The New England Patriots made a pair of trades a week before the NFL trade deadline, but ultimately opted to stand pat the rest of the way until Tuesday’s closing of the trading window. This means that
the roster as it is presently constructed will more or less carry the team the rest of the way.
Obviously, it already allowed the Patriots to get off to an impressive 7-2 start. However, that does not mean there are no concerns — with one area standing out in particular, as a look at the latest SB Nation Reacts results shows: 45% of participants in this week’s survey said that defensive edge would be the biggest position worry at the moment.
The comment section also is reflective of this, at least partially:
wrw921
OL, is, I think a position group that needs improvement. However, it seems like that’s not easy to do at or near the deadline. The Pats will just have to scheme around the problem areas and just see how far they can go with what they have. I am an advocate for adding to the OL every offseason in the draft and free agency.HunterNuts
Right now at this very moment? I go Edge. I like Landry and Chaisson but they’re rotational guys and we don’t have a rotation. If one of those two go down… we’re in trouble.
But this team needs help across the board next year. I think the healthiest position groups are QB, IDL, and ironically, WR. TE desperately needs youth and speed. OL needs a new center, guard, and depending on development RT. On defense, I covered Edge, LB is a huge need, I have zero faith in Davis at CB, and the Safety group is playing solid but needs depth/someone to push.
Oh I guess special teams are set. Bottom line, it’s super exciting to see this team excel, but in my opinion they’re a year or so ahead of schedule, and doing this on a stitched together roster. Lots of needs moving forward but the building blocks are there.TDDsDad
I put OL. The right side is definitely questionable and the left side could use an LG so that Wilson can slide over to center. I love Morgan Moses but he’s not the long term answer at RT.PatriotPapa
The key part of the question is “right now”.
Focusing on that, I think the answer is clear.
Cornerback.
Here’s my reasoning – Christian Gonzalez is the most valuable player on the roster. When he is not on the field, the defense struggles. When the defense struggles, our offense is not on the field and scoring points.
Winning or losing “right now” hinges on him being able to shutdown or limit the other team’s best receiver. He single handily makes the entire defense better.bags368
The remainder of the season: Edge, RB, OL, WR, CB, S
Draft/FA: RT, Edge, WR, LB, CB, S, LGMike337
Anyone that has to cover a TE or RB coming out the backfield.WelshPatriot.
Right now, depth is the biggest issue. I put RB.Sportzballer
We need a stud edge rusher. That is the single thing that would raise our team’s cieling and defense up the most. The rest is just depth concerns. I’ve said it before so I’ll say less. All I’ll say is we have the franchise QB. So the next important thing is to protect him, which we have improved at, and then win the trenches in general.
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
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Even though the Patriots’ win over the Atlanta Falcons last week was a close one, fan confidence in the Patriots remains high. That said, the upcoming game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has the potential to negatively impact the team’s 98% confidence score: while 57% of New England supporters project the team to win on Sunday, a majority of those expect a one-score game. Likewise, 34% see the home team Bucs to end up victoriously — a view shared by a nationwide audience.
