QB (2) T.Brady, B.Hoyer
RB (4) J.White, R.Burkhead*, S.Michel ..... [B.Bolden]
FB (1) J.Develin*
WR (4) C.Hogan, P.Dorsett, C.Patterson(KR)* ..... [M.Slater]
TE (3) R.Gronkowski, D.Allen, J.Hollister*
C (2) D.Andrews, T.Karras(OG)
G (2) S.Mason, J.Thuney
T (4) T.Brown, M.Cannon, L.Waddle, C.Croston(OG)
DE (5) T.Flowers, A.Clayborn, D.Wise, D.Rivers, K.Davis
DT (4) M.Brown, D.Shelton, L.Guy*, A.Butler
ILB(4) D.Hightower, J.Bentley, E.Roberts ..... [N.Grigsby]
OLB(2) K.VanNoy ..... [B.King]
CB (6) S.Gilmore, E.Rowe, J.Jones*, D.Dawson, R.Lewis ..... [K.Crossen]
SS (3) P.Chung* ..... [J.Richards, N.Ebner]
FS (2) D.McCourty*, D.Harmon
ST (3) S.Gostkowski, R.Allen, J.Cardona
Total players: 51 (TWO OPEN SPOTS)
Created with Pats Picker:
Pats Picker 2018
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Players in [brackets] are special teams specialists/dire emergency reserves.
Players with (*) have typically contributed to at least two ST units on a regular basis in the past.
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RB - I'm honestly not certain anymore that either of Hill or Gillislee are really acceptable, although I'm pretty sure that the Pats will keep Hill as insurance, at least until Michel is healthy. Don't want a repeat of 2015.
WR - If the Pats keep another WR as insurance while Edelman is out, my guess would be McCarron, if only because he's healthy (and seems to be fairly durable - he got up after hanging onto a hospital ball), and way cheaper than Decker as a "placeholder". Berrios might be headed to IR.
OL - At OC/OG backup, it could be Schwenke instead of Karras. I'm guessing that they also keep one of John or Tobin as a backup OT. I'm just not sure which.
DE - I really don't think that Pats want to lose Davis, whether he plays ST or not.
OLB - M.Flowers hasn't really shown very much at all in scrimmage, or on ST. Something of a hole at OLB, then, although HT can obviously play OLB .
CB - Seems to me that Crossen has the potential to be an excellent STer, at the very least, with possibly a higher ceiling at CB than Jon Jones (who's very good). I think he's a keeper.
..... Lewis - I'm not entirely sure about. I feel like he's ahead of JC Jackson and Cy Jones in coverage skills. But Jackson may be a bit better on ST right now, and may have as much potential as Lewis, long term. And Cy Jones offers at least some return skills and doesn't appear to be horrible in coverage. Hopefully, the #5 CB doesn't see the field much at all, so Lewis may be sufficiently redundant to be trade-bait, thus leaving a spot open for either Jackson or CJ. IDK - still up in the air for me.
SS - I'm no more comfortable with Richards continuing to back up Chung than anyone else is, but ... it is what it is. OTOH, in Harmon's first couple seasons, his nickel-safety duties were more SS than deep coverage safety, and he did well there. So, finding another backup deep-coverage DB might be as useful as finding a better SS backup than Richards.
... Also, Grigsby apparently played a hybrid SS/LB "star" role at Pitt, so there's that as an option - or even Christian Sam, I suppose. The ability to fill the role is more important than the positional designation, IMHO.
BTW - It seems likely to me that a couple roster moves could be made beginning as early as Monday, e.g., if veterans like JMac and/or Decker are going to be released anyway, it would probably be early as a matter of courtesy. And, it wouldn't be entirely shocking (though sad, wrt JMac).
