26 On Offense - One Will Likely Go

[Armchair Quarterback]

1) What players do you HAVE TO HAVE other than the 26 below?

2) Who would you kick off the island?

3) I think that these are our 26 best players on offense. How about you?

See below for a 26 man roster. If this doesn't work for you, consider it a 25 roster with either Ballard or Gronkowski on the PUP list.

Obviously, the final roster on offense could include from 23-27 players.

OFFENSE (26)
2 QB Brady, Mallett
4 RB Ridley, Vareen, Washington, Blount
5 WR Amendola, Dobson, Boyce, Jenkins, Jones
3 OT Solder, Vollmer, Svitek
3 OG Mankins, Connolly, McDonald
1 OC Wendell
1 OT/OG Cannon
5 TE Gronkowski, Ballard, Fells, Hooman, Sudfeld
2 ST Slater, Edelman

Edelman is the most experienced WR as a Patriot, he has caught 69 passes for 714 yards and 4 td's (21 235 3 TD's in 2012) from Brady, the five receivers you list, 0 catches, 0 yards , 0 td's from Brady. Edelman should be listed as a WR, he's not a ST only player like Slater. There's a likely chance he'll start.

 

[mgteich]

I expect to see a OC/OG signed. Giving a roster spot to McDonald or Zusevics without veteran competition seems wrong. Also, a veteran would provide insurance against injury.

As with most players that Belichick cut, we don't know why he cut Green. My guess is that the answer to your question is "yes". I would note that Greene is not good enough for anyone's 90 man roster at the moment.

I don't see why the Patriots haven't signed a veteran interior OL. Lots of tackles, not many guards. Was Tyronne Green really that horrible?

 

[Brady6]

1) What players do you HAVE TO HAVE other than the 26 below?

2) Who would you kick off the island?

3) I think that these are our 26 best players on offense. How about you?

See below for a 26 man roster. If this doesn't work for you, consider it a 25 roster with either Ballard or Gronkowski on the PUP list.

Obviously, the final roster on offense could include from 23-27 players.

OFFENSE (26)
2 QB Brady, Mallett
4 RB Ridley, Vareen, Washington, Blount
5 WR Amendola, Dobson, Boyce, Jenkins, Jones
3 OT Solder, Vollmer, Svitek
3 OG Mankins, Connolly, McDonald
1 OC Wendell
1 OT/OG Cannon
5 TE Gronkowski, Ballard, Fells, Hooman, Sudfeld
2 ST Slater, Edelman

I think this will change based on training camp and preseason performances, as of today these are my picks.

QB (2)
Brady
Mallett

RB (5)
Ridley
Vereen
Blount
Washington (ST)
Bolden (ST)

WR (7)
Amendola
Dobson
Boyce
Jones
Edelman (ST)
Slater (ST)
Harrison

TE (4)
Gronkowski
Ballard
Sudfeld
Ford

OT (3)
Solder
Vollmer
Zusevics

OL (4)
Mankins
Wendell
Cannon
Connolly

I'm only keeping 7 offensive tackles on the 53 man roster because Connolly can play all three inside positions combined with Cannon and Zusevics being able to play guard and tackle gives us a to of versatility. Also one of the reason I kept Zusevics over Svitek. I would keep some extra players on the practice squad for insurance against injuries along with attempting to get a guy like McDonald on PUP incase we need more depth at mid season.

Harrison I think is someone we have to keep in the same way we kept Fortson to start last season to prevent another team from stealing him. Then once the season gets moving and other teams rosters are solidified sneak him onto the practice squad. Maybe we can keep a guy like Jenkins on our shadow roster like we did with Branch last season and bring him a few weeks into season once the Harrison move to practice squad is done. I hate keeping one trick ponies but Slater does his one trick better than anyone else so I have no choice.

Running back I'd like to keep five because I don't see Washington adding much except for in the return game. If I had to let one go it would be Blount because I think his character issues and decline in production makes him the least likely to get scooped up.

I'm keeping the two kids behind Gronkowski and Ballard for now because I think they offer way more upside than the JAG's like Hooman and Fells. That might change once I see them in camp and preseason.

Brandon Ford is my pick for biggest surprise, I think he can do a lot of the things that Hernandez did without the body count.

 

[mgteich]

We were almost in total agreement on the defense, but have different views on the offense. See below for comments.

MINOR ISSUES
1) You only get 24 players if you want 26 on defense.

2) If Washington is only a STer, then we will indeed keep Bolden or a free agent TBD.

3) I see nothing out of Harrison that would cause me to use a roster spot. If we keep 7 (which is OK with me), I strongly prefer the veteran red zone threat, Jenkins.

MAJOR SERIOUS DISAGREEMENTS
4) At tight end, your group includes two players who may not even healthy enough to play Game One. Either or both Gronk and Ballard may even need to be on the PUP list. The rest of your TE's are rookies. IMHO, this simply won't happen. At least one of Fells or Hooman will make the 53. Fells was hurt last year. He is a seasoned veteran who can start if needed. Hooman is a solid blocking TE and our FB (for the few times we use one). He also is a fine 3rd TE when we run that set. ANd yes, Hooman has started for us. Sudfeld may or may not replace one of Fells and Hooman, but at least one will very likely make the 53. My guess as of now would be that they would both make it. After all, they may be our STARTERS for Game One.

5) For many of us, the standard NFL offensive line has 4 OT's and 5 interior linemen. 7 are active on Game Day. The 2 backups are inactive. In some years, one of the two backups are on Practice Squad instead of the 53. This is somewhat dangerous, so in those years, we often have 3 Practice Squad offensive linemen. We call this Dante's Academy. Sometimes, a developmental OL is included in the 53.

I have two issues with your 7 man OL. First, we need at least 8. I am OK with 3 OT's, 3 OG's. 1 C and 1 OG/OT. I am OK only because I believe that Cannon can start (or at least be first off the bench) at both OT and OG. Obviously, two of the OG's also needs to be able to play center. As you say, we are lucky to have the very flexible Connolly. In the end, you have the Game Day seven OL's, with no one else available in case of injuries.

My second issue on the OL is less severe. I strongly prefer the ex-starter Svitek to Zusevics.
Your choice might happen. If so, I would tend to want the full 9 OL's, including Zusevics. As of now, I expect Svitek and Cannon to be our active backups, with Connolly moving to center if there is a need. With Zusevics, I would expect our backups to be Cannon and McDonald. I would want a bit more in reserve than Zusevics. We may add an OG/OC in any case.

I think this will change based on training camp and preseason performances, as of today these are my picks.

QB (2)
Brady
Mallett

RB (5)
Ridley
Vereen
Blount
Washington (ST)
Bolden (ST)

WR (7)
Amendola
Dobson
Boyce
Jones
Edelman (ST)
Slater (ST)
Harrison

TE (4)
Gronkowski
Ballard
Sudfeld
Ford

OT (3)
Solder
Vollmer
Zusevics

OL (4)
Mankins
Wendell
Cannon
Connolly

I'm only keeping 7 offensive tackles on the 53 man roster because Connolly can play all three inside positions combined with Cannon and Zusevics being able to play guard and tackle gives us a to of versatility. Also one of the reason I kept Zusevics over Svitek. I would keep some extra players on the practice squad for insurance against injuries along with attempting to get a guy like McDonald on PUP incase we need more depth at mid season.

Harrison I think is someone we have to keep in the same way we kept Fortson to start last season to prevent another team from stealing him. Then once the season gets moving and other teams rosters are solidified sneak him onto the practice squad. Maybe we can keep a guy like Jenkins on our shadow roster like we did with Branch last season and bring him a few weeks into season once the Harrison move to practice squad is done. I hate keeping one trick ponies but Slater does his one trick better than anyone else so I have no choice.

Running back I'd like to keep five because I don't see Washington adding much except for in the return game. If I had to let one go it would be Blount because I think his character issues and decline in production makes him the least likely to get scooped up.

I'm keeping the two kids behind Gronkowski and Ballard for now because I think they offer way more upside than the JAG's like Hooman and Fells. That might change once I see them in camp and preseason.

Brandon Ford is my pick for biggest surprise, I think he can do a lot of the things that Hernandez did without the body count.

 

[Brady6]

We were almost in total agreement on the defense, but have different views on the offense. See below for comments.

MINOR ISSUES
1) You only get 24 players if you want 26 on defense.

2) If Washington is only a STer, then we will indeed keep Bolden or a free agent TBD.

3) I see nothing out of Harrison that would cause me to use a roster spot. If we keep 7 (which is OK with me), I strongly prefer the veteran red zone threat, Jenkins.

MAJOR SERIOUS DISAGREEMENTS
4) At tight end, your group includes two players who may not even healthy enough to play Game One. Either or both Gronk and Ballard may even need to be on the PUP list. The rest of your TE's are rookies. IMHO, this simply won't happen. At least one of Fells or Hooman will make the 53. Fells was hurt last year. He is a seasoned veteran who can start if needed. Hooman is a solid blocking TE and our FB (for the few times we use one). He also is a fine 3rd TE when we run that set. ANd yes, Hooman has started for us. Sudfeld may or may not replace one of Fells and Hooman, but at least one will very likely make the 53. My guess as of now would be that they would both make it. After all, they may be our STARTERS for Game One.

5) For many of us, the standard NFL offensive line has 4 OT's and 5 interior linemen. 7 are active on Game Day. The 2 backups are inactive. In some years, one of the two backups are on Practice Squad instead of the 53. This is somewhat dangerous, so in those years, we often have 3 Practice Squad offensive linemen. We call this Dante's Academy. Sometimes, a developmental OL is included in the 53.

I have two issues with your 7 man OL. First, we need at least 8. I am OK with 3 OT's, 3 OG's. 1 C and 1 OG/OT. I am OK only because I believe that Cannon can start (or at least be first off the bench) at both OT and OG. Obviously, two of the OG's also needs to be able to play center. As you say, we are lucky to have the very flexible Connolly. In the end, you have the Game Day seven OL's, with no one else available in case of injuries.

My second issue on the OL is less severe. I strongly prefer the ex-starter Svitek to Zusevics.
Your choice might happen. If so, I would tend to want the full 9 OL's, including Zusevics. As of now, I expect Svitek and Cannon to be our active backups, with Connolly moving to center if there is a need. With Zusevics, I would expect our backups to be Cannon and McDonald. I would want a bit more in reserve than Zusevics. We may add an OG/OC in any case.

Wow you I can't believe you caught me on trying to sneak the extra guy in Kudos my friend! So I'm going to place Harrison on my imaginary PUP list because his foot injury is going to take triple what the doctor anticipated, wink, wink.

As far as the tight end position goes I'm really looking at my selections as preliminary picks prior to seeing training camp and preseason performances, for that reason I gave the spots to the two kids with the hope they impress. I'm more than likely be to optimistic and will likely be wrong. But I figured if I wrote it down maybe my dreams will become a reality. Realistically though you're probably right about either Fells or Hooman making the 53.

I'm at odds with the OL because I know that you're absolutely right keeping 7 is not logical. I just don't want to keep anymore because I need the roster spots because of my uncertainty about WR and TE. My thought is that with so many promising UDFA's who play OL we can stack up the practice squad with more 2-3 that we could move right up to the 53 if there was an injury.

 

[Brady6]

3) I see nothing out of Harrison that would cause me to use a roster spot. If we keep 7 (which is OK with me), I strongly prefer the veteran red zone threat, Jenkins.

I did want to clarify this; my intentions are only to keep Harrison on the 53 man roster for the first 2-3 weeks of the season and then when other teams rosters are all solidified release him and sneak him on to the practice squad. At which time I would bring Jenkins back from our shadow roster. I'm only doing this because I feel like we'd lose him if we cut him at the end of camp to a non contender looking for developmental players.

We did this with Fortson to start 2012 because he was at risk if released during final cuts. We kept him on the 53 till about week 3 and then released him on a short week, snuck him onto PA and signed Deion Branch to fill that spot on the 53.

 

[mgteich]

We all struggle with freeing up that extra roster spot we need.

You and I agree on our core 6 OL's, the starters plus Cannon (who might start at times).

Your backups are Zusevics and Practice Squad UDFA's. Mine are McDonald and Svitek (and Practice Squad UDFA's). Both of my backups have started and can be counted on to start if needed. I don't think that you can say the same for Zusevics or the developmental UDFA's.

I only go DOWN to 8 because of the roster squeeze that you mention. I would be much more comfortable with an additional veteran backup OG/OC.
=================================

Our struggle goes back to the health of Edelman, Gronkowski, Ballard and even Fells. If all these players could be expected to be healthy, we would not need all those receivers on the 53. As it is, we may need to have 26 players on Offense, losing a STer on defense.
====================

And just BTW, most here have seen many, many Harrison's. We won't ahve any problem getting him through waivers. After all, we want him to be practicing. Red-shirting doesn't work very well in the NFL.

I'm at odds with the OL because I know that you're absolutely right keeping 7 is not logical. I just don't want to keep anymore because I need the roster spots because of my uncertainty about WR and TE. My thought is that with so many promising UDFA's who play OL we can stack up the practice squad with more 2-3 that we could move right up to the 53 if there was an injury.

 

[Brady6]

We all struggle with freeing up that extra roster spot we need.

You and I agree on our core 6 OL's, the starters plus Cannon (who might start at times).

Your backups are Zusevics and Practice Squad UDFA's. Mine are McDonald and Svitek (and Practice Squad UDFA's). Both of my backups have started and can be counted on to start if needed. I don't think that you can say the same for Zusevics or the developmental UDFA's.

I only go DOWN to 8 because of the roster squeeze that you mention. I would be much more comfortable with an additional veteran backup OG/OC.
=================================

Our struggle goes back to the health of Edelman, Gronkowski, Ballard and even Fells. If all these players could be expected to be healthy, we would not need all those receivers on the 53. As it is, we may need to have 26 players on Offense, losing a STer on defense.

You're likely right about Svitek making the roster over Zusevics. I just like to give the younger players the advantage at this point in the season with the hope they'll surprise us.

Regarding our struggle for roster spots I do think we have some leeway because Edelman, Boyce, Bolden, and of course Gronkowski all are likely to start camp on PUP. So if a player surprises like Ford or Harrison enough to merit a roster spot, you could leave a guy like Bolden or Edelman on PUP for mid season depth knowing in all likely hood by week 6 you'll have lost a player or two to injury for the season.

 

[Ive_Killed_People]

Sorry guys,You can deny all you want but Tebow WILL make the team. IF Sudfeld keeps showing up he will knock Fells out of the picture. I say Jones will not make it either but that Austin Collie could very well be signed when /if he's healthy.

 

[Brady6]

Sorry guys,You can deny all you want but Tebow WILL make the team. IF Sudfeld keeps showing up he will knock Fells out of the picture. I say Jones will not make it either but that Austin Collie could very well be signed when /if he's healthy.

Tebow will make the team, he will be on injured reserve though with something similar to the devastating injury Jeff Demps suffered in week 4 of the preseason last year.

 

[Brady6]

Sorry guys,You can deny all you want but Tebow WILL make the team. IF Sudfeld keeps showing up he will knock Fells out of the picture. I say Jones will not make it either but that Austin Collie could very well be signed when /if he's healthy.

Collie will never play in the NFL again. He is one bad hit away from being brain dead, no team is going to take that risk and especially not us.

 

[Ive_Killed_People]

Tebow will make the team, he will be on injured reserve though with something similar to the devastating injury Jeff Demps suffered in week 4 of the preseason last year.

Don't think so.

 

[NEPettyOfficer72]

Edelman is the most experienced WR as a Patriot, he has caught 69 passes for 714 yards and 4 td's (21 235 3 TD's in 2012) from Brady, the five receivers you list, 0 catches, 0 yards , 0 td's from Brady. Edelman should be listed as a WR, he's not a ST only player like Slater. There's a likely chance he'll start.

I agree fully, that's really disrespectful. Edelman has the talent, skill and capability to be a big time receiver now that Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez are both gone. Not just in the slot, but maybe even perhaps outside the numbers as well. And yes, the guy has the experience in the offense and showed the ability to make some big plays. The season that he played an entire year during his rookie campaign, back in 2009 replacing Wes, he was one of the most productive rookie receivers in the NFL. Additionally, he caught more passes from Tom then anybody in the current receiving corps and should on everyone's list of players to breakout.

 

[NEPettyOfficer72]

You're likely right about Svitek making the roster over Zusevics. I just like to give the younger players the advantage at this point in the season with the hope they'll surprise us.

Regarding our struggle for roster spots I do think we have some leeway because Edelman, Boyce, Bolden, and of course Gronkowski all are likely to start camp on PUP. So if a player surprises like Ford or Harrison enough to merit a roster spot, you could leave a guy like Bolden or Edelman on PUP for mid season depth knowing in all likely hood by week 6 you'll have lost a player or two to injury for the season.

Bolden and Edelman on PUP for mid season? What are we talking about here? Neither injuries are that severe. They should be ready in due time, by seasons start.

 

[Oswlek]

Bolden and Edelman on PUP for mid season? What are we talking about here? Neither injuries are that severe. They should be ready in due time, by seasons start.

Yeah, I can recall back in 2005 when Bill took Bethel off PUP even though there were only two weeks to go before the regular season opener and WR looked loaded with depth.

They make good use of PUP, but sliding healthy guys onto it for October reinforcements isn't part of it.

BTW, I also agree with you on Edelman. Assuming good health (a major assumption at this point) he is more likely to be a starter than a ST-only guy.

 

[BTTA]

What amazed me was how few competitors we really have for roster spots on offense.

It does seem overly settled, particularly given how much turnover there will be at WR and TE.

If they were keeping 3 TE's, as in the old days, the competition there would be more fierce.

But with history as a guide, we know that at least one of the WR's, RB's, and/or OL's in camp not listed here will surprise and make the team.

The practice squad this year may be unusually talented.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Somebody, Harrison? will get a solid training camp shot at making the 53 by filling a fraction of the role formerly filled by The Prisoner. After Hooman turtled in the playoffs against Baltimore, we don't need cringeworthy players post season.

 

[dales804]

Does anyone think Thompkins could be the WR5 after Amendola, Edelman, Dobson and Boyce? I view those four as locks but could see Thompkins busting through and beating Jenkins and Jones. I think he's an intriguing project but three rookie WRs is probably too much.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Unlikely but sometimes it happens that rookies 'grok' the system more quickly than others including vets. Branch, Gronk and The Prisoner are examples. However, all were drafted high or should have been based on talent, other issues aside.

 

[Triumph]

Im Jonesing for some football.