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Latest 53-man Patriots Roster (updated 8/29 4pm EST)

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With the release of James Sanders, Matt Katula and Jonathan Wilhite we’ve updated our projected 53 man roster. We still reserve spots for a safety and a long snapper to be acquired, but the Wilhite cut opens up a spot for Gerard Warren. It’s that defensive lineman/linebacker crew that’s going to be tough to cut from.

QB (3) Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett

RB (4) BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen

WR (6) Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Chad Ochocinco, Julian Edelman, Taylor Price, Matthew Slater

TE (2) Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez : Can they get Smith and Yeatman to the practice squad to give them some flexibility?

C  (2) Dan Koppen, Ryan Wendell

G  (3) Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly, Rich Ohrnberger

T  (4) Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, Nate Solder, Steve Maneri

DE (6) Mike Wright, Mark Anderson, Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter, Gerard Warren, Eric Moore: really happy to keep Gerard Warren in this projection, though I think he could make it over Mark Anderson.

DT (4) Vince Wilfork, Albert Haynesworth, Kyle Love, Myron Pryor

LB (7) Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Gary Guyton, Jermaine Cunningham, Rob Ninkovich, Dane Fletcher, Tracy White

CB (5) Devin McCourty, Leigh Bodden, Kyle Arrington, Darius Butler, Ras-I Dowling

FS (2) Brandon Meriweather, Sergio Brown

SS (2) Patrick Chung, Safety To Be Acquired Via Trade

ST (3) Stephen Gostkowski,  Zoltan Mesko, Long Snapper to be Acquired

PUP(4) Kevin Faulk, Marcus Cannon, Ron Brace, Brandon Deaderick

Total Players: 53
From PatsPicker: http://www.stubstub.co/picker

Five Pivotal Patriots in 2011

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As the 2011 Patriots begin to come more and more into focus there are a handful of guys who will really need to elevate their games in 2011 if the team is to contend for a Super Bowl.

While there are no major holes in the Patriots depth chart there are quite a few areas where inconsistent play from fairly unproven players could spell doom. The five guys I see as most pivotal to a successful 2011 season:

1. Brandon Meriweather – Meriweather has to be one of the most talked about Patriots of the past off-season. He made the Pro Bowl, was accused of shooting two people, recorded a rap song, and acted in a You Tube short film. All the while fans were weighing his potential trade value or options to replace him. It seems like Meriweather’s inconsistencies have continued in training camp 2011, and while the pass rush looks to be improved, if you have a back end safety making boneheaded decisions it won’t really matter. Meriweather is in a contract year so the stakes for him to play well have never been higher. I’ve already crossed a potential extension from the Pats almost completely off the list of possibilities, but if the light goes on for him you never know. Perhaps this is why we’ve seen him more in the box in preseason, to avoid the potential catastrophe of mistakes being made by your deep safety.

2. Dan Connolly -In 2010 Connolly did an admirable job filling in for first Logan Mankins, then Stephen Neal. Now Connolly enters the 2011 season penciled in as the starting right guard, however he was one of a few players to not look awesome against the Buccaneers. While it appears that Marcus Cannon is the right guard of the future waiting in the wings, the burden of the 2011 season will fall on Connolly unless rumors of putting Nate Solder at RG are be based in fact. Personally I’m not sold on Solder there, and if Connolly struggles there’s not yet a solid veteran presence on the roster that could replace him. Replacing Neal is not an easy task, but the Patriots cannot afford to have a weak link in the heart of their offensive line. Especially with teams like the Jets who love to send pressure up the middle.

3. Jermaine Cunningham – Cunningham has caught some flack for not having a more stand out camp before getting hurt, but I think that’s more of an effect that playing left defensive end. Remember how Ty Warren never got much praise compared to Richard Seymour? It’s a similar situation even in the 4-3. Cunningham’s job will be stopping the run first and foremost, though he will get chances to rush the QB when the offense goes strong side to the defensive right. Many thought Cunningham was supposed to be the pass rush answer but his real strength is his strength. If he cannot hold up at LDE, it might mean Eric Moore gets a shot there but I’m not sure he’s a great fit there either. There’s a lot of pressure on Cunningham, not only to get healthy but to lock down a position where the Pats don’t have a lot of great fits behind him.

4. Rob Ninkovich -I could also throw Gary Guyton on here too because I think we’ll see a rotation of them at Strong Side Linebacker depending on the opponent, but if Ninkopoop puts it all together I could see him wining the spot outright. The SLB is one of the most important positions in making the 4-3 defense go, and it’s a position that neither Ninkovich or Guyton have much experience in. They have to be adept at coverage, setting the edge, and getting after the quarterback, and they’re in close on the line of scrimmage without any protection from the line. We’ve seen both Guyton and Ninkovich do those things to varying levels of success, but no matter who is in there, especially since they’ll be next to Jermain Cunningham (see above) a lot of the time, they’ll have to be on their game for the Pats D to be successful. Ninkovich and Cunningham will be very much tied to together, if they don’t bring it teams are going to be running at them all game long.

5. Taylor Price/Brandon Tate – This might be asking a little much of Price, but one of these guys has to develop into a consistent deep threat for the Pats to truly open up their offense. While Chad Ochocinco will draw his fair share of attention, someone who can stretch the field will make things that much easier on him, Welker and Branch. After seeing the greatest field stretcher of all time in a Patriots jersey for three plus seasons it’s unfair to expect Tate or Price to be Randy Moss-like, but if one of them can make opposing teams take notice of their deep speed and synergy with Brady it will add a whole new dimension to this Patriots offense that will have to be defended.

Herald/Guregian: Patriots defense in a rush to get to QB

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Herald/Guregian: Patriots defense in a rush to get to QB

Good stuff here from the Herald with a little overview of the defensive tweaks we’ve seen in the first two preseason games. Some great quotes from Willie McGinest too:

“What that 4-3 allows is for the linebackers to make more plays. They can run sideline to sideline. This is how Ray Lewis has made a living with those big aggressive D-linemen up front,” McGinest said, referring to the Ravens great. “If you have Vince (Wilfork) and Albert (Haynesworth) causing chaos up front, those linebackers are going to be running free. So watch out for Mayo. Watch out for (Gary) Guyton. Once those linemen make contact, (the linebackers) are gone. So they’re going to be making a lot of plays.”

“There’s a lot more (in his playbook),” McGinest said. “The thing with Belichick is he always has a lot of defenses. Maybe he’s showed a couple blitzes, but there’s 15 or 25 more blitzes that haven’t been shown, or variations of those blitzes. But these guys have to practice what they’re going to do. A lot of these guys are new to the team. They had no mini-camps. You can talk about it and do it in practice, but unless you do it when the lights are on, it doesn’t really matter.”

5 Patriots Things to watch vs. Buccaneers

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1. Brady to Ochocinco: Obviously the Pats aren’t going to reveal too much on how they plan on using Chad, but it will be nice to see at least a little chemistry between the two. In reality I think it’s Welker who’s going to be the real explosive playmaker for this Patriots offense. Chad will get open and make plays, but it will be Welker, Gronk and Hernando that are the stars this year.

2. Safety Sitch: It will be interesting to see who’s playing next to Patrick Chung as the starter and how long they go for. The focal point will obviously be two time Pro Bowler Brandon Meriweather and how much he plays. If Sergio Brown is in there we’ll be keeping a close eye on him. How things go tonight could largely affect how hard the Patriots pursue a safety acquisition by Labor Day.

3. Bodden/McCourty on outside?: We start to get a better sense of how the cornerbacks will be used as well. We saw Bodden in the slot a good deal last week, where will he be this week? If he’s on the outside who’s the top slot man? I’d guess Wilhite. DBut also needs a big game. Seriously, two interceptions might be what it takes to get him our of the doghouse. And even then I’m not so sure, he’d probably need another two next week too.

4. Defensive Scheme: Is it a coincidence that two of the first three things I’m watching for are on the defensive side of the ball? Put it this way, I have full confidence the offense will be badass in 2011, but the great question mark will be the defense. I assume we’ll see more of the same defensive front we saw last week, but I’d love it if we saw something new (as would most of the NFL scouts that will be there tonight as well). With some injuries mounting and starters actually ready to get some live action we’ll get a little more of a clearer picture of where guys will be lining up. On interesting piece to me will be how Guyton-Fletcher-Mayo line up, who lines up a LDE in place of Cunningham, and whether Eric Moore is still starting at RDE. I think he might be a little bit more of a roster spot battle than we realize.

5. No Injuries: Maybe this is a stupid thing to watch for but just getting through preseason without injuries is so hugely important. In 2008 Brady didn’t play at all in the preseason and said he thought that contributed to his knee injury the first week of the season because he didn’t have his timing down. If you can bring yourself to re-watch that play he was hurt on it’s pretty clear that the ball should’ve been out of his hand sooner. He delayed, stepped up, stepped up and WHAM. Bernard Pollard meets knee. So getting your starters in there is important, you just pray that nothing horrible happens to anyone on any team. Yes, including the Jets.