Chad Finn's 53 Best Patriots of the Bill Belichick Era

http://www.boston.com/sports/touchi...indisputable_greatest_53_patriots_of_the.html

It's the 53 best players -- position be damned -- based on how much they contributed to the team's success during the 15 seasons Bill Belichick has been the franchise's coach.

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1:Tom Brady
2: Ty Law
3: Rob Gronkowski
4: Adam Vinatieri
5: Willie McGinest
6: Richard Seymour
7: Tedy Bruschi
8: Randy Moss
9: Troy Brown
10: Mike Vrabel
11: Vince Wilfork
12: Rodney Harrison
13: Matt Light
14: Logan Mankins
15: Wes Welker
Current Players
24: Devin McCourty
25: Jerod Mayo
30: Stephen Gostkowski
32: Darrelle Revis
35: Rob Ninkovich
36: Chandler Jones
37: Julian Edelman
38: Stevan Ridley
44: Sebastian Vollmer
49: Matthew Slater

Who is Mike Varbel?

If we are talking pure best players than Gronk would be 2 and Ghost would be higher.

But since they want players that contributed to the success of the franchise over the last 3 years I would think you would want to put a guy like Brown over Gronk. Guys who contributed to 3 SBs should trump Gronks contributions at this point.

Bruins29 said:

If we are talking pure best players than Gronk would be 2 and Ghost would be higher.

But since they want players that contributed to the success of the franchise over the last 3 years I would think you would want to put a guy like Brown over Gronk. Guys who contributed to 3 SBs should trump Gronks contributions at this point.

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http://www.boston.com/sports/touchi...indisputable_greatest_53_patriots_of_the.html
It's the 53 best players -- position be damned -- based on how much they contributed to the team's success during the 15 seasons Bill Belichick has been the franchise's coach.

Click to expand...

I know safeties are hard to evaluate on a TV feed, but Rodney deserves better. I still maintain that he was the best player in 2004 at any position.

What these players accomplished before Belichick coached them matters not at all. That eliminates Chris Slade and Bruce Armstrong. It definitely eliminates Terry Glenn.

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If that's the case, how can Revis be on this list AT ALL. He's great, but he's contributed nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Pretty good list. Easy to quibble with the ordering after TB.

Only one I have major heartburn over is Moss ahead of Troy Brown. Moss wins in talent and stats no question. TB wins in everything else.

Icy, I meant 15 years and for some reason typed 3 which of course makes no sense

Also, Brown should be number 2 probably. Guy was Welker/Edelman/Revis all in one. When he went in at cornerback he shutdown the leading NFC receiver for the whole game.

That is a great group of players. You could sit there and debate for years on the order. I'm not even going to try.

Thanks a lot. And, your criteria are clear: 15 years, so Gronk, while more talented than others, is further down the list. Also, his actual time on the field has been limited.

Only suggestion: I'd have made the list only go through last season. That would take care of the question of whether Revis goes on the list simply by virtue of how great he is. A player really doesn't "contribute" to the team's success until he's been part of getting them into the playoffs and playing into January.

Simple case of recency bias with Revis and Gronk. Great players and contributing huge this year, but as talented as they are Gronk doesn't belong above a guy like Brown and Revis doesn't belong on the list, period.

I also have a minor quibble with Vinatieri over some of the defensive stalwarts of the championship years. I don't know...maybe we lose a ring without him kicking, but how good is that defense, really, if you remove Seymour or Willie? I think replacing one of them with a JAG is bigger than Vinatieri (though I might be alone in that thought, I generally don't hold kickers in that high regard )

"If <Branch> had been here in '06, there's probably a fourth silver Lombardi in the trophy case."

Yep.

20 Ted Johnson
25 Jerod Mayo

That juxtaposition made me stop even trying to figure his "reasoning" out.

Fencer said:

20 Ted Johnson
25 Jerod Mayo

That juxtaposition made me stop even trying to figure his "reasoning" out.

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Ted Johnson was a very good MLB in the Parcells years. Probably top 3 in the NFL until the injuries hit.
By the time BB got here, TJ was a bit player who really wasnt very good. He shouldn't be anywhere near this list.

No Otis Smith - heh.

Fencer said:

20 Ted Johnson
25 Jerod Mayo

That juxtaposition made me stop even trying to figure his "reasoning" out.

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Johnson missed games to injury, but he was part of all three SB-winning seasons, including a big year in 2004. That's probably the logic, but I'm not sure I agree.

Aaron Hernandez at #34 is ridiculous. Hernandez contributed a lot as a player but subtracted even more as a prisoner, and as a huge drag on the Patriots' salary cap. If the Patriots had his $10 million last season and his $7.5 million this season to put into players who don't wear shackles to take a shower. 2013 and 2014 would be different and better in Foxboro. His entire body of work has to include the way he diminished the franchise and the way he continues to be a drag on its ability to field a competitive roster.

Bruins29 said:

Also, Brown should be number 2 probably. Guy was Welker/Edelman/Revis all in one. When he went in at cornerback he shutdown the leading NFC receiver for the whole game.

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I've already stated that Brown should be ahead of Moss.

In terms of overall contribution to the Pats during the BB era, IMO Brown is right below Brady with Adam V. Receiving, punt returns, kickoff returns, coverage teams, playing slot DB....His contributions during the BB era cannot be measured by statistics alone.

#80 had so many memorable plays. The 06 strip of Drayton Florence was the one that stands out for me. Without that forced fumble, they lose that game.

AndyJohnson said:

Ted Johnson was a very good MLB in the Parcells years. Probably top 3 in the NFL until the injuries hit.
By the time BB got here, TJ was a bit player who really wasnt very good. He shouldn't be anywhere near this list.

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in general i agree, but i remember 2004 differently...