24 Defensive Players

[mgteich]

Given that we are likely to keep at most one developmental player (Ebner), it seems that 24 defensive roster spots could be sufficient: 15 front seven, 5 corners and 4 safeties. With our new additions, I think that we will be fine on Special Teams.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Given that we are likely to keep at most one developmental player (Ebner), it seems that 24 defensive roster spots could be sufficient: 15 front seven, 5 corners and 4 safeties. With our new additions, I think that we will be fine on Special Teams.

That's my breakdown.

6 Fatties - Wilfork, Love, Deaderick, Fanene, G. Warren and M. Pryor(Or Brace)
5 OLB/DE - Ninko, C. Jones, T. Scott, J. Cunningham and J Bequette
4 ILB - Hightower, Mayo, Spikes and Carpenter(Maybe Tarp or White)
5 CB - Arrington, McCourty, Dowling, Moore and Allen
4 S - Chung, Gregory, Wilson and Ihedigbo,


Ebner could beat out Ihedigbo and 10th db Dennard or Barrett.

 

[Big-T]

DT: Wilfork, Love, Fanene, Deaderick, Brace (5)
DE: Jones, Ninkovich, Cunningham, Bequette (4)
LB: Mayo, Spikes, Hightower, Carpenter (4)
CB: McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore, Dennard (5)
S: Chung, Gregory, Wilson, Ebner (4)
CB/S: Allen (1)

23 for me, Pryor to start on the PUP

 

[mayoclinic]

Given that we are likely to keep at most one developmental player (Ebner), it seems that 24 defensive roster spots could be sufficient: 15 front seven, 5 corners and 4 safeties. With our new additions, I think that we will be fine on Special Teams.

I've had 25 offense/25 defense until recently. But with (1) Pryor looking increasingly likely to start the season on PUP, (2) Dane Fletcher going on IR, (3) the versatility shown by some of the core defensive players, and (4) the Demps signing and the increasing squeeze on offense, I think 26 offense/24 defense. It could even be as skewed as 27/23.

My current thoughts:

Core Defensive Personnel (19):

DT/DE(4): Brace, Love, Fanene, Deaderick
DE/OLB(4): Jones, Ninkovich, Bequette, Cunningham
LB(4): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter
S(3): Chung, Gregory, Wilson
CB(4): McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore

I would expect all of these guys to be on the active game day roster, barring injury.

Additional Defensive Personnel (5):

DT/DE(1): One out of Warren/Harrison/Brace/Forston
DE/OLB(1): One out of Scott/Francis
LB(1): One out of Tarpinian/White/Koutivides
DB(2): Ebner, Dennard

I would see 2 of these guys being on the active game day roster, barring injury. Of course, there's always the possibility that one or more could play themselves onto the "core" list (e.g., Dennard supplanting more as the 4th CB, Scott/Francis supplanting Cunningham as the 4th DE/OLB).

Possible PUP:

DT/DE: Pryor
DE/OLB: Possibly Andre Carter

I'd be pretty happy with that group.

 

[Lamanai]

I've had 25 offense/25 defense until recently. But with (1) Pryor looking increasingly likely to start the season on PUP, (2) Dane Fletcher going on IR, (3) the versatility shown by some of the core defensive players, and (4) the Demps signing and the increasing squeeze on offense, I think 26 offense/24 defense. It could even be as skewed as 27/23.

My current thoughts:

Core Defensive Personnel (19):

DT/DE(4): Brace, Love, Fanene, Deaderick
DE/OLB(4): Jones, Ninkovich, Bequette, Cunningham
LB(4): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter
S(3): Chung, Gregory, Wilson
CB(4): McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore

I would expect all of these guys to be on the active game day roster, barring injury.

Additional Defensive Personnel (5):

DT/DE(1): One out of Warren/Harrison/Brace/Forston
DE/OLB(1): One out of Scott/Francis
LB(1): One out of Tarpinian/White/Koutivides
DB(2): Ebner, Dennard

I would see 2 of these guys being on the active game day roster, barring injury. Of course, there's always the possibility that one or more could play themselves onto the "core" list (e.g., Dennard supplanting more as the 4th CB, Scott/Francis supplanting Cunningham as the 4th DE/OLB).

Possible PUP:

DT/DE: Pryor
DE/OLB: Possibly Andre Carter

I'd be pretty happy with that group.

No Wilfork?

 

[BlueThunder]

No Wilfork?

Vince gets cut at last minute

 

[mayoclinic]

No Wilfork?

OMG. That was supposed to be Wilfork instead of Brace ... minor typo. Mea culpa, and thanks for catching it.

The rest of the breakdown is unchanged.

 

[Patriot Missile]

OMG. That was supposed to be Wilfork instead of Brace ... minor typo. Mea culpa, and thanks for catching it.

The rest of the breakdown is unchanged.

Had to laugh at you on that one Mayo. Your usually almost flawless which makes it funny to read.

 

[mayoclinic]

Had to laugh at you on that one Mayo. Your usually almost flawless which makes it funny to read.

Well, at least when I screw up it's a whopper. I had to laugh at that one, too.

 

[AzPatsFan]

My 2 cents:

Pryor to PUP

Warren DL; & Allen CB/S; to Shadow Roster pending the PHONE CALL

Brace, Big Ugly; Dennard, CB/S; and Ebner SS/ST gunner make squad.

 

[Matthew Jones]

Here's what I have at the moment:

Defensive Line (10): Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Jonathan Fanene, Ron Brace, Brandon Deaderick, Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Jake Bequette, Jermaine Cunningham, Trevor Scott

Linebacker (6): Jerod Mayo, Dont’a Hightower, Brandon Spikes, Bobby Carpenter, Jeff Tarpinian, Niko Koutovides

Cornerback (5): Devin McCourty, Ras-I Dowling, Kyle Arrington, Sterling Moore, Will Allen

Safety (4): Pat Chung, Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson, James Ihedigbo

Injured Reserve/PUP (3): DT Myron Pryor, LB Dane Fletcher, CB Alfonzo Dennard

Practice Squad (4): DT Marcus Forston, LB Mike Rivera, CB Malcolm Williams, SS Nate Ebner

 

[Metaphors]

Tried to look at the Week #1 roster makeup from past years to see if there are any noticeable trends. None of these are absolutes, but generally see:

1) 10 active skill position players (RB, WR, TE)
2) 7 active OL plus 2 more inactive
3) 4 active RBs plus 1 more inactive
4) 6 dedicated active STers (non-returners)

While this doesn't say anything directly about the defense, it does make everything else fairly predictable...solidifying the defense by process of elimination:

46 active - 2 QBs - 10 skill - 7 OL - 6 ST = 21 active defenders
7 inactive - 1 QB - 2 OL - 1 skill = 3 inactive defenders

That means a trend of 24 total defenders as you are forecasting. My best guess based on the info above:

Active
QB Brady, Hoyer
RB Ridley, Vereen, Woodhead, Demps
WR Lloyd, Welker, 2 of Edelman/Gaffney/Stallworth/Branch
TE Gronkowski, Hernandez (keeping a healthy Fells displaces a WR)
OT Solder, Vollmer, Cannon
C/G Connolly, Mankins, Koppen/Thomas/Waters, Wendell
ST Gostkowski, Mesko, Aiken, Slater, Tarpinian/White/Niko/Larsen, Ebner/Cole

Inactive
QB Mallett
RB Bolden (or a hurt WR/TE with Bolden going to PS)
OL McDonald, JWarren (or other dev guy)

That leaves 21 active and 3 inactive defenders. While this is all interesting to discuss, injuries will have more to do with the roster makeup than any prognosticating we can do at this point.

 

[jmt57]

OMG. That was supposed to be Wilfork instead of Brace ... minor typo. Mea culpa, and thanks for catching it.

The rest of the breakdown is unchanged.

The funny thing is that I noticed Brace being listed twice, in both sections - but completely overlooked Wilfork not being listed at all.

 

[Fencer]

The guys who would "definitely" get snaps on defense are in bold. (Of course, the depth chart could flip.) Comments in bold too.

Core Defensive Personnel (19):

DT/DE(4): Wilfork, Love, Fanene, Deaderick
DE/OLB(4): Jones, Ninkovich, Bequette, Cunningham
LB(4): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter
S(3): Chung, Gregory, Wilson
CB(4): McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore But with 6 guys to back up, the 7th guy is a good bet to get some snaps.

I would expect all of these guys to be on the active game day roster, barring injury.

Additional Defensive Personnel (5):

DT/DE(1): One out of Warren/Harrison/Brace/Forston
DE/OLB(1): One out of Scott/Francis
LB(1): One out of Tarpinian/White/Koutivides Presumably active
DB(2): Ebner, Dennard Definitely want one active for depth, and to soak up ST reps that the actual defensive players would otherwise have to take.

I would see 2 of these guys being on the active game day roster, barring injury. Of course, there's always the possibility that one or more could play themselves onto the "core" list (e.g., Dennard supplanting more as the 4th CB, Scott/Francis supplanting Cunningham as the 4th DE/OLB).

Possible PUP:

DT/DE: Pryor
DE/OLB: Possibly Andre Carter

I'd be pretty happy with that group.

I'd be happy with it too.

 

[rookBoston]

Starting D...

RDE/DE Jones
DT/NT Wilfork
DT/DE Fanene
LDE/OLB Ninkovich
WLB/ILB Mayo
MLB/ILB Spikes
SLB/OLB Hightower
LCB McCourty
RCB Arrington
SS Chung
FS Gregory

2nd Team...

RDE/DE Bequette
DT/NT Love
DT/DE Deaderick
LDE/OLB Cunningham
WLB/ILB Carpenter
MLB/ILB Rivera
SLB/OLB Tarpinian
LCB Moore
RCB Dowling
SS Ebner
FS Wilson

... gets me to 22

I agree that capping the D at 24 makes sense given the logjam at TE/FB/WR/RB. So for my last two roster spots...

- Cole (as a gunner)
- Brace (as Fanene insurance)

Practice squad
- Dennard
- Williams
- Francis

Waived and likely to be claimed
- Scott
- Barrett

Shadow roster
- Allen
- Koutouvides
- Ihedibo
- Warren
- Carter
- Brown

 

[mgteich]

1) I too am pretty happy with this group. I certainly agree with your core.

2) I would list the backup DB's as "DB(2): Two out of Dennard/Ebner/Ihedigbo/Barrett/Cole".

3) Of the backups, I could see only the Ster being active, giving us 3 inactives. I could also see 2 inacives as you indicated.

4) In any case, injuries likely still have a role to play. For example, I could see Dennard ending up on the IR.

I've had 25 offense/25 defense until recently. But with (1) Pryor looking increasingly likely to start the season on PUP, (2) Dane Fletcher going on IR, (3) the versatility shown by some of the core defensive players, and (4) the Demps signing and the increasing squeeze on offense, I think 26 offense/24 defense. It could even be as skewed as 27/23.

My current thoughts:

Core Defensive Personnel (19):

DT/DE(4): Wilfork, Love, Fanene, Deaderick
DE/OLB(4): Jones, Ninkovich, Bequette, Cunningham
LB(4): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter
S(3): Chung, Gregory, Wilson
CB(4): McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore

I would expect all of these guys to be on the active game day roster, barring injury.

Additional Defensive Personnel (5):

DT/DE(1): One out of Warren/Harrison/Brace/Forston
DE/OLB(1): One out of Scott/Francis
LB(1): One out of Tarpinian/White/Koutivides
DB(2): Ebner, Dennard

I would see 2 of these guys being on the active game day roster, barring injury. Of course, there's always the possibility that one or more could play themselves onto the "core" list (e.g., Dennard supplanting more as the 4th CB, Scott/Francis supplanting Cunningham as the 4th DE/OLB).

Possible PUP:

DT/DE: Pryor
DE/OLB: Possibly Andre Carter

I'd be pretty happy with that group.

 

[goheels22002]

I've had 25 offense/25 defense until recently. But with (1) Pryor looking increasingly likely to start the season on PUP, (2) Dane Fletcher going on IR, (3) the versatility shown by some of the core defensive players, and (4) the Demps signing and the increasing squeeze on offense, I think 26 offense/24 defense. It could even be as skewed as 27/23.

My current thoughts:

Core Defensive Personnel (19):

DT/DE(4): Brace, Love, Fanene, Deaderick
DE/OLB(4): Jones, Ninkovich, Bequette, Cunningham
LB(4): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter
S(3): Chung, Gregory, Wilson
CB(4): McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore

I would expect all of these guys to be on the active game day roster, barring injury.

Additional Defensive Personnel (5):

DT/DE(1): One out of Warren/Harrison/Brace/Forston
DE/OLB(1): One out of Scott/Francis
LB(1): One out of Tarpinian/White/Koutivides
DB(2): Ebner, Dennard

I would see 2 of these guys being on the active game day roster, barring injury. Of course, there's always the possibility that one or more could play themselves onto the "core" list (e.g., Dennard supplanting more as the 4th CB, Scott/Francis supplanting Cunningham as the 4th DE/OLB).

Possible PUP:

DT/DE: Pryor
DE/OLB: Possibly Andre Carter

I'd be pretty happy with that group.

Belichick is going to cut Vince Wilfork? Bold move. Reminiscent of Lawyer Milloy.