Pro Football Focus will be providing analysis for every major NFL signing and trade during the 2015 free-agency period, accounting primarily for the quality of the player and his fit with his new team, while focusing less on the financial terms of the deal.
Here is a grade for the New England Patriots following their signing of Jabaal Sheard.
Grade articles on every major deal
New England Patriots: B-
In a way, Jabaal Sheard is a perfect fit for the Patriots. It seems like we say that about every signing they make, but he's a player who has shown in the past the ability to play in multiple fronts on both sides of the formation.
Just this past year in Mike Pettine's system with the Cleveland Browns, he played as both a defensive end with his hand on the ground and an outside linebacker in a two-point stance, and split his time between the left and right sides of the formation. Of 690 defensive snaps during the season, he didn't play more than 203 of them in any one defensive position.
The Patriots like players who can skip between defensive fronts, and Sheard certainly fits that profile.
Also like a typical Patriots player, he is better against the run than he is as a pass-rusher, earning a plus-8.2 PFF grade this year (16th among 3-4 outside linebackers), but actually earning a negative pass-rush grade thanks to only 30 total pressures from 353 pass-rushing snaps.
Sheard should be a big part of New England's defense next season, but don't expect him to set the world alight with sacks; ergo the B-minus grade.