Great Depth and Tough Cuts - Really?

ATippett56 said:

2014 New England Patriots Defense - Potential 25

http://www.patriots.com/team/roster.html

DE - Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Michael Buchanan, Zach Moore
DT - Vince Wilfork, Tommy Kelly, Sealver Siliga, Armond Armstead, Dominique Easley
LB - Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Steve Beauharnais, Chris White, Josh Hull
CB - Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Kyle Arrington, Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan
S - Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, Tavon Wilson, Jemea Thomas, Nate Ebner

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Replace two of Hull, White or Ebner with Chris Jones & Will Smith and that's what I'd go with. Rest looks pretty good.

Jones & Thompkins would be pretty major surprises to me.

But in general I agree about the depth, especially at LB & TE. (Conversely, all we have at WR is depth; I still wish we had a stud #1 receiver, but hopefully Dobson steps up.) If nothing else, it seems we certainly have the room to accommodate 3 QBs this year...

Big-T said:

Replace two of Hull, White or Ebner with Chris Jones & Will Smith and that's what I'd go with. Rest looks pretty good.

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Chris Jones is now expendable with the first round selection of Dominique Easley and the return of Armond Armstead.

Will Smith may not have anything left in the tank.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...4762817/cleaning-out-the-patriots-notebook-38

Veteran DE Smith not ready yet. Free-agent signee Will Smith, the longtime New Orleans Saint who inked a one-year deal with New England, is still recovering from a torn ACL sustained last August. "He still has some rehabilitation to do," coach Bill Belichick said over the weekend. "We feel like that’s coming along, going in the right direction. I think he’ll be competitive, but we’ll have to see how he rehabs from the injury but we’re optimistic that he’ll be on the field and be able to compete at some point. He’s not ready right now but I think he will be."

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ATippett56 said:

Chris Jones is now expendable with the first round selection of Dominique Easley and the return of Armond Armstead.

Will Smith may not have anything left in the tank.

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Armstead is no given. In fact, I think it's much more likely that Chr. Jones would get the nod over Armstead as Jones has the experience. And I have Armstead listed at DE because that is where the Pats have him listed.

4-3
The D-Line Breaks down like this:
RDE: Chandler Jones, Buchanon
NT: Wilfork, Siliga, Vellano
DT: Kelly, Chr. Jones, Easley,
DE: Ninkovich, Armstead, Will Smith

Others in the mix: Bequette, Moore

Also, with Will Smith not being ready despite the Pats signing him, he could be a candidate for the PUP.

I would be surprised if Thompkins is cut, he made strides and then hit the rookie wall pretty hard. You guys expect too much out of a rookie, the guy definitely looked like he could be in for a major year 2 jump.

Marinlik said:

What makes me think that we will keep them is that Wilfork and Kelly are both old and I wouldn't be surprised if none of them is on the team in a year. So we might keep Siliga and Jones as our starters are old and might need to be replaced very soon.

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Perhaps, belichick thinks that our 1st round draft pick might start next year.

Nunchucks said:

I would be surprised if Thompkins is cut, he made strides and then hit the rookie wall pretty hard. You guys expect too much out of a rookie, the guy definitely looked like he could be in for a major year 2 jump.

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Yeah I'm hoping he can

Patriots Post-Draft Roster Reset and Thoughts

Patriots Post-Draft Roster Reset and Thoughts | NEPatriotsDraft.com

ATippett56 said:

Patriots Post-Draft Roster Reset and Thoughts

http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2014/05/patriots-post-draft-roster-reset-and-thoughts.html

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This is an excellent analysis. I especially liked "Tavon Wilson will be joining 2012 draft pick Jake Bequette on their bus ride out of town."

mgteich said:

This is an excellent analysis. I especially liked "Tavon Wilson will be joining 2012 draft pick Jake Bequette on their bus ride out of town."

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Not that I think Wilson has done anything to avoid being on the Bequette wagon, but I would not be surprised to see him get a very long look during training camp.

I see as many as 15 rookies making this team! We have no idea what we will get out of 5 DLs (Wilfork, Kelly, Smith, Armstead and Easley). I think the Pats made a mistake taking Easley with questionable health. They took 3 OL, an area they obviously think needed help. I would rather of seen Joel Bitonio, a player they could plug in anywhere on the OL (especially at either OC or RG).
Yes the bottom of the roster is not what it used to be, but I would hate to lose Chris Jones, who led all rookie DL with 5.5 sacks. Who knows what Will Smith has left. Saliga was solid during his brief time here.