4th of July Week 53-Man Roster

Hoping everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July week! Your faithful Minister of PatsPropaganda will be down the Cape, where Fitzy and I are hoping to meet up for a Cape 4th Edition of Foxboro & Friends from a local watering hole. Keep an eye out for that!

Here’s a final pre-camp 53-man roster, with practice squad hopefuls and cuts. I am fully aware that some of those PS guys wouldn’t make it through.

Let’s dive in!

QB (3) T.Brady, B.Hoyer, D.Etling (PS – J. Stidham, Cut – NONE)

There is the potential for Stidham to beat out Etling but I think either way the Pats figure out a way to hang on to both of them. With Brady about to hit 42 you can’t have enough young quarterbacks on the roster.

RB (6) S.Michel, R.Burkhead, J.White, D.Harris, B.Bolden, J.Develin (PS: N. Brosette, CUT: J. Johnson)

Great group, the only question is who stays healthy. It’s nice to have Bolden back in the mix as a versatile back-up. He’s a better emergency guy than Cordarrelle Patterson was last year. I expect Harris will be an immediate factor, and an even bigger one if Michel and Burkhead continue to have injury issues.

WR (5) J.Edelman, N.Harry, M.Harris, P.Dorsett, M.Slater (LIKELY SUS – J. Gordon PUP – D. Thomas, PS – B. Berrios, G. Olszewski, J. Meyers CUT: D. Inman, D. Patterson, R. Davis)

It makes sense to go slow with Demaryius, and you’ve got to assume Gordon will miss at least the first quarter of the season. Berrios is one of the hardest cuts and I still think there’s a strong chance he makes the roster but he’s got to show up early and often at camp.

TE (3) M.LaCosse, R.Izzo, S.Anderson (SUS – B. Watson PS – A. Beck CUT – NONE

Still think Izzo and/or Anderson could be a holding place for a veteran, either via trade early in camp or at roster cutdowns over Labor Day Weekend. Lacosse seems like the only thing close to a lock at tight end for Week 1. Yikes.

C (1) D.Andrews
G (4) S.Mason, J.Thuney, H.Froholdt, T.Karras (PS – J. Ferentz, B. Schwenke, CUT- T. Gauthier)
T (4) M.Cannon, I.Wynn, Y.Cajuste, C.Croston (CUT: C. Lang, D. Skipper, T. St. Louis)

Ferentz and Schwenke are both on the roster bubble but solid players that the team clearly likes. Cajuste is a dark horse for immediate playing time as a third tackle/heavy package run blocker. Big question mark at left tackle, but rock-solid everywhere else.

DE (5) M.Bennett, D.Wise, C.Winovich, D.Rivers, J.Simon (PS: K. Davis CUT: S. Calhoun, D. Harris)

Different look for this group but they still look pretty good. Excited for Simon’s development and to see what Winovich brings. All eyes will be on Rivers to take a significant role, they’ll lean on Wise to play all three downs.

DT (4) L.Guy, M.Pennel, B. Cowart, A.Butler (CUT: D. Shelton, U. Kalmalu, D. Parry, N. Thurman)

Cowart is just a better fit for the defense than Shelton.

ILB(2) J.Bentley, E.Roberts
OLB(4) D.Hightower, K.VanNoy, J.Collins, B.King (CUT: C. Sam, Munson, Hall

After a couple years of frightening linebacker depth it’s a position of strength once again. Adding Bentley and Collins back into the defense should give them a lot of options.

CB (5) S.Gilmore, J.McCourty, J.Williams, J.Jackson, D.Dawson (TRADE – J. Jones. PS – K. Crossen, K. Webster. CUT – D. Ross)

I hate projecting trades but I had to do it here because there’s just too many good players. There are enough Patriots coaches out there in the NFL that know how good Jonathan Jones is and the Pats could likely get a nice return on him. Very curious to see how Dawson’s developed, that could determine how much the Pats might want to move Jones.

SS (2) P.Chung, N.Ebner
FS (2) D.McCourty, D.Harmon (PS – M. Gant, CUT – O Melifonwu, A. Howard, T. Brooks)

Still hoping they can find a Chung replacement and I’d love it if Melifonwu was that guy. He’s one of the toughest cuts for me.

ST (3) S.Gostkowski, R.Allen, J.Cardona (PS – J. Bailey)

Until I see Bailey consistently out-kick Allen, I’m going to assume the veteran retains his job. As we saw last year with Bojorquez, getting a punter to the practice squad is no sure thing.

Make your own 53-man and post in the comments!
Created with Pats Picker: http://patsfans.com/patspicker