The regular season is right around the corner as the New England Patriots will wrap up their preseason and cut the roster down to 53 players next week.
As the wins and losses will soon count for real, it again highlights the strengths and weaknesses on the current Patriots roster.
While the team made sure to upgrade positions such as wide receiver with A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs this offseason, the roster still has some areas of concerns.
Even after signing Dre’Mont Jones in free agency and drafting
Gabe Jacas in the second round, the edge spot continues to have questions. In the results of the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, 47% of participants said that spot is the biggest area of concern on the roster.
The comment section largely agreed:
PatsFanFromNH
I have to go with the pass rush. We have solid RBs & CBs, we have a good starting O-Line, and I’m not as concerned with depth as I am with starting effectiveness & force, and we’re lacking the ability to get to the QB.
Bajer
i was edge concerned until the recent injuries to the injuries to the guards/c — van roten is a good emergency signing, but can a guy hold upiin there who is 36 and has taken a pounding for 14 years?
VaEagle85
I’m going LB followed by Edge. I have some faith that a couple of the young guys will be pleasant surprises on the Edge, so maybe some okay depth there. Not feeling the same about LB. I remember being a little shocked when Chaisson signed with the Commanders and the amount he signed for, wondering why the Pats had not offered at least that much. Losing him was pretty big and seems like an unforced error frankly.
Leoa888
Edge. Harold Landry isn’t doing anything right now. Say on top of Jones and Ponder, Hutchins, Swinson, and Jacas all turn out to be better long term than Landry. When it’s time to bring Landry back, we’re going to have to give up a good young player just to justify Harold “Culture Guy” Landry.
Felkey
At this very moment, I’ll stick with oline. We know AVT is basically a ticking time bomb (and Wilson and Campbell both got hurt last year – granted one time is not a pattern, could just be bad luck) so this depth is more important than at other positions imo. Assuming Ben Brown comes back early season and Roten gets up to speed quickly, I’d shift to edge which is a very close second for me.
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
Following the edge, concerns continue about the offensive line depth after losing Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich to injuries in the preseason opener. The unit received 24% of the votes as the team then signed veteran Greg Van Roten to fill a role.
Depth on defense then rounded out the voting as linebacker depth received 21% of the votes and cornerback depth received 5%. Behind Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss is Chad Muma, who struggled in the preseason opener, K.J. Britt and rookies Namdi Obiazor and Khalil Jacobs. The cornerback depth has then been highlighted this summer as both Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis have missed time.
The Patriots are hoping they can overcome the weaknesses on the roster to get back to the Super Bowl. They currently have the eighth-highest odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to do so — which marks the sixth-highest odds in the AFC.
