Will Chase Winovich thrive with the New England Patriots?

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is an old school coach who doesn’t crack a whole lot of smiles. Belichick’s main rule has always been a simple one, ‘Do Your Job’.

As long as a player does their job, they can have their own personality. Belichick may be a stoic, but he welcomes fiery football players (i.e. Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Rodney Harrison, tons more) that have a relentless drive to win.

Belichick likes leaders, he likes max effort guys, he likes gladiators. And in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Pats may have found themselves a new future leader on defense in former Michigan DE Chase Winovich.

Some consider Winovich to be similar to a former Patriots standout defender, Rob Ninkovich.

If you’ve watched the Patriots here and there for the last 19 seasons, you know what a prototypical Pats player is like, from effort on the field to the different types of personas they fill their roster with to create a championship atmosphere. The point is, many in the media proclaimed Winovich to be a perfect fit in New England. Why is that? It’s one of those things were there’s more of a feel as to why than a precise explanation.

Winovich fell to the third round, but that could end up being a blessing in disguise. He’s about to get coached up by a defensive minded head coach who just so happens to be the best coach of all time in the NFL. He goes to a team that has the best quarterback of all time coming fresh off a Super Bowl victory. The quarterback just so happens to be a Michigan grad named Tom Brady. Winovich could have went to a bottom barrel team and been put in a bad situation, but the type of situation he finds himself in is stellar.

When the Patriots defense is performing at a high level it usually coincides with their unit having a mean streak in it and a lot of max effort guys. The days of Mike Vrabel, Teddy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison, Richard Seymour, and Vince Wilfork featured ferocious dominance on D for the Pats. Winovich is the type of player that could have fit in with the Pats teams of old, and can certainly fit in with the Patriots teams of tomorrow.

It’s always hard telling how an NFL career will pan out, but I’d put my money on Winovich playing in the NFL for the better part of a decade, and there’s a good chance he could even become a household name. There’s a lot of hard work ahead for Winovich, this is just the beginning, and if he slips up he will never reach his potential. However, if Winovich keeps doing what he did at Michigan to be successful, he should continue to succeed as a pro.

How do you think Winovich will do in New England?