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Patriots Rookie Power Rankings

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The Patriots have a day off today so it’s a moment to catch our breath. As you probably heard by now Isaiah Wynn caught a second punt attempt and won the team a day off. It won’t do them much good in NFL Power Rankings, but it was a welcomed break after five-straight days of work.

Belichick pulls this all the time in camp — Matt Light, Vince Wilfork caught punts, Stephen Gostkowski kicked a night off-winning field goal. But every time I can remember, all did it on the first try. I’m pretty sure Wynn was the first to drop one, but that doesn’t hurt his spot on my rookie power rankings after five training camp practices because he looks like a beast.

  1. Duke Dawson – Dawson is getting plenty of snaps in the slot, at the “star” position in the Patriots defense. With Jonathan and Cyrus Jones both still out recovering, Dawson appears to be the lead man for the job, albeit in specific 3+ CB packages.
  2. JC Jackson – He’s on the second team and has been competitive playing across from Jason McCourty.
  3. Isaiah Wynn – I really enjoy watching Wynn, he’s like a slightly more robust Shaq Mason. He has a noticeable quickness off the ball, even in walkthrus.
  4. Sony Michel – The two fumbles in the first three practices knocked Michel down a bit. The fact is the Pats will be fine with Burkhead-White-Gillislee or Hill out of the gate. Last year they gave Gillislee had 80 percent of his carries in the first six games of the season, I could see them do the same with Hill this year. Easing Burkhead, who has injury issues, and protecting White, who is vital. When Wynn earns everybody’s trust then start mixing him in. Stevan Ridley had just 48 carries the first 12 games of 2011. James White played just three games as a rookie. None of those were first-rounders, so Michel needs to contribute at some point, but it’s been tough to see who he is as a running back in these five practices.
  5. AJ Moore – A bit of a surprise Moore’s been hovering around first and second-team reps. He was a physical slot corner in college with average size. As always, the undrafted corners are the ones to keep an eye on.
  6. Braxton Berrios – I want to be more excited about Berrios but the fact is just that he’s buried on the depth chart and gets only a couple reps to show what he can do in each drill. He looks confident though and he’s been sure-handed catching punts, his most direct route to a spot on the team. Berrios is going to have to go off in preseason with Hoye and Etling to have a shot of making the initial 53-man roster.
  7. Danny Etling – I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how Etling throws the ball. I haven’t dedicated a ton of time to studying him, but each time I’ve glanced over and focused on him he looks pretty good. Obviously lacks the juice that Brady and even Hoyer throw with, but it’s not far off and he looks athletic to me.
  8. Christian Sam – Sam’s in the second passing-down linebacker group with Elandon Roberts, the closest he is to sniffing the defense. He moves well but since he’s wearing 53 I continue to get him confused with Van Noy.
  9. Ja’whaun Bentley – In base downs Bentley and Sam make up the second pairing, and there hasn’t been many times I’ve caught either of them standing out. A lot of times they’re running scout team stuff.
  10. Keion Crossen – Crossen would be up there with Jackson and Moore if he could stay on the field but he’s been missing for a couple days now.