The third-year defender is now officially listed at a different position.
Back during the 2023 season, the New England Patriots posted a mic’d up clip featuring defensive leaders Kyle Dugger and Ja’Whaun Bentley discussing the position of teammate Marte Mapu. The then-rookie had been called a linebacker over the Gillette Stadium PA system, a label the two veterans did not agree with.
“He’s a hybrid. No damn linebacker,” Dugger said.
“Oh, he definitely ain’t a linebacker,” replied Bentley.
Needless to say, the times have changed. Not only is Bentley no loner with the team following his release earlier in the offseason, the Patriots also have officially re-classified Mapu’s position. The 25-year-old is now indeed listed as a linebacker, after he spent most of the spring working with that position rather than the safeties.
Even though he was a limited participant during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, his usage when on the field shows that the team is serious about the transition. Head coach Mike Vrabel said as much, too, when talking to the media earlier this week.
“We don’t want to waste anybody’s time,” Vrabel explained. “Just trying to find some versatility for him. He’s got a unique skill set. He’s got a good size, good length. He’s a good blitzer.”
A third-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2023, Mapu — as was mentioned by Dugger in that mic’d up segment — joined the club as a hybrid who blurred the lines between safety and linebacker. At just under 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, he had the size to line up in the box but also flashed some athletic potential to work in the deep zones.
His usage the first two seasons reflects this. Of his 690 career snaps on defense, 313 have come as an off-ball linebacker type with 221 as a deep safety, 100 in the slot, and a combined 56 split between an on-line defender (31) and split out wide (25).
The Patriots’ new coaching staff led by Vrabel apparently feels that those linebacker snaps are worth building on. And even though he had some trouble with his run fits from that position in the past, it is clear the team is seeing something in him worth cultivating.
“We just thought that that could help him,” Vrabel said, “and obviously try to help us.”
With Mapu moving from safety to linebacker, the position group now stands at seven players deep. Besides the third-year man, it also features projected starters Robert Spillane and Jahlani Tavai — who will reportedly be sidelined until training camp with a calf injury — as well as Christian Elliss, Jack Gibbens, Monty Rice and Cam Riley.