Patriots position review: Evaluating Davon Godchaux, DL unit's 2024 season

2 hours ago 1

The 2024 season was a rough one for the New England Patriots, who, for the second year in a row, finished with a 4-13 record and fired head coach Jerod Mayo just one year into his tenure.

Just a few weeks since the season ended, the Patriots have begun putting together a coaching staff that's inspiring confidence for 2025.

However, before we get there, we still have some aspects of the last season to get into. We're currently in the middle of grading every player by position group based on their performances from the year that was.

Today, we'll continue with the defensive linemen.

Davon Godchaux: C+

Godchaux was unhappy during training camp, but an extension cleared up any problems between him and the team. Throughout the year, he was outspoken about New England's effort but still put his support behind Mayo. He finished the season with 67 tackles and a pass defensed.

Daniel Ekuale: C+

Ekuale missed most of the 2023 season due to a torn biceps in Week 3, but he returned in 2024 and played in 16 games (64.6% of the defensive snaps). He finished the year with a career-high 52 tackles and one sack. He was strong against the run and could cause some disruption against the pass, which could get him paid this offseason.

Jeremiah Pharms Jr.: C

Pharms returned to the Patriots for his third NFL season in 2024, making the active roster out of training camp. He was forced to play a much bigger role than expected, finishing the year playing 40% of the team's defensive snaps and recording 33 tackles and two sacks. He may be asked to play even more in 2025.

Jaquelin Roy: D+

New England signed Roy to their practice squad in September and promoted him to the active roster in October. He finished the year with 141 defensive snaps, recording 17 tackles and two sacks.

Christian Barmore: INC

Barmore's year started great with a massive extension in the offseason, but a blood clot diagnosis landed him on NFI early in training camp. He eventually returned to the field but was forced to end his season early due to health issues. In total, he was on the field for just 123 snaps, recording six tackles and a sack.

Eric Johnson: D

The Patriots claimed Johnson off of waivers from the Indianapolis Colts during roster cuts, and he while he was at the bottom of the depth chart, he got a fair number of snaps due to injuries and poor performances. Johnson ended up playing 178 defensive snaps and recording 17 tackles on the year.

Trysten Hill: INC

Hill joined New England's practice squad in 2023 and ended up back there in 2024. He played in just two games, seeing 14 defensive snaps before getting released in October.