Patriots Daily: Dugger Voted a Top 10 Safety; Peppers Left Out

ESPN has been reporting on the results of a poll from NFL executives, coaches, and scouts listing their top ten NFL players at each position. The New England Patriots finally have a player who cracked the top ten. The honor goes to safety Kyle Dugger. It was a move up from his honorable mention spot a year ago.

Dugger led the 2023 Patriots in both defensive snaps (1,115, 97.98%) and solo tackles (71). He also set personal bests for combined tackles (109), assisted tackles (38), tackles for loss (6), and sacks (1.5). New England rewarded him with a four-year contract worth up to $66 million in free agency.

Jabrill Peppers did not make the list of top ten safeties nor even honorable mention. He was listed under “also receiving votes” which appeared to place him at No. 25 overall. A shocking result for a player who was graded as the No. 4 safety by Pro Football Football in 2023 among players who missed fewer than five games.

Peppers’ snub continues a trend of Patriots players being left off the elite lists. Of the positions reported so far, only DT Christian Barmore (No. 16) even received honorable mention honors. Edge rusher Matthew Judon (No. 19), TE Hunter Henry (No. 20), and RB Rhamondre Stevenson (No. 24) joined Peppers in the “also receiving votes” group.

Six position groups remain for Dugger to get some company in the top ten from his New England teammates. Upcoming lists feature interior offensive linemen, offensive tackles, quarterbacks, off-ball linebackers, wide receivers, and cornerbacks. Will any other Patriots players make the cut? Stay tuned.

Also in Saturday’s Patriots Daily:

Patriots Fact of the Day

Although the New England Patriots have one of the league’s best safety duos in Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers, neither player has made a Pro Bowl team. The Patriots safety with the most Pro Bowl selections is Lawyer Milloy with four.

Fred Bruney and Brandon Merriweather each made two Pro Bowl teams. Don Webb, Tim Fox, Fred Marion, and Devin McCourty each made one Pro Bowl team for the Patriots at safety (McCourty had a second selection as a cornerback).

Post of the Day

One of Kyle Dugger’s nine career interceptions, recorded last season against Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins:

.@KingDugg_3 bringing it the other way!

📺: #NEvsMIA on CBS pic.twitter.com/JGJYrj9XDR

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 29, 2023

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