MrNathanDrake
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2009
- Messages
- 2,898
- Reaction score
- 1,703
Top 5 at their Position
Tom Brady (1a or 1b or 1c)
Rob Gronkowski (1a or 1b when healthy)
Darrelle Revis (1a or 1b, probably the former)
Vince Wilfork (see comments below)
Devin McCourty (2nd best FS last year)
Close, but not quite elite
Chandler Jones
Jerod Mayo
Logan Mankins
Sabastian Vollmer
Nate Solder
Wilfork is kind of up in the air, considering his age and the fact that he's coming off a bad injury. We know when he was healthy he was still a top NT/DT.
Mankins is overrated. He's a nasty run blocker but I've seen him get handled far too many times in pass blocking to call him elite.
Mayo is arguable. Especially when you consider the difference in schemes. If you are comparing him to all OLB's (including 3-4) then he's not elite. If you compare him with other pure Linebackers, then there are only a handful that are better. Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, Luke Kuechly, then Mayo and a bunch that are interchangeable.... which probably means he isn't really elite.
Stevan Ridley has potential to be a Top 5 RB in the league, but he didn't capitalize on it last year. If he can fix the fumbles and gets more opportunity to play he can easily put up 1,200+ rushing yards.
Chandler Jones is on the brink of being elite, but not there quite yet. He is certainly close to being a top 4-3 DE. Maybe this year he will make the jump and really dominate.
Jamie Collins has the potential to be a dominant OLB if he can continue to play like he did in the playoffs... and I think he will. Once it started to click for him, he looked like the best player on our defense. Mind you, he was running on fresh legs while most other players weren't.
Tom Brady (1a or 1b or 1c)
Rob Gronkowski (1a or 1b when healthy)
Darrelle Revis (1a or 1b, probably the former)
Vince Wilfork (see comments below)
Devin McCourty (2nd best FS last year)
Close, but not quite elite
Chandler Jones
Jerod Mayo
Logan Mankins
Sabastian Vollmer
Nate Solder
Wilfork is kind of up in the air, considering his age and the fact that he's coming off a bad injury. We know when he was healthy he was still a top NT/DT.
Mankins is overrated. He's a nasty run blocker but I've seen him get handled far too many times in pass blocking to call him elite.
Mayo is arguable. Especially when you consider the difference in schemes. If you are comparing him to all OLB's (including 3-4) then he's not elite. If you compare him with other pure Linebackers, then there are only a handful that are better. Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, Luke Kuechly, then Mayo and a bunch that are interchangeable.... which probably means he isn't really elite.
Stevan Ridley has potential to be a Top 5 RB in the league, but he didn't capitalize on it last year. If he can fix the fumbles and gets more opportunity to play he can easily put up 1,200+ rushing yards.
Chandler Jones is on the brink of being elite, but not there quite yet. He is certainly close to being a top 4-3 DE. Maybe this year he will make the jump and really dominate.
Jamie Collins has the potential to be a dominant OLB if he can continue to play like he did in the playoffs... and I think he will. Once it started to click for him, he looked like the best player on our defense. Mind you, he was running on fresh legs while most other players weren't.