Whether or not you’re a Patriots fan, Brandon Spikes does at least one thing every game that makes you sit up and take notice.

A high-voltage thumper, the 6-foot-2, 255-pounder plays as if he has his hand stuck in an electrical socket. On pace for the first 100-tackle season of his career, he’s gained a well-earned rep as a beast against the run, and he brings an old-school approach: physical, violent and bruising. To put it bluntly, despite the fact that he still swings and misses on gaps from time to time (almost always in spectacular fashion), he’s one of the biggest reasons New England remains in the top 10 in run defense.

Spikes, who had 12 tackles Sunday against the Bills, has finished with 10 or more tackles in five of the nine games this season, and he's on pace to finish the season with 149 tackles, a career best for the University of Florida product.

However, when it comes to figuring out his spot among the best linebackers in the league, he presents an interesting dilemma. There’s no denying the fact that the 25-year-old has elevated his game this season -- in a very short time, in fact, he has evolved into an elite run-stopping linebacker. Among linebackers, Pro Football Focus has him as one of the best run defenders in the league -- over the first nine games of the season, PFF has him graded as New England’s best run defender and ranks him second among all inside linebackers in the NFL when it comes to stopping the run at +10.1.

Adding to his resume have been several signature moments over the last year-plus:

• In a November 2011 game against the Giants, he crushed tight end Jake Ballard on a pass play over the middle and then stood over him for a second in a scene that was briefly reminiscent of Chuck Bednarik’s crushing hit on Frank Gifford. (Small wonder that Spikes lists Bednarik as one of his heroes.)

• Earlier this year, he blasted Jets running back Shonn Greene with an astounding shoulder-to-helmet blow that forced Greene to the locker room to be checked for a head injury.

• This season, he forced a pair of fumbles in a September win over the Bills, and he punctuated his performance with a crushing blindside hit on tight end Scott Chandler following a New England interception. (He was fined $21,000 for the hit.)

• Spikes followed that up with a big hit on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick last Sunday, a tackle that prompted Fitzpatrick to say Spikes was “a punk, at times.” Spikes also knocked running back Fred Jackson from the game with a concussion and flexed while Jackson lay on the turf, drawing the ire of the Bills.

“Yeah, he’ll get his,” Bills backup running back Tashard Choice hinted ominously to The Associated Press earlier this week. “I don’t like to see nobody get hurt, and then on top of that, [Spikes] making fun of him while he’s on the ground.”

While the highlight-reel hits and animosity with opponents (either real or perceived) makes for great theater, if Spikes wants to be considered a truly elite linebacker, some believe he needs to start stringing together more consistent performances, particularly when it comes to pass defense. Over the course of the 2012 season, there have been several occasions when opposing quarterbacks have been able to locate Spikes in man coverage and pick up passing yards. To that end, Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders says there’s a lot to like about Spikes’ game, but at this stage of his career he’s not quite among the most feared linebackers in the game.

“If Spikes is one of the most feared linebackers in the game, it’s because he hits hard,” Schatz said.  “But he frequently seems to get lost in pass coverage. He’s good against runners and is better than most players when it comes to jarring the ball loose. I would say he’s probably an average NFL starter. That still makes him one of the 25 best middle linebackers in the world, but he’s not ‘elite.’ ”

To this point in the season, the biggest difference for Spikes simply is his ability to stay on the field. While his knee has limited him at times this season -- during the media portion of practice, he’s often seen riding on a bike -- he’s been able to stay relatively healthy through the first nine games of the season. According to PFF, he’s played 488 snaps -- his previous high is 542 snaps last season.

That stands in stark contrast to the last two years. When Spikes was a rookie in 2010, his development clearly was affected by a four-game suspension late in the season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. In the weeks leading up to the ban, he was gaining speed and becoming an integral part of New England’s linebacking rotation. His first game back from the ban was the Patriots’ playoff loss to the Jets, and he appeared to be a step slower. To be fair, trying to regain that rhythm late in the year after sitting out is a challenge for anyone, much less an NFL rookie. Regardless, it would have been interesting to see what sort of impact he could have had in that postseason if he had played down the stretch.

Last season, he also was limited because of a knee injury he suffered in a Nov. 6 loss to the Giants (the same game in which he laid out Ballard). As was the case in his rookie year, Spikes was building an impressive resume before he was sidelined for seven games before coming back for the regular-season finale against the Bills. To his credit, he played some of his best football of his career in the postseason, including Super Bowl XLVI when he finished with 11 tackles (eight solo) and a forced fumble in the loss.

In the end, while he’s still evolving as a complete linebacker -- and might not yet be at the same level with some of the NFL’s elite -- his teammates are OK with where he is two-plus years into his professional career.

And they understand where the Bills’ complaints are coming from.

“I tell you what, I wouldn’t be a fan of Spikes either when he’s knocking the hell out of people every time,” Vince Wilfork said. “I wouldn’t be a fan either.”