![\"Khyiris](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2256954607-e1776098557472.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The New England Patriots are tipped to draft “The Godfather” to replace nose tackle Khyiris Tonga.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t one of the stars up front, but Khyiris Tonga<\/a> performed a vital function for the New England Patriots<\/a> at the heart of their front seven, so it will take something special to replace the hulking nose tackle. Fortunately, the Pats can turn to \u201cThe Godfather\u201d as a potential steal in the 2026 NFL<\/a> draft.<\/p>\n Tonga bolting to the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in free agency robbed the Patriots of the focal point of their run defense. It means general manager Eliot Wolf and head coach Mike Vrabel need to find another big-bodied space-eater in this draft, and MassLive.com\u2019s Mark Daniels<\/a> recommends Dontay Corleone among the best options.<\/p>\n As Daniels put it, \u201cNicknamed \u2018The Godfather,\u2019 Corleone is a 6-foot, 340-pound nose tackle. He plays with brute force, plugging rush lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018The Godfather\u2019 an Ideal Khyiris Tonga Replacement<\/p>\n That\u2019s an apt description of a classic nose guard. Somebody with a low centre of gravity, massive frame and the ability to take up space by occupying double teams.<\/p>\n Those traits make Corleone a worthy replacement for Tonga, despite the would-be rookie being \u201cdiagnosed with blood clots in his lungs in 2024.\u201d Daniels accounted for those \u201chealth concerns\u201d when making Tonga one of the Patriots\u2019 four sixth-round picks in his latest mock draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n The former Cincinnati Bearcats team captain takes his nickname from author Mario Puzo\u2019s iconic novel about the reign of fictional Mafia Don, Vito Corleone. A character immortalized by Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s iconic film trilogy (parts I and II at least).<\/p>\n Ticking a host of pop culture boxes isn\u2019t the only compelling reason the Pats should take a late-round flier on Corleone. Neither Wolf nor Vrabel can ignore the need for a new and natural anchor for their defensive front.<\/p>\n Especially when New England\u2019s rush defense crumbled late last season.<\/p>\n Patriots Must Reset Run Defense<\/p>\n Going against the Patriots was tough sledding for running backs earlier in the campaign. When Tonga was performing hidden but essential work for a historic<\/a> run defense.<\/p>\n Tonga routinely proved to be a secret superstar of sorts<\/a> as a counterpoint to more dynamic starters Milton Williams<\/a> and Christian Barmore<\/a>. The latter pair were more adept at collapsing the pass pocket and putting pressure on quarterbacks, but clogging running lanes was a more difficult task.<\/p>\n Difficulties in this area, along with injuries to some star names, contributed to the Patriots allowing over 100 yards rushing in seven of their final eight<\/a> regular-season games.<\/p>\n Things got worse in Super Bowl LX when MVP Kenneth Walker III<\/a> gashed the Pats for 135 yards on the ground to power the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> to victory. It was the nadir for a defensive front that had become increasingly easy to push around.<\/p>\n The issue was compounded when Tonga found a new home on the veteran market. Having to replace him is just one factor explaining why defensive tackle is quietly emerging<\/a> as a priority position for the Patriots entering this draft.<\/p>\n Veteran depth is still present, in the form of last season\u2019s surprise find Cory Durden<\/a>, but it makes sense to add a young pile mover like Corleone. It would be the smartest use of the Patriots\u2019 ample late-round draft capital.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJames Dudko<\/a> covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Patriots\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The New England Patriots are tipped to draft “The Godfather” to replace nose tackle Khyiris Tonga. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-865616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116398472651532056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865616","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=865616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}