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fter reaching an injury settlement with the New England Patriots, defensive end Henry Anderson has found a new home.
Per the NFL transaction wire, Anderson has signed with the Carolina Panthers. In response, Carolina waived defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon, who was a fifth-round pick last year and appeared in seven games as a rookie.
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Anderson was drafted in the third round of the 2015 draft by the Indianapolis Colts. The defensive end spent three seasons with the Colts and racked up 65 tackles and three sacks per Pro Football Reference.
Anderson’s next stop was in New York where he found success with the Jets. In three seasons in New York, Anderson tallied over 100 tackles and 8.5 sacks.
How Did Anderson Perform in New England?
The defensive end only appeared in four games for the Patriots, failing to make an impact on the stat sheet.
New England still has a quality group of pass rushers after the departure of Anderson. Deatrich Wise, Lawrence Guy, and Christian Barmore will lead the way for the Patriots. Josh Uche and Matthew Judon will also hope to set the edge and get to the quarterback.
Where Do the Patriots Stand in the NFL Entering Week 1?
The NFL staff over at Bleacher Report released their power rankings heading into Week 1 and the Patriots will have quite the mountain to climb in 2022. New England is ranked 22nd out of the 32 NFL teams.
“It’s not that often that coaching decisions from Bill Belichick are second-guessed,” the Bleacher Report staff wrote. “When you’re the most successful head coach the NFL has ever seen, you tend to get the benefit of the doubt. However, the decision to have someone who came up as a special teams coach (Joe Judge) be in charge of second-year quarterback Mac Jones’ development and have a traditionally defensive coach (Matt Patricia) call the offensive plays is a little weird, even by Belichick’s standards.”
Gary Davenport also added his concern about New England’s offense.
“Who could possibly have foreseen this except everyone with eyes and a functioning cerebrum,” Davenport said. “Belichick has long been lauded for outcoaching and outscheming opponents. But this isn’t outside-the-box brilliance. It’s trying to be cute. Cute backfires a lot more often than not. And in this case, it’s going to keep the Patriots from getting back into the postseason.”
The Patriots were stuck behind some disappointing teams including the likes of the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, and New Orleans Saints. The poor ranking is even more upsetting considering that New England is coming off a quality season from then rookie Mac Jones that got the team into the playoffs.
But it seems like Patriots fans should prepare for a difficult season. Expecting to make the playoffs or even reach .500 might prove to be too big of a challenge for this current roster in New England.
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