What It Means:

Rivers was a third-round pick in this year's draft, but that made him the Patriots' top pick after they opted out of the first and second rounds. He was expected to get some playing time on a thin defensive line, so Kony Ealy and others will be asked to step up opposite Trey Flowers.

Last year, the Patriots' 34 sacks and 5.4% sack rate ranked 16th and 19th in the NFL, respectively.