ESPN analyst Marcus Spears believes the New England Patriots will have one of the top-five most improved defenses for the 2025 season. When asked to share his top-five most improved defenses, Spears had the Patriots ranked at No. 2 behind the Denver Broncos.
He believes Mike Vrabel being named the new head coach is one of the biggest reasons why the Patriots will experience a significant turnaround in the 2025 season.
“Mike Vrabel is bringing back that old ‘don’t walk in here and think you aren’t going to get your eye punched out.’ … I love the mentality,” Spears said on NFL Live, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
Thought-provoking discussion on NFL Live: Do the Patriots have one of the NFL’s most improved defenses?@mspears96 believes so.
“Mike Vrabel is bringing back that old ‘don’t walk in here and think you aren’t going to get your eye punched out.’ … I love the mentality.” pic.twitter.com/mn7CN0XJ3d
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) June 26, 2025
The Patriots have done more than enough to cause Spears and others to be bullish on them heading into the 2025 season. They’ve improved at every level defensively.
They boosted the defensive front by signing defensive tackle Milton Williams and drafting Florida State rookie Joshua Farmer. At the middle level, they brought in veterans Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens at linebacker, while signing K’Lavon Chaisson on the edge and drafting rookie Bradyn Swinson. In the defensive backfield, they signed standout veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III to play opposite of All-Pro corner Christian Gonzalez.
The unit looks significantly better than it did last season, at least on paper. All of the pieces are there for the Patriots to field one of the best defensive units in the league this year.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: NFL analyst’s reason for ranking Patriots as top-five improved defense