Dont’a Hightower: 5 reasons re-signing is great for Patriots

4. Run Defense

Dont’a Hightower specializes at stopping the run. He’s one of the best tacklers in the league and he helps take around opponent’s running games. Hightower helps make offenses one dimensional and allows the Patriots to go with speed elsewhere. When you have a defensive quarterback who can almost single-handedly take away a team’s running game, that’s incredibly valuable.

Even though the NFL is turning into a passing league, stopping the run is still important. Those short passes to running backs are basically the same as running the ball anyway. Hightower can lock guys down and haul them down. He has excellent speed and agility for someone his size. And Hightower rarely misses tackles, which is important with all the speedy and shifty backs in the NFL. He’s also strong enough to take down the bigger backs, though those types of running backs are slowly getting ushered out of the league.

The Patriots’ secondary is often thought of as the bread and butter of their defense. However, one could argue Hightower’s influence on the running game helps them be as great as they are. Even if all he did was stop the run, he’d be a net gain. But that’s not all Hightower brings to the table.