My list is gonna raise some eyebrows but I would have it...
#1 Butler.
Not that I think he is the best player or the most important position but he is the only #1 cb on the patriots. After him is a ton of potential and interesting propects but if Logan Ryan is on the other teams #1 by himself God help us. I think his loss would be the hardest to handle and get over on a weekly basis.
#2 Gronk.
Some would argue for Brady above Gronk as QB is more important than TE but the numbers do not lie. The offense is an entirely different animal when Gronk is on the field. Yeah the drop off to Bennett isn't too far but Gronk is one of those special HOF players that changes the game.
#3 Brady
GOAT QB who looks like he will never slow down so why only 3? I think Grop could be special and after MC I know Bill could make it work with all the weapons. Step down? Absolutely! Anyone after Brady will be but I think the team could handle it better than losing either 1 Or 2 on my list.
#4 Hightower
High is underated around here sometimes. Could be the best Ilb in the game. I know it's a passing league but the game is still won or lost in the trenches and shutting down the other teams running game is still IMO priority number one every week. The depth I think is the key reason for high being 4 After him we have.....not good. Not to mention wearing the green dot he gets everyone on the defense where they belong. Leadership matters.
#5 Collins
Similar reasons as High difference being he is such a chess piece. His versatility must bring a smile to belichecks face every week he is putting the game plan together. While I think Collins is the better player he ranks lower due to His role being able to be gameplanned to other players e.g. Chung could be at least acceptable covering Rbs and Te's.
#6 the tackles.
I won't rank one over the other because keeping Brady on his feet is so important. If Brady has time this offense will be unstoppable. Soldier and Vollemer both need career years. Some health would be nice too cuz cannon for either makes me shudder.
#7 Edelman.
Love me some Jules and there is no denying he is the spark plug that gets the offense up. He is only this low because Amendola or Hogan would be acceptable replacements.
#8 Sheard
He has some big shoes to fill with Chandler being shipped off to Arizona. Obviously when he played he was impressive but that was in spots not as a full time 60-80 snaps a game starter. Can he keep it up? Hope so but he would not be the first player who was brillant on a pitch count but crappy as a starter.
#9 Brown
As I said above for high I still think stopping the run is priority number one. He's got some solid vets around him so the pressure isn't too much of he is not quite ready for primetime but if he is? Having some middle pressure would be awfully nice. He was drafted in the first round for a reason and showed some interesting flashes last year. If he makes a big year 2 jump he could be special.
#10 McCourty
Would be higher if this was about skill but While his range and leadership would be missed I think Harmon can be 85% of McCourty. Still him taking away the deep ball is huge and there has not been the hell 2011 was because he is back there making sure it all works right.
While I do not agree with this list I applaud you for something something different and showing an interesting ranking.
Here are my thoughts on your list.
#1 Butler - My #4. I think he is the most important defensive player we have. Without him the D stops working like it should and we have no one to fill that gap or pick up the slack. Though i do like defense the Patriots are more of an offensively based team right now. That is what they will lean on to win. That is why i ranked him lower. Maybe i will be proven wrong this year. If the Pats turn into a Defense first time this will probably be true (they would need to show me the #1 or #2 D in the league in PPG though.
#2 Gronk - My #2. I have no issue with him being #1 either. Gronk when at the top of his game... Well I have never seen such a dominant player who is so match up proof when healthy from a skill position. Every great WR can be shut down by the right CB. Every great RB can be stopped with good run defense and discipline. Gronk has never faced that 1 player that stops him though when he was 100%. That consistency is what makes him so amazing. While he will probably never have a 200 yards game due to his position he will never be a non factor like Rice or Moss have been on certain days cause 1 guy takes him out of the game.
#3 Brady - My #1. You could be right. All depends on Jimmy. Right now I have Brady at #1. If Jimmy plays those 4 games and shows really well you could argue this or perhaps even lower which is kinda crazy.
#4 Hightower - My #5. I think Hightower besides Butler is next most important player on D. The question is how much do Collins/McCellin make up for him if he goes down? I don't think they do. He plays a very different game and is the main reason we can run the 4-2-5 and go light and still not give up too much on the run.
#5 Collins - My #6. He is lower than Hightower cause while he makes big plays fairly regularly he is not that consistent crushing pressure Hightower is. I love his big play ability but on occasion he does very little in a game when they dry up. On the other hand sometimes he takes over games completely which is something Hightower can't do.
#6 OTs - My #7 and #8 - I ranked them apart cause i think Solder is clearly a bit more important than Vollmer though you really want both. I just think Brady can play around bad RT play easier.
#7 Edelman - My #3 - We disagree on this a lot. While the depth behind Edelman is decent the difference between Edelman and the rest is clear. The key for my ranking is how well Edelman works woth Brady. That Chemistry is so good and his game fits perfectly what Brady does best. We saw what the offense looked like without Edelman being healthy at Denver. The OTs were bad but that quick out 5 yards is where Brady lives. Had Edelman been in that game healthy I think the Pats would have sustained more drives and have won even banged up on the OL as they were.
#8 Sheard - My #10 - Sheard is the best pass rusher we have but we will not have a great pass rush likely anyway. He is important to have of course but that is not how the Pats will win games likely in any case. If we win it will be due to coverage that creates pressure and not pressure that helps coverage.
#9 Brown - I like Brown. I am not sure he will even be our best DT this year though. We will see.
#10 McCourty - My #10 - I like McCourty a lot but frankly I am not as high on him as some people. I think he borderline top 10 due to Harmon being so good (he is very underrated here still).
I am surprised how little mentioned Chung gets. We have no proven options to back him up and he has done so well on TEs which has become such a big position in the NFL and is more often than not the "3rd coverage LB".
