offensive linemen to get into the backfield. 

Year	2013	2014	2015
Hurries	27	10	7
Hits	6	6	1
Sacks	5	2	2
Pass-rush snaps	370	317	182
Pass-rush productivity (NFL rank)	8/63	43/72	43/63

Like Wilfork, Knighton will no longer be measured only by how green he makes the quarterback's jersey, but also by how clean he keeps his linebackers' jerseys.

That being said, the seven-year veteran will have his chances to get into the backfield. Bill Belichick has thumbed his nose at the concept that he must choose a base defense. Instead, he has bounced back and forth from 3-4 to 4-3 indiscriminately, depending on whatever will work best in a given situation.

So, while Knighton certainly looks the part of a nose tackle at 6'3" and 354 pounds, he'll also get to put some pass-rushing moves on display. 

What's more, the Patriots have plenty of depth at defensive tackle, so they won't be relying on Knighton as an every-down player. The Patriots have two first-round picks—Dominique Easley and Malcom Brown—as their likely starters, and they still have veterans Chris Jones and Alan Branch to compete for playing time. 

That's good news for Knighton, who isn't the most well-conditioned defensive tackle on the planet—although the Patriots took measures against "Pot Roast" living up to his nickname, by putting weight clauses in his contract. Knighton said:

"

Last year I was obviously heavier than I am right now. I'm in a lot better shape than I was last year. Contractually, I have things, weights that I need to hit. Whatever the coaches want me to play at then that's what I'll be at. I've worked really hard this offseason and I'll continue to work throughout the offseason program and get acclimated to the new strength coaches and the nutritionists and the way things are done in Foxborough.

"

Knighton has started all but one game in the past three seasons, but according to Pro Football Focus, he didn't play more than 53.1 percent of the snaps in any of those three seasons; he played just 37.9 percent of the snaps in 2015 for the Redskins.

The Patriots may not require much more than that from Knighton in his backup duties, but if they do, he'll need to be ready to carry out what they need—not just from a conditioning standpoint, but a skill set standpoint as well. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.