Do we really have the 4th best roster?

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Ooh, I forgot about the addition of McCourty. I have no basis for this, but I have a feeling he'll be a guy that is better for the Pats more so than other teams. I think we'll get the best out of him by knowing the best way to use him. Again, no basis for this, but speculation. His brother is a smart guy who plays the system very well, let's hope his brother is the same.

At something point you have to be able to play some man defense. Can he do that?

 

[Hyped]

I feel that our roster is definitely within the top 10, but as others have alluded to....we gotta string together practices first to gel.....then there's always injury....which makes me believe our depth must be one of the best in the league as we always have competition for roster spots and guys stepping up.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

More off season silliness to keep us occupied until training camp. The Eagles, Falcons and Saints are 1-3. The Vikings, Chargers, Steelers, Cowboys, Rams and Jags round out the top ten. I thought we'd be ranked much lower, given we supposedly only have 2 of the top 100 players in the NFL

4. New England Patriots
Biggest strength: It's Tom Brady. Do we need to say anything else? Brady led all QBs last season with a 95.5 grade -- his third straight season north of 93.0 -- and his 96.6 passer rating under pressure was higher than the passer rating that 22 quarterbacks earned from a clean pocket.

Biggest weakness: The linebacking corps -- specifically the middle, which is currently occupied by Elandon Roberts. Roberts ranked 69th among interior linebackers last season with a 41.6 grade, which was regression from the 61.1 he posted as a rookie in 2016. He ranked last in the position with just a 6.2 run-stop percentage while also surrendering a 144.3 passer rating in coverage.

By the numbers: Rob Gronkowski converted 84.7 percent of his targets (again, that's targets, not receptions) into either a first down or a touchdown in 2017. The league average among tight ends was just 54.1 percent, and the second-highest rate was O.J. Howard at 76.9 percent.
Grades:
Offense
QB Tom Brady 95.5
HB James White 73.2
TE Rob Gronkowski 93.3
TE Dwayne Allen 56.3
WR Julian Edelman N/A
WR Chris Hogan 50.9
WR Jordan Matthews 41.7
LT Isaiah Wynn N/A
LG Joe Thuney 79
C David Andrews 81.8
RG Shaq Mason 81.1
RT Marcus Cannon78.1
Defense
DE Trey Flowers 87.8
DT Malcom Brown 83.3
DT Danny Shelton 81.5
DE Adrian Clayborn 85.5
OLB Dont'a Hightower 45.9
ILB Elandon Roberts 41.6
OLB Kyle Van Noy 47.6
CB Jason McCourty 83.9
CB Stephon Gilmore 89.4
CB Duke Dawson N/A
FS Devin McCourty 82.6
SS Patrick Chung 79

Ranking NFL rosters from 1 to 32: Super Bowl champs on top

OK, so we have the 4th best roster but in terms of players under 25 we're dead last?!? Well, okay then ESPN.

32. New England Patriots
2017 ranking: 17

Maintaining a veteran roster has obviously not stopped the Patriots from getting to Super Bowls, but one has to wonder what's coming down the road when Tom Brady does retire. The Patriots traded away Brandin Cooks to the Rams this offseason, which helped net another first-round pick, but the only player the Patriots drafted higher than 60th from 2015 to 2017 was defensive tackle Malcom Brown. It is no coincidence that Brown projects as New England's main under-25 starter this season. He's a solid player, but no one will confuse him for Richard Seymour or Vince Wilfork. New England declined to pick up Brown's fifth-year option.

First-round rookie left tackle Isaiah Wynn will have a shot at beating Trent Brown for that job, but the line is full of players who are 25 or 26 years old. Wynn could start at left guard too. Sony Michel was New England's second first-round pick this year, but he'll likely just be part of New England's committee backfield rather than a workhorse. The Patriots have some youthful depth on defense with defensive end Deatrich Wise and linebacker Elandon Roberts, but the team has to start seeing something out of cornerback Cyrus Jones (2016 second-round pick) and defensive end Derek Rivers (2017 third-round pick).

The Patriots are dinged a great deal by right guard Shaq Mason, nose tackle Danny Shelton, and defensive end Trey Flowers all turning 25 in August, thus disqualifying them by the slimmest of margins. So it's not like the whole roster is following Brady in age, but the secondary will start three players in their 30s, Rob Gronkowski is 29 and Julian Edelman is 32. The future stars of the Patriots are more likely to be found in various colleges, if not high schools, rather than the lowest depths of the current roster.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

OK, so we have the 4th best roster but in terms of players under 25 we're dead last?!? Well, okay then ESPN.

32. New England Patriots
2017 ranking: 17

Maintaining a veteran roster has obviously not stopped the Patriots from getting to Super Bowls, but one has to wonder what's coming down the road when Tom Brady does retire. The Patriots traded away Brandin Cooks to the Rams this offseason, which helped net another first-round pick, but the only player the Patriots drafted higher than 60th from 2015 to 2017 was defensive tackle Malcom Brown. It is no coincidence that Brown projects as New England's main under-25 starter this season. He's a solid player, but no one will confuse him for Richard Seymour or Vince Wilfork. New England declined to pick up Brown's fifth-year option.

First-round rookie left tackle Isaiah Wynn will have a shot at beating Trent Brown for that job, but the line is full of players who are 25 or 26 years old. Wynn could start at left guard too. Sony Michel was New England's second first-round pick this year, but he'll likely just be part of New England's committee backfield rather than a workhorse. The Patriots have some youthful depth on defense with defensive end Deatrich Wise and linebacker Elandon Roberts, but the team has to start seeing something out of cornerback Cyrus Jones (2016 second-round pick) and defensive end Derek Rivers (2017 third-round pick).

The Patriots are dinged a great deal by right guard Shaq Mason, nose tackle Danny Shelton, and defensive end Trey Flowers all turning 25 in August, thus disqualifying them by the slimmest of margins. So it's not like the whole roster is following Brady in age, but the secondary will start three players in their 30s, Rob Gronkowski is 29 and Julian Edelman is 32. The future stars of the Patriots are more likely to be found in various colleges, if not high schools, rather than the lowest depths of the current roster.

Their not mutually exclusive.

It's 2 different arguments.

We could have a top 5-10 roster rn but not the best young corp group of players. Anyone who's honest w themselves can see that.

 

[maineman209]

OK, so we have the 4th best roster but in terms of players under 25 we're dead last?!? Well, okay then ESPN.

32. New England Patriots
2017 ranking: 17

Maintaining a veteran roster has obviously not stopped the Patriots from getting to Super Bowls, but one has to wonder what's coming down the road when Tom Brady does retire. The Patriots traded away Brandin Cooks to the Rams this offseason, which helped net another first-round pick, but the only player the Patriots drafted higher than 60th from 2015 to 2017 was defensive tackle Malcom Brown. It is no coincidence that Brown projects as New England's main under-25 starter this season. He's a solid player, but no one will confuse him for Richard Seymour or Vince Wilfork. New England declined to pick up Brown's fifth-year option.

First-round rookie left tackle Isaiah Wynn will have a shot at beating Trent Brown for that job, but the line is full of players who are 25 or 26 years old. Wynn could start at left guard too. Sony Michel was New England's second first-round pick this year, but he'll likely just be part of New England's committee backfield rather than a workhorse. The Patriots have some youthful depth on defense with defensive end Deatrich Wise and linebacker Elandon Roberts, but the team has to start seeing something out of cornerback Cyrus Jones (2016 second-round pick) and defensive end Derek Rivers (2017 third-round pick).

The Patriots are dinged a great deal by right guard Shaq Mason, nose tackle Danny Shelton, and defensive end Trey Flowers all turning 25 in August, thus disqualifying them by the slimmest of margins. So it's not like the whole roster is following Brady in age, but the secondary will start three players in their 30s, Rob Gronkowski is 29 and Julian Edelman is 32. The future stars of the Patriots are more likely to be found in various colleges, if not high schools, rather than the lowest depths of the current roster.

BSPN ranking not making sense?

Shocker.