The end of the dynasty thread got me thinking about a unit-by-unit comparison between the last Patriots' championship team (2018) and their current team. Just two years removed. Just the starters. For the 2020 roster, I'm color coding them - black if they're equivalent to 2018, blue if they're an improvement, and red if they're a downgrade.
2018
Offense
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Sony Michel, James Develin
RB (receiving back): James White
WR: Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Philip Dorsett
TE: Rob Gronkowski
OL: Trent Brown, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon
Defense
DL: Trey Flowers, Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown
LB: Dont'a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts
CB: Jason McCourty, Stephon Gilmore
S: Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung
Special Teams
K: Stephen Gostkowski
P: Ryan Allen
LS: Joe Cardona
2020
Offense
QB: Cam Newton
RB: Damien Harris, Jakob Johnson
RB (receiving back): James White (White has been worse this year than in 2018)
WR: Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers
TE: Ryan Izzo
OL: Isaiah Wynn, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Michael Onwenu
Defense
DL: John Simon, Byron Cowart, Lawrence Guy, Deatrich Wise
LB: Ja'Whaun Bentley, Chase Winovich
CB: Stephon Gilmore, JC Jackson, Jason McCourty (much worse than the 2018 version of JMac)
S: Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips (DMac isn't as good as he was in 2018)
Special Teams
K: Nick Folk
P: Jake Bailey
LS: Joe Cardona
It was hard to determine some of the starters for 2020 because so many guys have taken turns starting, but that's my best shot at it. But the way I see it, they have one guy on offense who is better than his counterpart in 2018: Damien Harris, who is better this year than Sony was in 2018, but Sony came up huge in the playoffs and was healthy all year, unlike Harris in 2020. So even then it might even out. On defense, only one guy is an upgrade: Phillips over Chung. Chung was solid in 2018 but I think Phillips has been really good. Otherwise, there are 7 spots on D where the 2020 version is worse. In special teams, Folk has been really good this year, but doesn't have the leg that Ghost had, so I call that a wash. Cardona is the same. Bailey is an upgrade over Allen, who was a good punter in his own right. Bailey is just the best in the sport right now.
So in total, I see 15 downgrades, 3 upgrades, and 8 spots that are basically even. I mean, that's a LOT of downgrades compared to upgrades. Especially at the skill positions, where basically every single spot in 2018 was better (significantly so in many ways) than 2020.
It's not hard to see why the 2020 Pats aren't close to what the 2018 Pats were.
2018
Offense
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Sony Michel, James Develin
RB (receiving back): James White
WR: Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Philip Dorsett
TE: Rob Gronkowski
OL: Trent Brown, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon
Defense
DL: Trey Flowers, Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown
LB: Dont'a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts
CB: Jason McCourty, Stephon Gilmore
S: Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung
Special Teams
K: Stephen Gostkowski
P: Ryan Allen
LS: Joe Cardona
2020
Offense
QB: Cam Newton
RB: Damien Harris, Jakob Johnson
RB (receiving back): James White (White has been worse this year than in 2018)
WR: Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers
TE: Ryan Izzo
OL: Isaiah Wynn, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Michael Onwenu
Defense
DL: John Simon, Byron Cowart, Lawrence Guy, Deatrich Wise
LB: Ja'Whaun Bentley, Chase Winovich
CB: Stephon Gilmore, JC Jackson, Jason McCourty (much worse than the 2018 version of JMac)
S: Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips (DMac isn't as good as he was in 2018)
Special Teams
K: Nick Folk
P: Jake Bailey
LS: Joe Cardona
It was hard to determine some of the starters for 2020 because so many guys have taken turns starting, but that's my best shot at it. But the way I see it, they have one guy on offense who is better than his counterpart in 2018: Damien Harris, who is better this year than Sony was in 2018, but Sony came up huge in the playoffs and was healthy all year, unlike Harris in 2020. So even then it might even out. On defense, only one guy is an upgrade: Phillips over Chung. Chung was solid in 2018 but I think Phillips has been really good. Otherwise, there are 7 spots on D where the 2020 version is worse. In special teams, Folk has been really good this year, but doesn't have the leg that Ghost had, so I call that a wash. Cardona is the same. Bailey is an upgrade over Allen, who was a good punter in his own right. Bailey is just the best in the sport right now.
So in total, I see 15 downgrades, 3 upgrades, and 8 spots that are basically even. I mean, that's a LOT of downgrades compared to upgrades. Especially at the skill positions, where basically every single spot in 2018 was better (significantly so in many ways) than 2020.
It's not hard to see why the 2020 Pats aren't close to what the 2018 Pats were.