How many Elite players on the roster now?

AndyJohnson said:

Wow, that is one of the strangest takes I have ever seen. Robert Mathis is a pass rusher. He is invisible in the run game.

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I think that has more to do with coaching than an actual weakness. The Colts straight up rush from that end almost ever play. The running game is almost ignored by Mathis just like it was with Freeney. On the other hand, Jones and Ninko are not just mindlessly rushing at most points in a game.

edit: I also haven't considered the difference in Mathis from LB to DE. If Jones were to fit into OLB, who knows what would happen.

I question the whole basis for this post. I believe that BB has analyzed the situation and decided in the CAP era, you cannot build a continuously winning team, with a handful of elite players.

I think that He would much rather have a starting 22 and maybe 33, including first reserve who are merely good, with a smattering of Probowlers, and but a few elite players at critical positions like QB, DE, CB, LOT. Such a collection of talent can be retained without CAP issues, and provides the best opportunity to compete every year for a Lombardi trophy.

With such a team, along with game planning, he is in a position to exploit the various weaknesses of different teams.

I am not gonna say you need to be top 3 or 5 top at your position to be elite cause it really depends how deep your position currently is in the NFL.

Here is my list of elite players (to me elite means a player who clearly helps you win games and/or make other players look better around themselves then they really are).

Brady
Gronk
Mankins
Chandler Jones (he IS elite... if he was rotated like he should have been he would have had 16 sacks last year. And his run D is solid overall).
Mayo
Revis

I don't think McCourty is elite. He is currently top 5 at his spot but that is cause FS is so weak right now. I think he does very well but not a true elite player.

Also Mankins though elite is a guard is so one of the least useful elite players to have.

Mayo is elite but he is the worst kind of elite MLB to have. He controls his position on the field near perfectly but he is not a guy who makes big plays.

Considering that defensive players age quickly, to be honest, just one: Tom Brady.

Revis and Wilfork are maybes, Mayo is knocking on the door, you can also throw in Mankins but us football fans don't care about O line.

Dutchmaster617 said:

Considering that defensive players age quickly, to be honest, just one: Tom Brady.

Revis and Wilfork are maybes, Mayo is knocking on the door, you can also throw in Mankins but us football fans don't care about O line.

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Obvious troll attempt is obvious.

vollmer is an elite RT gronk brady mcourty and revis are all elite wilfork is elite until proven otherwise i think mayo is elite chandler jones is almost there and edelmen is almost there as a slot WR

Who cares who is ELITE?? Names dont make PLAYS! PLAYMAKERS make plays! This team has a severe lack of playmakers and we need to look no further than our own 04 defense! Too many injuries, too many question marks, show me the PLAYMAKERS!
Brady
Period.

IMO Elite means top five at your position so here is who I think are top 5 players on the pats right now,

OFFENSE
Tom Brady,
Rob Gronkowski,
Nate Solder,
Logan Mankins,

DEFENSE
Vince Wilfork, he is a top five NT
Jerod Mayo,
Darrelle Revis,

supafly said:

Jamie Collins does not belong in the discussion whatsoever. He flashed his skills that made him a 2nd round pick during the IND playoff game, but other than that, one needs to show elite play on a consistent enough basis for these kinds of conversations.

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he is still too young...but he flashed in more games then just he IND game.

"Elite" talk is for losers.

"We need the best we got at every spot." - BB

Jamie Collins will be our best (or, at least, most surprising) player next year. He is the new-age LB. He's the best athlete on the field, with defensive back experience and athleticism.

Everybody knows we need to adapt our team based on the new rules, and the new rules favor pass coverage all over the field.

Thank you sirs, for ignoring me for my awful post.

MrNathanDrake said:

I believe he had the most tackles of any 43 DE last year, so he's already an elite run stopper.

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He had 79 tackles which was the 3rd best for DEs. JJ Watt was on 80 tackles. Ninkovich led the pack by far with an impressive 91 tackles.

mmasterkillah said:

"Elite" talk is for losers.

"We need the best we got at every spot." - BB

Jamie Collins will be our best (or, at least, most surprising) player next year. He is the new-age LB. He's the best athlete on the field, with defensive back experience and athleticism.

Everybody knows we need to adapt our team based on the new rules, and the new rules favor pass coverage all over the field.

Thank you sirs, for ignoring me for my awful post.

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most surprising maybe...but not the best...revis...brady...maybe gronk will be our best

Deus Irae said:

Assuming returns to health:

Brady
Gronk
Wilfork
Revis
Mayo
Mankins

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The fantasy is that Gronkowski's elite, but in reality he's a part timer with special skills. Give me a TE who can play 80+% of the offensive snaps and step up in the playoffs.

Gronkowski's 39 catches for 592 yards and 4 TDs in 2013 is pedestrian. He's 20th in # of targets in 2013 at 66. Over the course of a 16-game season that's 4.1 targets per game. The "elite" guys are almost twice that: 2013 Most Targeted Tight Ends

NFL Active Yards per Pass Completion Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com
Gronkowski isn't even on the list of top 50 receptions leaders in the NFL.

goheels22002 said:

The fantasy is that Gronkowski's elite, but in reality he's a part timer with special skills. Give me a TE who can play 80+% of the offensive snaps and step up in the playoffs.

Gronkowski's 39 catches for 592 yards and 4 TDs in 2013 is pedestrian. He's 20th in # of targets in 2013 at 66. Over the course of a 16-game season that's 4.1 targets per game. The "elite" guys are almost twice that: 2013 Most Targeted Tight Ends

NFL Active Yards per Pass Completion Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com
Gronkowski isn't even on the list of top 50 receptions leaders in the NFL.

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Gronkowski is elite. He's the best TE in the the game.

goheels22002 said:

The fantasy is that Gronkowski's elite, but in reality he's a part timer with special skills. Give me a TE who can play 80+% of the offensive snaps and step up in the playoffs.

Gronkowski's 39 catches for 592 yards and 4 TDs in 2013 is pedestrian. He's 20th in # of targets in 2013 at 66. Over the course of a 16-game season that's 4.1 targets per game. The "elite" guys are almost twice that: 2013 Most Targeted Tight Ends

NFL Active Yards per Pass Completion Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com
Gronkowski isn't even on the list of top 50 receptions leaders in the NFL.

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Do you even know how to do math? He had 67 targets in 6.5 games last year. Which is 10.3 per game. Multiply that by 16 and that's a pace of 164 targets. That would have been top 5 in targets last year.

Here is my very subjective list in order of their relative "eliteness"

Reference: In my list you have to be considered top 3 at your position.

1. Gronk - The single most impactful non-QB offensive player in the league. Not just the best TE in the league

2. Brady- Still one of the top 3 QB's in the league

3. Revis - Still one of the top 3 CB's in the game

4. McCourty - The 2nd best S in the game and if you think he doesn't "impact" the game enough, you just have to look at how few times he been targeted the past year to see how DC's view him.

5. Volmer - When healthy, easily a top 3 RT.

6. Gotkowski - In a league where there are very good kickers, the Ghost stands out not only for his FG accuracy, but for his booming KO's

That's it. The 2012 version of Wilfolk would have been #3 on this list, but the chances of us seeing that version is slim and none. Even if he could come back and be a top 3 run stuffing NT. The problem with that is that we don't play that defense anymore. My hope for Vince this year is that he's a very good run stopper on situational defenses. Anything more than that is just being hopeful

Next level

a. Chandler Jones - He really needs to develop a bull rush move this season.- Riser, who should be on this list eventually.

b. Jerad Mayo - He'd be on the list if it were top 6-10. He's very good, but has hit his ceiling, and not "elite" as we define it.

c. Nate Solder - Not there yet, though I expect him to eventually make the list. Right now probably a top 12 guy.

d. Logan Mankins - Still very good, but on the down side.

e. Steven Ridley - Ridley has elite talent. There is still plenty of time for him to put it all together.

f. Mathew Slater - A top 3 special teamer, but hard to put a special teamer as an elite player. Even Gotkowski is a stretch.

g. Julian Edelman - The best punt returner in the game. I have always wondered why he doesn't do better on KR's

h. Rob Ninkovitch - His tackle numbers are off the charts, His pass rush numbers are good. And even though he'll never be "elite" his is vastly under rated by this board. If you had 53 Rob Ninkovitch's you'd win the superbowl every year.

Honorable mention - Jamie Collins - doesn't deserve to be on either list as of this moment, but has the athletic talent to get to elite status in a few years. I'm expecting to see enough THIS season to elevate him into the "next level" category. He's my rising star.

gronk not elite? Not the best TE in the league? What you smokin son

Offense:
Brady
Gronkowski
Vollmer
Mankins

Defense:
Mayo
McCourty
Revis

ST:
Gostkowski
Slater
Edelman

Brady, Gronk and Revis are elite, and I can't even think of a basis for disputing that.

Whether Wilfork is elite has everything to do with whether his play early last season resulted from an injury that has subsequently healed.

Slater is elite for what he does, which is why he makes the Pro Bowl every year even though his position is the single most competitive one in the league to make the Pro Bowl from.

Jones has outstanding excuses for not having shown that he's elite yet, namely injury and then overwork. I'm optimistic that he will soon prove to be elite.

I don't have strong enough opinions about the other debatable cases to keep going with this post.

goheels22002 said:

The fantasy is that Gronkowski's elite, but in reality he's a part timer with special skills. Give me a TE who can play 80+% of the offensive snaps and step up in the playoffs.

Gronkowski's 39 catches for 592 yards and 4 TDs in 2013 is pedestrian. He's 20th in # of targets in 2013 at 66. Over the course of a 16-game season that's 4.1 targets per game. The "elite" guys are almost twice that: 2013 Most Targeted Tight Ends

NFL Active Yards per Pass Completion Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com
Gronkowski isn't even on the list of top 50 receptions leaders in the NFL.

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Thanks for the morning laugh. Gronk is the best TE in the game now.