PatsPropaganda

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Patriots (Initial) 53-Man Roster Posits

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The Patriots finally got down to 53 players on Saturday night, once again reminding us that the “4pm deadline” means little in practice. Still, there were plenty of surprises throughout the day including three trades, from which the Patriots acquired two new players — Cassius Marsh and Phillip Dorsett.

Here’s how my initial depth chart looks like however it’s important to remember that there are very likely more moves coming and some of the low end surprises on the roster might not even be on there very long. This extends even past this weekend and into the season. The Patriots never stop tinkering and trying to improve, whether injuries force their hands or they just feel like they can get better in a certain spot.

 

Let’s break it down…

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Patriots Acquire Seahawks DE Cassius Marsh

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db8ySqPgjRg

The Patriots made a second trade with the Seahawks on Saturday, shipping a fifth- and seventh-round draft pick to them for defensive end and special teams player Cassius Marsh.

This move might not have had the flash of the Phillip Dorsett trade but it might have even more impact on the team. Yes, Marsh has the prerequisite special teams pedigree but he’s also developing into a solid pass rusher on third downs and that’s a role the Pats were obviously light at ever since losing Derek Rivers to a torn ACL.

But what I like most about the early word about Marsh is what an all-out effort and general pain in the ass kind of player he is. Honestly, that’s what I thought the defense most lacked this season without guys like Ninkovich, Long and Sheard. Their inexperience on the edge was obvious and none of those players outside of Dont’a Hightower and Alan Branch strike much fear into opponents. Solid football players of course, but not many in the mold of Mike Vrabel, the kind of guys who made life hell for the offensive players they lined up across.

Marsh seems like he could be that kind of guy. Plug him into special teams and let him get his feet wet, then throw him out there off the edge on obvious passing downs and let him develop. This was a solid and needed move, and one that could pay then most dividends of all the Patriots trades in recent days.

 

Report: Patriots Trade Brissett to Colts for WR Phillip Dorsett

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There always seems to be a shocker over Labor Day weekend and the reported trade of Jacoby Brissett to the Colts for wide receiver Phillip Dorsett sure fits the bill.

There’s a lot to unpack here. First, let’s start with Brissett who just had the best game of his pro career against the Giants on Thursday night. All signs seem clear now that the Patriots intend on keeping Jimmy Garoppolo, perhaps even past this season when his contract expires. Would they cut a promising player like Brissett loose if they planned on letting Garoppolo walk (or franchise-then-trade him) next season? Probably not. Or at the very least they see another two good years from Brady, which of course they do.

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Cutdown Day is Here

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Strap up, today could get interesting as the Patriots must trim their roster down to 53 players by 4pm EST.

Who knows what Bill Belichick has in store for us today. He already traded Justin Coleman to the Seahawks for a seventh round pick, a move that makes plenty of sense because the Seahawks have always liked Coleman, the Patriots had good corner depth, even with Cyrus Jones blowing his knee out, and the lack of low round picks the Pats had, picks which they often need to swing deals.

The Coleman trade was likely just a precursor to bigger head scratchers today. I don’t know if there’ll be something the size of Seymour-to-the-Raiders or Mankins-to-the-Bucs, but there always seems to be at least one move no one really saw coming.

Whether it’s a player going to IR that we had no idea was seriously injured (Shea McClellin? Tony Garcia), a “lock” that gets cut (no stupid prediction here) or a signing of another team’s cut who instantly gets inserted into a significant role (remember Jarrad Page?) something weird will likely happen today.

And we probably won’t even know until well after the 4pm deadline because that’s just how the Patriots roll.

Get ready, it should be a fun Saturday.

Final Patriots 53-Man Roster Projection

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Time to give a Patriots 53-man roster one last shot before all craziness breaks loose this weekend and everything it turned upside down by a trade or a release or a signing that no one can see coming.

After the injury to Cyrus Jones I see about 50 total locks for then roster with three open spots to play with. Since there’s some significant veteran turnover on both sides of the ball, I stuck with some of the veteran special teams guys to maintain some consistency in that aspect of the team.

WIthout guys like Ninkovich and Edelman I’m keeping guys like Bolden and Grissom around for some additional leadership.

Here are my 50:

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Pats Posits: The Preseason Is Over. Here We Go.

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The Patriots’ 2017 preseason is over. We can stop worrying about premature injuries (we actually got a couple of those this year) and focus on the real football campaign which the team is about to undertake.

Yes, it’s September and as Bill Belichick says “it’s football time.”

The preseason finale against the Giants, featuring a full 90-man Patriots roster, was actually a fun game, albeit one that we’ll all instantly forget. The Patriots fell into a big hole, clawed their way back only to give up a game-winning field goal in the final seconds, losing 40-38.

Though a meaningless loss, there were some real issues to come out of this one. Unfortunately an injury to Cyrus Jones could cause significant problems when the Pats open up against Kansas City in less than a week. Without Julian Edelman and very possibly Jones now, the Patriots are missing their top two punt returners.

The mostly-scrub defense turned in another gross performance early on, picking up where they left off last week. At this point at least it makes a good chunk of the cuts a little easier. Jacoby Brissett, who was treading water as a possible cut in some people’s minds, turned in a roster-locking performance. His touchdown throw to Devin Lucien was a thing of beauty and it was a reminder how much promise Brissett showed in 2016 when he was thrust into the fire.

Otherwise, we can pick out a few players to focus on, but chances are most of those who played against the Giants are on the outside looking in.

Let’s wrap up the preseason with a final look at those who showed up in finale.

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Comparing Loss of Julian Edelman to 2013’s Offensive Turnover

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Julian Edelman is one of Tom Brady’s closest friends. So naturally, Brady was one of the first people in the Medical tent after Edelman was carted off following a knee injury. The New England Patriots dominated last Friday night’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions. But the injury Edelman suffered just two minutes into the game left a dark cloud over the otherwise impressive (in the first half) win.

Naturally, the Patriots odds for the 2017 season are unlikely to be drastically affected. But Edelman’s importance to the offense, especially in some of the biggest moments has already been well documented.

It is likely that the Patriots will get by without him. The 9.8 targets per game average the shifty receiver posted last season is impressive. But the Patriots have plenty of players on offense that they can rely on in Edelman’s absence.

If we dig further into Edelman’s numbers, his value becomes even more apparent. In the second half of games since 2013 where the Patriots are losing or up by one score or less, Edelman has been the most targeted receiver. He caught 14 of 22 targets in those situations, converting 11 into first downs.

That’s then kind of critical receiver Edelman is, but this isn’t unprecedented territory for the Patriots.

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