Patriots Defender Receives Warning Before Training Camp

The New England Patriots significantly retooled their defense this offseason, adding a bunch of new pieces and even changing things with some of their holdovers.

Perhaps the best example of the latter is Marte Mapu, whose position has been changed from safety to linebacker heading into 2025.

Mapu was on rather thin ice at safety following the Patriots' offseason moves, which included selecting Craig Woodson in the NFL Draft, and he does not appear all that much safer at linebacker.

Brian Hines of Pats Pulpit has identified Mapu as one of the players he is watching most closely at training camp and feels that he could be in some danger going forward.

"The clock could be ticking for the 2023 third-rounder," Hines wrote. "Mapu finally repped primarily at linebacker this spring when healthy and could factor into a defense that wants to get more athletic. Health will be key moving forward."

Mapu played in every game during his rookie campaign, logging 18 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. He showed some improvement last year, registering 46 tackles, a pick, three forced fumbles and six passes defended, but the Patriots were not impressed enough with his coverage skills to commit to him in the secondary moving forward.

The 25-year-old is a hard hitter, which is one of the reasons why New England decided to move him to linebacker. And the good news is that there appears to be more opportunity at Mapu's new position, as he was certainly not usuring Kyle Dugger or Jabrill Peppers at safety.

That being said, Mapu has kind of been out of place thus far in Foxborough. He definitely has talent, but whether or not he will actually realize his full potential with the Pats remains to be seen. Training camp will be vital for the Sacramento State product.