FOXBORO — With nice versatility comes nice accountability.
Fortunately, Patriots rookie — linebacker? security? rover? let’s go along with defender — Marte Mapu is constructed for the duty. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound hybrid performed in every single place from linebacker to sturdy security to free security and on kick and punt return models in his NFL debut Sunday in opposition to the Eagles. He was on the sector for 21 official snaps and made an impression with three tackles.
Marte Mapu performed 10 snaps final night time, all towards the boundary
Was principally utilized in a giant nickel bundle with Dugger and Peppers the place he’d play centerfielder on slot blitzes, linebacker in 3-4 appears to be like, and as a gap defender within the low RZ
Also performed security in 3-safety dime pic.twitter.com/W5vWUnirxI
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 11, 2023
Patriots Pro Bowl move rusher Matthew Judon has seen Mapu play on all three ranges of the protection.
“I don’t really know Marte’s background too much,” Judon mentioned Sunday. “I watched highlights and stuff, things like that. But, for him to be able to play linebacker, safety and outside linebacker, that’s kind of unbelievable.”
Patriots security Adrian Phillips mentioned earlier this summer season that he couldn’t consider a participant comp for Mapu.
Mapu is formally listed as a linebacker on the Patriots’ roster. But he warms up with defensive backs, and it’s, fairly frankly, simpler for him to checklist positions he is aware of he’s not going to play.
“I know that I’m not going to be a three-tech (defensive tackle). I’m not gonna be no corner. But besides that…,” Mapu informed the Boston Herald at his locker final week as he ready for the Patriots’ season opener.
So, the 2023 third-round choose realized the entire protection out of hysteria that he could be caught off guard. He is aware of that he could possibly be thrust into any function at any second.
And that’s the Patriots’ plan up to now.
“We’ll use him as we see fit based on where we need him,” linebackers coach Jerod Mayo mentioned Tuesday on a video convention name with reporters.
The further examine got here naturally to Mapu. He did the identical factor in faculty at Sacramento State even when he had a significantly better sense of how he could be used.
Mapu is humble and unpretentious. He’d be the final individual to let you know he’s acquired all of it discovered, however between his intelligence and preparedness, it appears like he does.
“I just felt like that was gonna give me the best foundation in terms of, ‘OK, if they do want to use me here’ — like, I don’t want to be surprised by anything,” Mapu mentioned. “Because then I’m studying one thing all week and if somebody gets hurt or maybe if a vet is a little bit tight that day or something like that, and I gotta go in there and I’m like, ‘Well, this ain’t the position I’ve been studying.’ … And then also, if I know that 10 people are doing 10 different things and there’s only one job left. That helps with my process of elimination.”
“Instincts” is a time period that will get thrown round in describing a defender’s unquantifiable abilities. If a participant is in the suitable place on the proper time or seems like he is aware of the play higher than the offense, then it’s normally chalked as much as “instincts.”
But for Mapu, that means of studying your complete protection — even when it’s a place he is aware of he’s not going to play — helps to diagnose a play earlier than it’s even occurring.
“If I know how our ends are gonna play, I can play a little bit faster because I can anticipate, ‘OK, if they go inside, that means the ball’s gonna go outside. That means I can take my track early and try to beat him to the spot or just adjust my track.’ So then we’re not both going inside and now they’re beating us around the edge. Or maybe he’s gonna stay outside. I can trust my eyes and just shoot it, knowing that he’s not going to bounce,” he mentioned.
“In terms of studying and when I’m trying to prioritize, that doesn’t really change but in terms of what I’m gonna be doing on the field, that’s completely up to the coaches.”
It can be fascinating to see how Mapu’s function grows within the protection because the season goes alongside. In faculty, Mapu primarily performed within the slot as a senior, additionally rotating into the field, at free security and alongside the line of defense. He has quite a lot of competitors for snaps at security. Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and Phillips all obtained extra taking part in time Sunday. He has a clearer path at linebacker.
Mapu believes his function could possibly be situational or change week to week however solely as a result of that’s par for the course within the Patriots’ protection.
“I don’t think that’s really unique to me,” he mentioned. “That’s sort of the trademark of the Patriots protection. I didn’t actually comprehend it as a lot till I began getting nearer to the league and the way versatile quite a lot of defenses are. But this protection is fairly distinctive, or at the least from what I do know. From my perspective.
“We have D-linemen that can play inside and outside, and we have corners that have played a little bit of safety, that have played inside and outside, and we have safeties — not only me — that have rotated down into the box and played linebacker. I’m gonna study everything until they tell me ‘only study this.’ … If I stopped studying the other positions and then an emergency happens during the game, that’s probably going to be the worst time to be surprised by stuff.”
Patriots coaches know they’re placing lots on Mapu’s plate, however his function Sunday recommended that they know he can deal with it.
An individual near Mapu mentioned final week, that is “all he does.”
“He’s challenged with a difficult task to learn multiple spots,” cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino mentioned. “But that’s the value of our defense. Versatilty is value. That’s what he’s trying to create, and he’s doing the best he can with learning both positions, learning the whole scheme, what everybody does. The big picture is what we talk about a lot in the defensive side of the room is what is the big picture, what are we trying to accomplish? I think he’s doing a good job trying to do that.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com