If you could bring back one former Patriot in their prime...

In his prime, on this team? Junior Seau.

Deus Irae said:

I initially thought of Dillon, but then I thought of the idea of Sam Gash beating the snot out of Kam Chancellor.

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That would be great, no question. But, and I may be having selective memories here, I remember Dillon as having darn close to no runs for a loss or no gain. Even when the defense knew what was coming, it seemed like Dillon was good for 3 yards or more, and you could usually count on him for at least one run of 20+ per game as long as he got 18-20 carries.

Couple that with Blount and I cannot see a way to effectively counter the run threat without allowing Brady to murder you through the air.

Deus Irae said:

I initially thought of Dillon, but then I thought of the idea of Sam Gash beating the snot out of Kam Chancellor.

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Sam Gash. Great player. 1988-1989 Keith Byars at his best with the Eagles was like having a pickup truck rolling out the backfield. By the time he came to the Patriots, he was pretty much finished.

PlainOldEd said:

What????????

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That post you quoted is nearly a year old...

NormZauchin said:

After Randy Moss, my number two pick would be Stanley Morgan and his 19.2 yards per catch career average, (24.1 yards per catch! in 1978). Moss and Morgan (M&M boys) with Gronk and Edelman would be the greatest set of targets in NFL history.

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Morgan let one go right through his hands on the first drive of the SB in 1985. Pats would have had the ball inside the 10. It was all downhill from there. I would much rather have Branch.

Seymour would really clog up the middle and provide some up the middle pass rush.

Randy Moss for sure. Put him with Rob Gronkowski and that offense is an unstoppable machine.

Randy Moss, schooling R Sherman

This is not even a contest. Randy Moss. The most gifted WR this league has ever seen.

Lots of great choices, especially (for my taste) Moss, Hannah (if "scaled up to 2014 level"), and Tippett. However, I have to go with my personal favorite Pat, the ultimate (IMHO) big game playmaker:













Troy

Rodney Harrison

Big-T said:

That post you quoted is nearly a year old...

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Ah, sorry. My bad. I didn't notice.

Rodney Harrison hands down, he meant everything to us.

Rodney...hands down for me. I loved his attitude and the way he played the game. This team could use some of his I don't give a bleep attitude.

Deus Irae said:

I initially thought of Dillon, but then I thought of the idea of Sam Gash beating the snot out of Kam Chancellor.

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He should have spent 10 years with this team and #33 in the Pats HoF.

Another Bobby Grier gaffe...

stinebot said:

That would be great, no question. But, and I may be having selective memories here, I remember Dillon as having darn close to no runs for a loss or no gain. Even when the defense knew what was coming, it seemed like Dillon was good for 3 yards or more, and you could usually count on him for at least one run of 20+ per game as long as he got 18-20 carries.

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In 04 he ran for 1600 yards. He was nothing short of dominant.

05 and 06 not so much.

Hands down Moss we would be unstoppable.

Moss would be an obvious answer. But I am going to have to go with an offensive lineman. We have seen what can happen with a bad Oline. Give Brady a good Oline and we don't players like Moss. We can win with players like Troy Brown.

Maybe Dan Koppen or Matt Light....whoever was our best lineman during our Super Bowls.

Just to add a bit of spice....


Since I was looking only at the 2014 SB game, I came up with what I considered to be 5 clear 'best' answers...

Gash
Tippett
Hannah
Dillon
Coates

Yeah, picks like Moss, Welker, Bruschi, et al are solid choices for a long haul, but I'm talking just that one game.

Gash - punishing blocks to test Chancellor, Thomas and those LBs
Tippett, - the greatest LB in Patriots history, adding to the pressure plays that can be called
Hannah, - because IOL....
Dillon - Pair him up with Blount and grind that Seahawks front down
Coates - Gronk + Coates v. a banged up Thomas and Chancellor = a whole lot of fun for NE fans

For the Super Bowl:

O: Ben Coates - imagine Coates and Gronk together.
D: Andre Tippett - bye Russell bye.

Tim Fox