What Davon Godchaux brings to the New England Patriots defense

In the words of Phil Perry, who covers the New England Patriots for NBC Sports Boston, it “continues to rain compliments in Foxboro.”

With training camp underway for the Patriots, head coach Bill Belichick has been effusive with praise for a few different players, something the venerable coach usually reserves for the opposition. He spoke glowingly of second-year quarterback Mac Jones and the strides he made over the off-season, and then in response to the news that defensive tackle Davon Godchaux had earned a new contract, Belichick called him “one of the best defensive tackles in the league:”

Godchaux’s new deal comes after a solid first season in New England, where he played in all 17 regular-season games for the Patriots. He recorded 65 total tackles, along with a sack.

But life as an interior defensive lineman in the NFL, and in New England, often involves more than statistics. Godchaux spent the vast majority of his time on the inside, with 510 of his 686 snaps finding him aligned either on the center on between the guards. That often required him to take on combination blocks or even true double-teams, as well as sometimes tasking him with two-gap responsibility on snaps.

When you see how he handled those situations, you can understand Belichick’s praise.

Take this play against the Miami Dolphins from Week 18, with Godchaux aligned as a shaded nose tackle on the center’s left shoulder:

The Dolphins test the interior of New England’s defense by running Duke Johnson on an inside zone design. The center and left guard attempt a combination block on Godchaux at the point of attack, with the center hoping to climb to the second level and take on Jamie Collins. Godchaux does a good job at first anchoring against the combination and occupying both blockers, but fighting to get into the A-Gap between the center and left guard. That is where Johnson is aiming, but when he sees Godchaux’s helmet in the gap, he jump cuts into the opposite A-Gap.

As he does this, the center finally peels off Godchaux and tries to climb, but thanks to the nose tackle buying some time for him, Collins is now in the A-Gap and takes on the center right past the line of scrimmage. Simultaneously, Godchaux scrapes off the guard, and when Johnson tries another cut to avoid the traffic in the right A-Gap caused by the center and Collins, Godchaux makes the tackle.

This snap against the Indianapolis Colts is another example of what Godchaux offers against the run. Facing a 1st and goal from the 8-yard line, the Colts run Jonathan Taylor to the left side on another zone design. Watch as Godchaux, aligned over the center, controls him on the interior with a long-arm move and gets his eyes on the back, and is ready when Taylor tries to cutback this run:

This is a great play from Godchaux, from his technique and awareness to how he finishes the play, holding Taylor to just a yard on the ground.

For a man of his size, Godchaux has an impressive first step, and his quickness off the snap poses problems for opposing running games. He showed that trait on a few different plays in New England’s Week 13 victory over the Buffalo Bills. This example comes from the first quarter, with the Bills facing a 2nd and 8 in their own territory. Buffalo tries to run Devin Singletary to the left edge, but pay attention to the explosive first steps from Godchaux, coming out of his alignment over the center:

That upfield burst prevents the right guard from getting to him on a reach block, and Godchaux is into the backfield before Singletary gets the handoff. The running back does a good job of managing to eke out a yard, but Godchaux’s burst and tackle forces the Bills into third-and-long.

If you are looking for an example of how Godchaux handles things when tasked

f this game. With the Bills facing a 1st and goal and trailing by four, they test Godchaux and the interior of the New England defense with running back Zack Moss. Watch as Godchaux, aligned over the center, controls the center at the point of attack and forces Moss to jump cut from one A-Gap to the other, before shedding the center and making the tackle:

Resetting the line of scrimmage is an impressive feat from a defensive tackle. Here against the New Orleans Saints, Godchaux does just that. Aligned more to the outside, on the left tackle, Godchaux fires off the snap and into left tackle Terron Armstead, before scraping off and tackling Alvin Kamara for no gain on the play:

Now as mentioned earlier, part of life for an interior offensive lineman is swallowing up combination blocks and double-teams on the inside, creating opportunities for those around you to run free and make plays. While those snaps might not show up on a stat sheet, they are critically important to the success of a defense.

On this play against the Tennessee Titans, Godchaux anchors against the center and right guard on an inside zone design. That allows the two linebackers to crash downhill, and when the running back sees the cloudy picture inside, he tries to bounce outside, to no avail:

Rookie Christian Barmore registers the tackle, but this starts with Godchaux on the inside.

Belichick has been effusive with praise at the start of training camp, for  both his young quarterback and his defensive tackle who earned a new deal because of his play. If Godchaux offers more plays like this over the course of the 2022 campaign, perhaps the flowers will continue to flow in Foxboro.