What's your final 53?
 

I don't think this should be merged with the Kneejerk reactions thread because it's about your final projections and not players stock going up/down.

That being said, who do you have making the team after this final preseason game? I have this:

QB (3): Brady, Hoyer, Mallett
RB (5): Ridley, Woodhead, Vereen, Bolden, Demps
WR (5): Welker, Lloyd, Branch, Edelman, Slater
TE (4): Gronkowski, Hernandez, Fells, Shiancoe
OL (9): Solder, Mankins, Connolly, Waters, Vollmer, Cannon, Wendell, Thomas, McDonald
DT (4): Wilfork, Love, Deaderick, Brace
DE (5): Jones, Cunningham, Ninkovich, Bequette, Francis
LB (6): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter, Tarpinian, White
CB (5): McCourty, Arrington, Dowling, Moore, Dennard
S (4): Chung, Gregory, Wilson, Ebner
ST (3): Gostkowski, Mesko, Aiken

Individual thoughts:
-I'm really hoping Demps isn't injured badly. I think if it's only a few weeks then he'll stay on the roster. At least one of those five backs would be inactive on gameday anyway.
-I'm picking a fourth TE over a sixth WR. With Gaffney and Shiancoe both injured, I think they made it clear which direction they're going by releasing the WR.
-Koppen is still out. I think he's done.
-Koutouvides stole Trevor Scott's spot, but then he got injured and Justin Francis took over with a strong game against scrubs.
-Tarpinian earned a spot. That last LB is either White or Koutouvides. Probably whoever has the least severe injury. Going with White because he's a better player and I don't know about either of their injuries.
-Sterling Moore has been questionable but I think he sticks. Cole might nab that spot. Dennard was a bit late to the party but he convinced me to keep him on the roster just as my patience was wearing.

How about you?

Re: What's your final 53?
 

QB (3): Brady, Hoyer, Mallett
RB (5): Ridley, Woodhead, Vereen, Bolden, Demps
WR (5): Welker, Lloyd, Branch, Edelman, Slater
TE (3): Gronkowski, Hernandez, Fells
OL (9): Solder, Mankins, Connolly, Waters, Vollmer, Cannon, Wendell, Thomas, McDonald
DT (4): Wilfork, Love, Deaderick, Brace
DE (5): Jones, Cunningham, Ninkovich, Bequette, Francis
LB (6): Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Carpenter, Tarpinian, Koutouvides
CB (5): McCourty, Arrington, Dowling, Moore, Cole
S (5): Chung, Gregory, Wilson, Ebner, Ihedigbo
ST (3): Gostkowski, Mesko, Aiken

Re: What's your final 53?
 

QB (3) Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett
RB (5) Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley, Danny Woodhead, Brandon Bolden, Jeff Demps
WR (5) Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Julian Edelman, Deion Branch, Matthew Slater
TE (3) Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Daniel Fells
C (2) Ryan Wendell, Dan Koppen
G (3) Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly, Brian Waters
T (4) Nate Solder, Marcus Cannon, Sebastian Vollmer, Nick McDonald
DE (5) Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Jermaine Cunningham, Trevor Scott, Jake Bequette
DT (4) Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Ron Brace
ILB(3) Brandon Spikes, Donta Hightower, Niko Koutouvides
OLB(3) Jerod Mayo, Bobby Carpenter, Jeff Tarpinian
CB (5) Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Ras-I Dowling, Sterling Moore, Marquice Cole
SS (3) Patrick Chung, Nate Ebner, James Ihedigbo
FS (2) Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson
ST (3) Stephen Gostkowski, Danny Aiken, Zoltan Mesko

The only cut I really regret is Thomas at OG and Dennard at CB. I hope both of them go to PS. Trevor Scott is a new addition on my 53-man, the primary beneficiary of losing Dane Fletcher for the season.

Re: What's your final 53?
 

Thomas is ineligible for PS. McDonald can still go there, however.

Re: What's your final 53?
 

My last two choices were
Player 52: Dennard over Moore (I'm also fine with Moore)
Player 53: McDonald over Koutouvides and Francis
(I expect that we will sign a free agent OT for this roster spot)

QB (3) Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer
RB (5) Stevan Ridley, Danny Woodhead, Brandon Bolden, Jeff Demps, Shane Vereen
WR (5) Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Deion Branch, Julian Edelman, Matthew Slater
TE (3) Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Daniel Fells
C (2) Dan Koppen, Ryan Wendell
G (4) Logan Mankins, Brian Waters, Dan Connolly, Donald Thomas
T (4) Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Marcus Cannon, Nick McDonald
DE (3) Chandler Jones, Jake Bequette, Trevor Scott
DT (4) Vince Wilfork, Brandon Deaderick, Kyle Love, Ron Brace
ILB(4) Jerod Mayo, Donta Hightower, Brandon Spikes, Bobby Carpenter
OLB(3) Jermaine Cunningham, Rob Ninkovich, Jeff Tarpinian
CB (5) Devin McCourty, Ras-I Dowling, Kyle Arrington, Marquice Cole, Alfonzo Dennard
SS (3) Steve Gregory, James Ihedigbo, Nate Ebner
FS (2) Patrick Chung, Tavon Wilson
ST (3) Stephen Gostkowski, Danny Aiken, Zoltan Mesko

Total players: 53
Created with Pats Picker: Pats Picker 2012

Re: What's your final 53?
 

McDonald makes the roster on merit and versatility. We need him active, because he can play across the line.

Thomas only makes the roster if we cut ties with Koppen. Or we can keep both if Waters retires.

Re: What's your final 53?
 

IMHO, McDonald would never be active. We have 2 backups active, one interior and one tackle. Cannon is our backup OT.

SITUATION ONE: WATERS IS HERE
Koppen and Connolly are both active. Alternatively, Wendell and Connolly are both active. I a guard is injured, Connolly moved to that position and the backup moves to center.

SITUATION TWO: WATERS IS NOT HERE
Connolly is our starting RG. Koppen is our center. Wendell is our backup interior lineman as he has been many times in his career.

Re: What's your final 53?
 

The New England Patriots offense seems solidified:

QB - 3 (Brady, Mallett, Hoyer)
RB - 5 (Woodhead, Ridley, Vereen, Bolden, Demps)
TE - 3 (Gronkowski, Hernandez, Fells)
WR - 5 (Welker, Branch, Lloyd, Edelman, Slater)
OL - 9 (Solder, Vollmer, Cannon, Mankins, Koppen, Connolly, Wendell, Thomas, Waters/McDonald)

The New England Patriots defense has too much variability to finalize 25 players.

Re: What's your final 53?
 

Interesting. I had not thought through the active roster, but you're right that Connolly and Cannon feel like the primary backups to a line of Solder - Mankins - Koppen - Waters - Vollmer. Leaving McDonald and Wendell inactive.

But even just in typing it now, that starting line feels like an impossibility to me, because Connolly has clearly outperformed Koppen.

If Waters returns, the starting line should be Solder - Mankins - Connolly - Waters - Vollmer, with Cannon and Wendell as backups, and McDonald and Thomas as inactive. Koppen may be cut. Without Waters, Koppen at center and Connolly at gaurd.

Either way, your point is good. McDonald will only be activated if someone gets hurt first.

Final thought: toying with the idea whether playing with five starters and only McDonald active for OL depth is viable. In case of catastrophic injury, emergency linemen would have to be Aiken on the interior and Gronkowski at tackle... or cross train a defensive guy like Bequette to play both sides of the ball. Giving up a lot of size. But in exchange, you could dress an extra LB or DB for a punch on ST, or other maybe optimize some 3rd down sub-packages. That could be a strategic weapon against the right team.

Re: What's your final 53?
 

Why keep Ihedigbo? Seems like a waste of a roster spot.