Here’s my latest stab at the 53-man roster. Lots of questions remain and this is far from a finished product. My biggest areas of question are at linebacker, where it’s hard to say how the special teams and back-up spots will play out and tight end, where depth is a joke there right now.
QB (3) Brady, Mallett, Garoppolo – High confidence rate here that all three will stick.
RB (4) Ridley, Vereen, White, Develin – Dropped Bolden this time around, think White is good enough to backup both base and 3rd down duties, while Develin will be an FB/H-back/TE.
WR (6) Edelman, Dobson, Amendola, LaFell, Thompkins, Slater – Haven’t seen enough out of Boyce while the starting spot seems wide open between Dobson/LaFell/Thompkins.
TE (2) Gronkowski, Hoomanawanui – Things are light here with injuries, will have to take a closer look at Maneri. Could be an addition here after the final cutdown.
C (2) Connolly, Stork – Connolly seems to have been the main guy at center, while Stork is on the road to recovery. Wendell’s lack of versatility spells his end.
G (3) Mankins, Halapio, Kline – Kline has been a standout in practices, can he lock down a starting role?
T (4) Solder, Vollmer, Cannon, Fleming – Cannon can play any spot but center, that’s a huge help. They won’t carry more than 9 OL.
DE (4) Jones, Ninkovich, Smith, Buchanan – Moore goes to the practice squad while Bequette’s time is up. Not much depth here.
DT (6) Wilfork, Kelly, Easley, Siliga, Jones, Worthy – Big injury questions here, but once everyone is healthy and in game shape look out.
ILB(2) Mayo, Beauharnais – Would like to see more out of Beauharnais than we did in the first preseason game. He could very well be one injury away from playing time on defense.
OLB(4) Hightower, Collins, Anderson, White – Good group that should make a lot of plays.
CB (5) Revis, Dennard, Ryan, Arrington, Butler – Browner doesn’t count against the initial 53 so he’s off. Butler has been the surprise standout of camp.
SS (3) Chung, Wilson, Ebner – Forget traditional safety spots, Chung should see a lot of time in the box. I think he could revitalize his career this season.
FS (2) McCourty, Harmon – Two solid back end guys who can come up to the line of scrimmage as well.
ST (3) Gostkowski, Allen, Aiken – Same as it ever was.
Total players: 53
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