Envisioning New England Patriots' Starting Lineup for 2015 Season
The New England Patriots have dominated the AFC East for more than a decade largely because of their superiority in two key areas: quarterback and head coach.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick may be the foundation for the Patriots' run of success, but a foundation is nothing unless you build on it.
The Patriots have assembled some of the best rosters in the conference for years, but after losing several key players this offseason, there's a little more uncertainty in some spots than usual. Belichick has MacGyver'd his way out of worse situations in the past, and the Patriots have still competed for conference titles and Super Bowls.
Here's a look at the proverbial coat hangers, paper clips and rubber bands the Patriots are working with this season.
Quarterback
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Starter: Tom Brady
Barring a catastrophe—say a suspension, which is a possibility, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN—the Patriots will begin the season with the four-time Super Bowl champion and three-time Super Bowl MVP as their starting quarterback.
Brady had one of the statistically worst seasons of his career in 2013 (87.3 passer rating was his lowest in a full season since 2003) and bounced back right away for a 2014 season on par with some of the best in his career (97.4 passer rating falls just shy of his 98.9 average passer rating since 2009, a difference that could have been achieved if Brady had completed 11 more passes in 2014).
Second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo may be the man who either steps in when Brady retires or usurps him beforehand, but for now, Brady has a stranglehold on the starting job until further notice.
Running Back
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Starter: LeGarrette Blount
Go with the hot hand. Unless something changes in training camp, LeGarrette Blount is the hot hand.
He departed the Pittsburgh Steelers with a whisper last year when he left the field and was released shortly thereafter, but he came in like a wrecking ball upon his return to New England. He had 60 carries for 281 yards (4.7 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns in five regular-season games along with 47 carries for 189 yards (4.0 YPA) and three touchdowns in the playoffs, although most of his postseason production was against the Indianapolis Colts defense that the Patriots have run all over recently (three straight games with more than 110 rushing yards).
Make no mistake: The Patriots will utilize all of their deep group of running backs. They spent more than a full calendar year preparing for the departures of Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen, and by adding Jonas Gray, James White, Tyler Gaffney and Travaris Cadet and re-signing Blount and Brandon Bolden, the Patriots have prepared themselves for any situation that might occur.
Wide Receiver
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Starters: Brandon LaFell (X receiver), Julian Edelman (Z receiver/slot) Danny Amendola (Z receiver/slot)
Things haven't gone exactly as the Patriots envisioned they would at the wide receiver position, but it's worked out well for them to this point. With Brandon LaFell on the boundary and Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola bouncing back and forth between the outside and the slot, the Patriots have a solid trio of receivers to roll out onto the field when they're in the 11 personnel package (one running back, one tight end, three receivers).
Those three players accounted for 193 of Brady's 373 regular-season completions (51.7 percent).
The Patriots don't have a lot of depth at wide receiver, so it's important for all three to stay healthy, but particularly LaFell. Edelman has stepped up with Amendola absent, and the opposite was true at times in 2014, but the Patriots have fewer proven options when it comes to reliable boundary threats. Aaron Dobson and Brian Tyms are the next best bets for the Patriots, and the two have a combined 47 career receptions.
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Tight End
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Starter: Rob Gronkowski
When it comes to the starting tight end spot in New England, there will never be any uncertainty as long as Rob Gronkowski is healthy. Those last seven words are the key.
The Patriots have gotten it wrong at that spot in past offseasons. In 2013, they added only two tight ends all offseason in the form of two undrafted free agents who were cut before the start of the season, which was then followed by a trade that acquired Tim Wright from the Buccaneers.
But this year, they got it all so right. Not only did they add depth, but they created battles for significant playing time by adding veteran Scott Chandler to the mix as well as selecting Arkansas tight end A.J. Derby. Along with Wright and Michael Hoomanawanui, any of those tight ends could feasibly earn a start next to Gronkowski in two-tight end sets.
Offensive Line
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Starters: Nate Solder (LT), Tre' Jackson (LG), Bryan Stork (C), Josh Kline (RG), Sebastian Vollmer (RT)
It's still hard to find the logic in the Patriots' lack of urgency in re-signing Dan Connolly. They dealt with uncertainty and instability on the offensive line for the first four weeks of the regular season, and since he was a starter at three positions on the inside, the coaching staff could certainly find a use for Connolly once again.
Without him, though, the Patriots' plan begins to take shape. Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer are firmly entrenched as the starting tackles, and Bryan Stork had a strong rookie campaign and should be the future at center.
This is where it gets tricky. Fourth-round draft pick Tre' Jackson will be in the thick of a training camp battle at guard, but in the long run, he should get the starting nod on the left side. On the right side, the only options left are Josh Kline, Jordan Devey and Marcus Cannon. Of the three, Kline looked like the most natural fit at right guard last year in limited playing time.
This group will once again have some question marks heading into the 2015 season, but hopefully, the Patriots can get their answers before the season kicks into high gear.
Defensive Tackle
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Starters: Sealver Siliga, Malcom Brown, Dominique Easley
The Patriots go back and forth seamlessly between a 3-4 and a 4-3 front. Thus, pinning down only two defensive tackles would have been unfair.
The Patriots' two best young run-stopping defensive tackles are Sealver Siliga and Malcom Brown. As a result, those two will probably end up with a majority of the starts since they will be on the field at the start of the game on first downs. The two defensive tackles each measure 6'2" and roughly 320 pounds—enough mass to knock the cleats off linemen even as they dig those cleats into the turf.
In games where a 3-4 alignment is the scheme du jour, expect to see a lot more of Dominique Easley as a 3- or 5-technique defensive lineman—lined up over the guard, over the tackle or somewhere in between. His presence as a disruptive force in the trenches never came to fruition in 2014, but if he's fully recovered from his nagging knee injuries, he could earn a starting nod in 3-4 fronts.
4-3 Defensive End/3-4 Outside Linebacker
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Starters: Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich
As much as it's important for the defensive linemen to be versatile in the Patriots defense, it's even more important for versatility in the edge defenders, who shift between defensive ends and outside linebackers.
Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich have proved equal to the task in their tenure with the Patriots and are entrenched as the starters in 2015, just as they've been for the past three seasons. The only question over the past few years has been whether or not the Patriots have enough depth behind their two starters. The answer has been no, up until now.
But the free-agent signing of Cleveland Browns veteran Jabaal Sheard along with a draft-weekend pass-rusher binge on three edge defenders (Oklahoma's Geneo Grissom, Arkansas' Trey Flowers, Alabama's Xzavier Dickson) helped bolster the depth chart to its best look in years.
Linebacker
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Starters: Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower, Jamie Collins
Just like at the defensive tackle spot, the number of starting linebackers can range from two to four in any given game, depending on what package the Patriots elect to use at the beginning of the game. Suffice it to say, Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins will all earn their share of starts at linebacker.
All three have the capability to line up in multiple spots in either a 3-4 or a 4-3 front, which makes them the perfect fits to start a game because the Patriots can get creative with their personnel packages and play calls right from the get-go.
With Hightower and Collins rapidly emerging as young leaders of the Patriots defense, it wouldn't be a surprise if Mayo's role slowly decreases.
Cornerback
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Starters: Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, Kyle Arrington
According to ESPN.com's Mike Reiss, the Patriots were in some form of a sub-package on 73.5 percent of their defensive snaps. Thus, it would be disingenuous to list fewer than three starting cornerbacks here.
Whether on the outside or in the slot, Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan and Kyle Arrington appear to be the front-runners for starting duties in the Patriots defense. That would put Butler and Ryan primarily on the outside and Arrington in the slot or on the outside against smaller receivers.
Of course, with eight cornerbacks on the roster, the Patriots could be holding an open competition for the starting spots to keep everyone honest and working hard. That would explain the hasty release of Alfonzo Dennard, just 16 days after the start of the offseason workout program.
No one in the secondary is going to replace the loss of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, but with an improved pass rush, the Patriots' coverage unit could still be good enough to get the job done.
Safety
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Starters: Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung
After signing a five-year, $47.5 million contract this offseason, there's no doubt that Devin McCourty will once again be the starting free safety for the Patriots defense. His ability to line people up and his skill set of route recognition, sideline-to-sideline speed and field awareness will make him even more important to the defense this year than ever before.
The other safety spot is where the questions are.
It's almost as if Bill Belichick has been executing a four-year plan to keep people guessing as to who his starting strong safety will be. The Patriots create uncertainty at the position on a yearly basis with unexpected additions like Tavon Wilson (second round, 2012), Duron Harmon (third round, 2013), Patrick Chung (free agent, 2014) and now Stanford safety Jordan Richards (second round, 2015).
But one thing Belichick likes about Chung is that the Patriots head coach never has to guess as to what his safety will do on a given play. For the most part, Chung carries out his assignment. He may not be flashy in doing so, but he will "do his job" as Belichick always preaches.
Harmon has a lot of value on passing downs, and if he can continue to improve as a tackler, he may eventually be a starter at strong safety—that is, unless Richards lives up to his billing as a second-round pick.
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