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The Pats are known for being one of the most chameleon-like teams on both offense and defense in the league when it comes to scheming for a specific opponent. Do you think its true that they are only looking one week ahead at any given point, or do they spend more time preparing for stronger opponents that may be a few weeks away?

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You know this is similar to a question I’d like to ask Belichick, which is how much they have to take in factors like potential in-season matchups into account going into the season. For a simple example, if a divisional opponent is stocking up on big receivers, do you try to counter that move with bigger corners? Something along those lines.

Back to your question though, I think the schedule is different every year with a mix of teams you’re familiar with (divisional opponents, good AFC teams like Indy/Baltimore/Denver) and teams you haven’t seen in a while like the non-conference games. Of course you always need to see what teams with new coaches are doing differently and there will always be some turnover that shift a team’s capabilities.

But the most important games are the ones against the teams that you’re generally most familiar with so I don’t think Belichick himself spends much time in-season looking down the line. Publicly and privately with the team I think he maintains that “one game at a time” mantra, but you can count on the Patriots scouts being deployed to keep an eye on who’s coming down the pike, especially divisional teams that have changed coaches or major players.

Patriots Pre-Training Camp 53-Man Roster Projection

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The PatsPicker over at PatsFans.com is up and it’s a fantastic app to quickly put together your own 53-man roster projection. Here’s where I’m at right now as I see the opening night roster shaping up. Share yours below!

QB (2) T.Brady, J.Garoppolo – I’m just assuming Brady will be good to go and not sit out any games. So no drama here.

RB (5) J.Gray, T.Gaffney, J.White, B.Bolden, T.Cadet – Tough cutting Develin and I just can’t see how Gray/Cadet/Gaffney plays out. Blount enters the mix Week 2.

WR (5) J.Edelman, B.LaFell, D.Amendola, A.Dobson, M.Slater – Tyms vs. Dobson and for some reason I’m going with Dobson here even though I like Tyms special teams ability and deep threat-y-ness.

TE (3) R.Gronkowski, S.Chandler, M.Hoomanawanui – Hooman continues to be the unsung stalwart of the tight end group, but Chandler will bump him down the depth chart. Very solid threesome.

C  (1) B.Stork – Excited about Stork taking a big step in Year 2.

G  (3) T.Jackson, R.Wendell, S.Mason – Wendell sneaks on again as I don’t think Mason beats him out. Both he and Mason could play center too in a pinch.

T  (4) N.Solder, S.Vollmer, M.Cannon, C.Fleming – Very good group with some guard versatility for Cannon and Fleming.

DE (6) R.Ninkovich, C.Jones, J.Sheard, Z.Moore, G.Grissom, T.Flowers –  Been a while since the defensive end group has been this deep. Could see Moore in an interior tackle role as well, or Grissom could shift to OLB as well. Nink/Chan/Sheard a solid rotation at the top.

DT (5) M.Brown, D.Easley, Chr.Jones, S.Siliga, A.Branch – Heavy rotation early on with this group, but they can do it all and there’s enough talent to replace Wilfork. Easley and Brown are real wild cards. If they play like first round picks…

ILB(3) J.Mayo, D.Fletcher, C.White –  Sticking with the knowns here, as Fletcher and White can both play special teams and fill in on defense in a pinch. Mayo faces a critical year.

OLB(3) J.Collins, D.Hightower, D.Fleming – Two of the best young LBs lead the way here with Darius Fleming showing some promise and taking a positive step being two years removed from knee surgery.

CB (5) L.Ryan, M.Butler, B.Fletcher, T.Brown, D.Roberts – Really hope the young guys take the jobs, but Fletcher and Brown were once very promising starters so they’re a good fallback option. McClain was a tough cut in the slot. Swanson could be a dark horse there too.

SS (3) P.Chung, N.Ebner, J.Richards – Swap Tavon Wilson for Richards. Ebner could be on the bubble but BB doesn’t mess around with STs.

FS (2) D.McCourty, D.Harmon – McCourty leading the way in the secondary and Harmon is a good back up for him who should play more snaps this year than last.

ST (3) S.Gostkowski, R.Allen, J.Cardona – Perhaps the best K/P combo in the NFL and Cardona has the makings of a special LS.

Week 1 Suspension: LeGarrette Blount – I always kinda like having a guy or two suspended to allow an extra roster spot heading into the regular season. If the NFL wanted to make it hard they’d make suspended guys count during final cuts.

Total players: 53
Created with Pats Picker: http://patsfans.com/patspicker

Tough cuts: Matthew Wells/Xzavier Dickson (both need a PS year if they can sneak them on), Josh Klein (might be my biggest mistake here, could see a scenario he’s starting), Brian Tyms, James Develin.

How do you think the offense compares to last year given the addition of Scott Chandler and the new offensive line look?

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I hope that whoever the new guard(s) is/are that they short yardage running game might be improved this year, but otherwise on the whole I think it’s hard to predict. They have a ton of interesting pieces who could shift the dynamic of the offense, but no matter how they’re slightly different they’ll still be really good.

The biggest piece that will affect things will be the passing down back. What new wrinkles/abilities do James White or Travaris Cadet bring? How will they hold up in pass protection? That’s a big role in the offense.

Then I look at the second tier of weapons – Chandler and maybe Derby at TE, Amendola/Dobson/Tyms/Gibson. How do those guys do in rounding things out behind Gronk/LaFell/Edelman?

We’ll see plenty of Chandler in the red zone, but what will the overall balance be between him and Amendola’s snaps? 

Much of this can depend on injuries of course as well. The only thing to do is watch how the next month plays out. They’ll still be experimenting a bit in September (hopefully not along the line), but in early October we’ll see them lock in on what works and start to refine it for the stretch run.