Monday Roster 3.0

So I decided that first thing every Monday (yes, my schedule allows me to not wake up till noon on Monday, be jealous) until the cutdown to 53 on September 2nd, I will give my current state of the Pats roster as I see it, with a little analysis at each position. The roster limit is currently at 90, so a significant amount of the players currently on the roster will not be with the Pats this year.

Quarterback (3)
Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallet.
No change from last week. Ryan mallet had a tough day on Thursday and Brian Hoyer seems firmly entrenched in that number 2 spot.

Running Back (4)
Stephen Ridley, Danny Woodhead, Shane Vereen, Brandon Bolden
No change from last week. Ridley is solidly in the number one spot here with Shane Vereen making a strong push up the depth chart with a good game on Thursday (64 yds on 11 carries. 17 receiving). Brandon Bolden looks to be holding onto his roster spot with solid all around play. I know at first I thought the comparisons to BGJE (undrafted out of Ole Miss) were ridiculous, but they do have a similar style of running. They are both bigger backs that can run downhill. As long as Bolden stays consistent in the coming weeks, he should be on the team.

Fullback (0)
This is the first week I am taking Larsen off the roster. I liked the idea of bringing a fullback on with great versatility, but with his injury, an the fact that he had never quite distinguished himself, gets him cut this week.

Wide Receiver (6)
Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Matthew Slater, Julian Edelman, Donte Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney
No change here. Same for all three weeks. They brought in Plaxico for a workout, but I do not see it happening.

Tight End (2)
Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez
No change from last week. Injuries hurting them here. I could see this number increasing if Shiancoe comes back, but no word on that yet.

Offensive Line (9)
Nate Solder (LT), Logan Mankins (LG), Dan Connolley (C/G), Brian Waters (RG), Sebastion Vollmer, (RT), Ryan Wendell (C/G), Marcus Cannon (T), Matt Kopa (T), Ryan MacDonald (C/G/T)
The situation here is getting better with MacDonald coming back to practice and filling in at every position on the line. And of course, the big news is Mankins coming back. The problem here is that two of the tackles on here are injured with no signs of return (Vollmer and Kopa). There will likely be changes to this in the coming weeks.

Defensive Lineman (5)
Vince Wilfork (NT, 4-3 DT, 3-4 DE), Kyle Love (NT, 4-3 DT, 3-4 DE), Brandon Deadrick (4-3 DT, 3-4 DE), Jonathon Fanane (4-3 DT, 3-4 DE), Ron Brace (4-3 DT, 3-4 DE)
Same as last week. I still think these are the 5 best players on the D-line, and hopefully they can all get back from injuries.

Defensive End / Outside Linebacker (5)
Chandler Jones (4-3 DE, 3-4 OLB),  Rob Ninkovich (4-3 DE, 3-4 OLB), Jermaine Cunningham (3-4 OLB, 4-3 DE), Jake Bequette (4-3 DE), Justin Francis (4-3 DE)
I am going to keep these the same for the sake of not being too reactionary. Trevor Scott could still make this team, just not sure how this will play out.

Inside Linebacker (6)
Jerod Mayo (4-3 WLB, 3-4 MLB, 4-3 MLB, sub), Brandon Spikes (4-3 MLB, 3-4 MLB, 4-3 SLB), Donta Hightower (4-3 SLB, MLB 3-4 MLB, sub), Bobby Carpentar (sub, 4-3 WLB, Special Teams), Niko Koutivitis (Special Teams, sub, 4-3WLB, 3-4 MLB), Mike Rivera (Special Teams, sub, 4-3 MLB, 4-3 WLB, 3-4 MLB)
Some change at the back end here with the injury to Dane Fletcher and strong play by Mike Rivera supplanting Jeff Tarpinian. Koutivitis is someone I have been overlooking here as he has a strong special teams presence. I think he makes it here above Tarpinian for now.

Cornerback(5)
Ras-I Dowling, Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Sterling Moore, Marquise Cole
Same for all 3 weeks I've been doing this. Marquise Cole has made some separation at that 5 spot with solid special teams and showing some ability in coverage. Depth chart of McCourty. Arrington. Dowling. Moore. Cole. is one of the most stable of all.

Safety (5)
Patrick Chung, Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson, Will Allen, Josh Barrett.
Not much to say here. Still think it shakes down this way, but Will Allen and Josh Barrett are by no means locks on this team.

Specialists (3)
Stepehen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Danny Aiken.
Not much to say. Kicker, Punter, Holder.