{"id":288148,"date":"2025-08-14T19:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/288148\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T19:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:05:11","slug":"kyle-dugger-could-undergo-shocking-position-change-with-new-england-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/288148\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Dugger could undergo shocking position change with New England Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most shocking developments at New England Patriots training camp has been the<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/patriots-mike-vrabel-breaks-silence-180722739.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:benching of safety Kyle Dugger.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> benching of safety Kyle Dugger.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dugger, who has started 65 games for the Patriots since entering the league in 2020, is no longer a starter on New England\u2019s defense. The 29-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/45704794\/2025-nfl-training-camp-new-england-patriots-updates-buzz-intel-position-battles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:has been taking second-team reps at practice;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">has been taking second-team reps at practice<\/a> and seems to be the No.4 safety on the depth chart behind Jabrill Peppers, Jaylinn Hawkins, and rookie Craig Woodson.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>With Dugger falling down the depth chart at safety, head coach Mike Vrabel <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tkyles39\/status\/1956035758151565339\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:isn\u2019t ruling out the possibility of moving the veteran to linebacker.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">isn\u2019t ruling out the possibility of moving the veteran to linebacker.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah I mean, we\u2019d consider anything to try to help the football team and help the player,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Patriots\/status\/1956032993253818502\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Vrabel said on Thursday ahead of the Patriots second joint practice with the Vikings.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Vrabel said on Thursday ahead of the Patriots second joint practice with the Vikings.<\/a> \u201cThat\u2019s everything we wanna try to do. Help every player earn a role and build a football team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dugger is a solid tackler and has always been an impactful run defender. Moving the former second-round pick to linebacker would highlight his strengths and mask his weaknesses in coverage. Dugger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pff.com\/nfl\/players\/kyle-dugger\/90621\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:allowed a 78.3% completion rate and a 141.3 passer rating when targeted;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">allowed a 78.3% completion rate and a 141.3 passer rating when targeted<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The linebacker position is also wide open in New England. Robert Spillane is locked in as a starter, but the other starting spot looks to be up for grabs. If Dugger makes a switch to the middle of the defense and stands out in a new role, he could push for the starting job at the position.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Patriots will wrap up the week in Minnesota with a preseason game with the Vikings before finishing the preseason on the road versus the New York Giants. Dugger has a lot to do over the next few weeks in order to earn a role or even a roster spot on the team this year.<\/p>\n<p>Related Headlines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most shocking developments at New England Patriots training camp has been the benching of safety&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[1846,7,7899,7895,7882,5641,838,233,1167,249,56,2326,2094,6,208,9591,55240,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-288148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-craig-woodson","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jabrill-peppers","11":"tag-jaylinn-hawkins","12":"tag-kyle-dugger","13":"tag-linebacker-position","14":"tag-mike-vrabel","15":"tag-minnesota","16":"tag-new-england","17":"tag-new-england-patriots","18":"tag-new-york-giants","19":"tag-newengland","20":"tag-newenglandpatriots","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-patriots","23":"tag-robert-spillane","24":"tag-shocking-developments","25":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115028684235210393","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}