Patriots Hope To Improve Pass Rush With Trade

The New England Patriots have made an effort to improve their pass rush next season by trading for outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo. In return New England gave the Cleveland Browns a fifth-round pick for 2017 draft.

Mingo was the sixth overall pick in 2013 draft coming out of LSU, where he was an absolute playmaker but in the NFL has only had 108 combine tackles and 7 sacks in three seasons.

This trade has some major upside for the Patriots because Mingo is still a raw talent but the kid is freaky athletic. At the combine three years ago he ran a 4.53 40-yard dash and had a vertical jump of 37 inches, which are both great numbers for a linebacker.

The downside of Mingo was his size because he's listed at 240 but was more likely around 225 or so. However, reports out of Cleveland in April said that Mingo had put on an additional 20 pounds or more of muscle. Now whether that's true or not, we'll have to wait and see. 

While Mingo is still raw, he posses great athletic ability for his size and if anyone knows how to groom linebackers it's Bill Belichick. He could turnout to be a solid pass rusher in the league with some good coaching and the right scheme. Let's see if he can get it done.