Rank Your Top Five Patriots through Six Games

[Double TE]

#1) Brady - not even close

#2) Wilfork

#3) Jones

#4) O LINE

#5) Welker

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Bottom 5:
1. Welker...

#2 in the league in catches,
#2 in yards,
#3 in first downs,
#5 in yards after catch

48 catches, targeted 51 times (94%),with nobody else among the top 30 WRs in the league in catches exceeding even 80%,

aackkkk....

 

[12ClutchFactor]

1.) Welker- not even close
2.) Jones
3.) Spikes
4.) Brady
5.) Wilfork


Meanwhile, aside from Tavon Wilson, I can't think of one good thing to say about the secondary.

 

[Boomer B]

1. Chandler Jones

No Andre Carter, no Mark Anderson. Jones was counted on to step in immediately and provide a pass rush and *hopefully* set the edge against the run despite going up against tackles 35+ pounds bigger than him. That he has done all of this is amazing and should not be taken for granted. The guy is always around the ball or making life miserable for the tackle assigned to block him, even when he's not showing up on the score sheet. Pats hit one out of the park with this pick.

2. Tom Brady

Puts up 30 on the Ravens in Baltimore. Puts up 500yds offense and 24 points on the Seahawks in Seattle. Runs the hurry-up offense like the league has never seen. One play made differently in their 3 losses, on either side of the ball, is the difference between 3-3 and 6-0. But because he has the most control on the "one play" that could be made by the offense, he's the one taking the most heat. Could he have made that one more play? Of course. When he doesn't, it just reminds us he's not perfect. Hint: He never was. He's damn close, though.

3. Big Vince

It's amazing he's been as durable as he is, considering the constant abuse a NT/DT faces (knock on wood). He's been the reliable anchor to an otherwise shaky defense the last few years. His stellar play has continued this year. He's the first guy that comes to mind when I think along the lines, "You think the D struggles now? Imagine what would happen if [D player] goes down!"

4. Jermaine Cunningham

His transformation to pass-rushing DT is unbelievable. Like Jones, even on the plays he's not on the score sheet he's causing havoc with the guard trying to block him.

5. Wes Welker

Guy continues to be a pass-catching, getting-open machine. That he has done so all these years at his size, taking serious pops over the middle, is truly incredible.

Honorable mentions: Gronk, Ridley, Bolden, Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Ninko

Regards,
Chris

Interesting choice in Cunningham. It's hard to see a situational player with 1 sack as being top 5 guys on the team so far.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

1. Welker
2. Jones
3. Wilfork
4. Spikes
5. Solder

 

[Jose]

#2 in the league in catches,
#2 in yards,
#3 in first downs,
#5 in yards after catch
Last place in rings.

48 catches, targeted 51 times (94%),with nobody else among the top 30 WRs in the league in catches exceeding even 80%,

aackkkk....

Fixed it for you, not sure why people are so obsessed with gaudy stats. I'll take the old school Patriots over Welker tearing up the scoreboard against crap teams. Awesome, he had a 1500 yard receiving season only to get held to less than 60 in his three playoff games. PASS!

 

[sly24]

In no particular order

Brady
Spikes
Ridley
Jones
Welker

 

[Boomer B]

Fixed it for you, not sure why people are so obsessed with gaudy stats. I'll take the old school Patriots over Welker tearing up the scoreboard against crap teams. Awesome, he had a 1500 yard receiving season only to get held to less than 60 in his three playoff games. PASS!

Isn't the title of the thread Top 5 Patriots through 6 games? What do last years playoffs have to do it?

 

[VJCPatriot]

1. Chandler Jones

No Andre Carter, no Mark Anderson. Jones was counted on to step in immediately and provide a pass rush and *hopefully* set the edge against the run despite going up against tackles 35+ pounds bigger than him. That he has done all of this is amazing and should not be taken for granted. The guy is always around the ball or making life miserable for the tackle assigned to block him, even when he's not showing up on the score sheet. Pats hit one out of the park with this pick.

Jones is getting HELD a LOT too! He should probably have 50% more sacks if the Holds were being consistently called. When Holding penalties are called, then Jones will be able to attack the QB properly. Right now he's still a rook though so he's not getting the calls yet. Chandler Jones was a great pick. BB stole this kid. Chandler Jones looks to be a top 10 talent and guess what he was taken at pick #21 just like Vince Wifork.

Vince Wilfork is our ROCK on D. He has made a ton of huge plays in our wins, goal line stands, fumble recovers, even brutal hits on receivers, he does it all!

Welker has been HUGE. Playing hard for that paycheck. Basically the best player on our offense.

Ridley has emerged as our goto RB. He had a poor game vs Seattle, but we couldn't get anything going there outside of some Woodhead runs. And can someone explain to me why we stopped going to him when he was gashing Seattle for 5-10 yard chunks at a time?

Spikes has been a huge playmaker on defense, forcing big turnovers, and intimidating offensive players by laying the wood hard.

It is notable to note that we have no secondary players making my top 5 contributors list, and none of them deserve mention yet. We seriously need SOMEBODY to step up in that secondary unit because I can see the SOS signs from here. They need HELP in a big way! But who will deliver?

Fixed it for you, not sure why people are so obsessed with gaudy stats. I'll take the old school Patriots over Welker tearing up the scoreboard against crap teams. Awesome, he had a 1500 yard receiving season only to get held to less than 60 in his three playoff games. PASS!

Last place in rings? You're joking right? So you'd taking Deion Branch over Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald since they have ZERO rings combine, right? Come on, get serious. Welker is our best offensive player right now.

 

[Ivan]

Welker-He's unstoppable.

Wilfork-He's a rock in the middle of their defense.The most dominant NT of his era.

Brady-he's had some bad moments but is still one of the top 2 QB's in football

Spikes-He has been dominant inside, the only problem with Spikes is going to be his next contract.

Ridley-he's shown he can be the man, they made a big mistake not running him consistently on Sunday and becoming one dimensional. They should have given him the ball 20 plus times.




Like many here i was hoping for them to be 5-3 at the halfway point after their 1-2 start, and that is still likely. I think they go on a run and get to 8-3 and eventually win the east and peak late, when it matters most.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I'll take the old school Patriots over Welker tearing up the scoreboard against crap teams.

crap teams?

You are so factually ill-informed that it is truly pathetic.

Were the 2004 Patriots a crap team?
(as a Dolphin rookie):
142 return yards, game 1
226 return yards, game 2

How about the 2007 Giants?
122 receiving yards on 11 catches
102 yards on 11 catches in the Super Bowl

2009 Jets? (at least they were AFC finalists):
192 yards on 15 catches

How about the 2011 Giants?
136 yards on 9 catches

How about the (then-healthy) 2012 Ravens?
142 yards on 8 catches

Again,
THIS IS YOU:

 

[Haley]

Since he has yet to be mentioned, Ill give a shout out to Danny "the thigh pad" Woodhead. Maybe he's not in the top 5 but he has to be pretty close. His play against Seattle as well as that 25 yard run on 3rd and long against Denver is what puts him into the running imo.

 

[PATSMATT]

1. Welker
2. Brady
3. Ridley
4. Spikes
5. Jones

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Interesting choice in Cunningham. It's hard to see a situational player with 1 sack as being top 5 guys on the team so far.

I watch the games on gamerewind and when the D is on the field, I find myself looping some of the plays, particularly on the passing plays. My focus started off on Jones and Hightower, but then I started watching Cunningham more closely. Like Jones, he's been a treat to watch. While he's not piling up the stats, he's often pushing the guard back into the pocket at a minimum and also showing moves to push through to the QB.

Now someone may look at that and say, "So...how does this make him a top 5 player?" My answer is based in looking at not only his production, but from where he came from. He was an OLB, one that could barely stay on the field. Now he's playing DT (and DE on occasion to give Ninko or Jones breathers in those blowouts). If you told me before the preseason that Cunningham was going to bulk up, switch from OLB to pass-rushing DT and excell, I would have called you crazy. Yet here we are. I'm thoroughly impressed with the transformation.

Regards,
Chris

 

[BradyFTW!]

1. Brady - even having a quiet year by his standards, he's still the most important player on this team.
2. Wilfork
3. Welker
4. Jones
5. Spikes

 

[patsfan-1982]

#1 Tom Brady. the pats would be 0-6 without him

#2 Wes Welker. the guy just gets it done

#3 Chandler Jones. if he had some help on the other side he would be #1 in sacks

#4 Stevan Ridley. the pats have not had a good young RB like him since Curtis Martin left 15 years ago

#5 Vince Wilfork. the best player on this defense and the leader

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Brady
Welker
Spikes
Wilfork
Jones

 

[IllegalContact]

#1 Tom Brady. the pats would be 0-6 without him

I don't think so......you can buy alot of defense for the $$ that brady gets paid

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Since he has yet to be mentioned, Ill give a shout out to Danny "the thigh pad" Woodhead. Maybe he's not in the top 5 but he has to be pretty close. His play against Seattle as well as that 25 yard run on 3rd and long against Denver is what puts him into the running imo.

thanks man

 

[PatsSweFan]

I believe we need to see Gronk's name on this list when the season is over if we want to have a great year.