Projection of the New England Patriots' Final 53-Man Roster, Version 3

With the final game of the 2011 NFL preseason in the books, the only obstacle between the New England Patriots and the regular season is the final cutdown. Cue to Europe!

When the Patriots handed out the first set of pink slips on Monday, one surprising name on the list was James Sanders. Although he had been injured for much of training camp, many considered him to be valuable depth at safety.

The roster battle at that position just got very interesting. Of course, there are plenty of those battles going on all over the field, at receiver and on the defensive line specifically. Who will be the final 53? 

This is part 3 of a weekly segment leading up to the cutdown from 90 to 53 players. For your convenience, here are part 1 and part 2. Changes from the previous projection are noted in bold font.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz. 

Quarterback

Tom Brady
Brian Hoyer
Ryan Mallett

Whether the Patriots are planning to trade one of their back-up quarterbacks remains a complete mystery and is all conjecture at this point. With all three still in the fold, it's foolish to think they won't keep any of the three. Hoyer remains one of the most capable back-ups in the NFL, and Ryan Mallett's potential is sky high. It's unlikely the rookie out of Arkansas would clear waivers to get on the practice squad.

The Patriots would never cut Brady, but he looked pretty awful on Saturday night. Even when he had a clear lane, he was underthrowing a lot of passes. His first pass of the second half was overthrown by about five yards, too. The offense clearly counts on him to produce, but how realistic is it to rely on him for over 300 passing yards per game?

Running Back

BenJarvus Green-Ellis
Danny Woodhead
Stevan Ridley
Shane Vereen

Saturday night's beatdown at the hands of the Detroit Lions did little to instill confidence in the ability of the running game to kickstart the offense when they need a boost. The Patriots backs are successful on the ground when their running game is a complement to the passing game.

Stevan Ridley was a force in the first two games, but was held out against the Lions with an injury. His play through the first two weeks created a lot of buzz, and he could be just the spark plug the Patriots need to get their offense in high gear once again.

PUP list: Kevin Faulk

Wide Receiver

Wes Welker
Deion Branch
Chad Ochocinco
Julian Edelman
Taylor Price
Matthew Slater

I have stuck with this group at receiver in all of my projections thus far, why change now?

Brandon Tate has been fighting an uphill battle from the start, and has yet to make the roster in any of my three projections. Matthew Slater simply has more upside in special teams. Tate struggled mightily in the kick return game against Detroit. They consistently pinned New England close to their own end zone and nullified Tate's long speed.

What's more, Slater has even slipped past Tate as a pass catcher. Who saw that one coming? Slater showed good long speed and quickness on a 64-yard catch-and-run off a Tom Brady pass in the first half, splitting the secondary as he nearly scored a touchdown. 

On a separate note, when is it okay to wonder about Chad Ochocinco's ability to contribute to the offense? The "sure handed" "savvy route runner" has lived up to neither billing in his month in New England thus far. He had one catch against the Giants for nine yards. My observations at camp were that Ochocinco was still struggling to grasp the offense, and struggling even more to catch the football.

Although many were quick to debunk Michael Silver's theory about he and Haynesworth being on the chopping block, Ochocinco has to prove his worth to the roster at some point, despite the $4.5 million signing bonus, or he could fall from grace in his spot in heaven.

Tight End

Rob Gronkowski
Aaron Hernandez
Will Yeatman

Fifth-round draft choice Lee Smith continues to lose reps in practice and on the field to undrafted free agent Will Yeatman. Against Detroit on Saturday night, Yeatman earned 10 out of a possible 42 snaps through the second drive of the third quarter, at which point the first unit largely came off the field.

It's unlikely that the Patriots would cut a fifth-round pick, but it's less likely that they would carry four tight ends. Smith is certainly a candidate for the practice squad, but he would first have to clear waivers. His value is diminished by the reality that Belichick will keep a long snapper (more on that later).

Offensive Line

Matt Light
Nate Solder
Logan Mankins
Dan Koppen
Dan Connolly
Sebastian Vollmer
Steve Maneri
Ryan Wendell
Rich Ohrnberger 

Marcus Cannon remains an option for the team's reserve/NFI list. That would give Cannon an opportunity to get back to 100 percent after undergoing offseason chemotherapy for Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

They can only hope he's ready in a hurry. The interior offensive line played like garbage against the Detroit Lions, failing to open holes in the running game—BenJarvus Green-Ellis averaged just 2.2 yards per carry, and the offense as a whole averaged just 3.6—and failing to hold up the pocket, as Brady and the other quarterbacks were harassed all night long.

To make matters worse, Dan Connolly sustained a leg injury on Saturday night. Details of that injury haven't been fully disclosed, but the Patriots certainly hope he can get back quickly.

PUP list: Marcus Cannon

Defensive Tackle

Vince Wilfork
Albert Haynesworth
Myron Pryor
Kyle Love
Gerard Warren 

Saturday night's game against the Lions was about as vivid an indication as anyone needed for proof that the Patriots really need Albert Haynesworth to come on strong for them.

As we learned from ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss, Shaun Ellis is no longer eligible for the PUP list to start the season, so he will have to be given a roster spot unless the team intends to cut ties with him. Ron Brace, meanwhile, is fortunate enough to have missed every practice thus far. Some may feel he is on the bubble, but Brace can cling to the PUP for the time being.

Mike Wright returned to the line-up on Thursday night, but he remains a tough cut for my roster. Warren had a great game Thursday night, and Wright is just too prone to injury.

Other than that, this is largely the group we have seen getting reps in the preseason, and looks like the group that the Patriots will take with them for the long haul.

PUP list: Ron Brace, Brandon Deaderick 

Defensive End

Andre Carter
Jermaine Cunningham
Shaun Ellis
Mark Anderson
Eric Moore 

Rob Ninkovich has been used like a chess piece, as both a defensive end and an outside linebacker in the 4-3. The Patriots are likely just testing him out at different places to find out where he's most comfortable, but he has shown versatility between the two positions.

As a whole, though, this is the best-suited group of defensive ends and outside linebacker "hybrids" to get the job done as the Patriots switch from a 3-4 to a more standard 4-3. Mark Anderson is still in contention for a roster spot, but he was a healthy scratch from Thursday's preseason finale against the Giants, after a poor showing against the Lions on Saturday.

The final roster spot came down to Eric Moore and Mike Wright. Though Wright has been a core contributor in rotational situations, Moore has been and stayed healthy all preseason. Wright's injury concerns are long-standing and could cost him a roster spot.

Linebacker

Jerod Mayo
Brandon Spikes
Dane Fletcher
Rob Ninkovich
Gary Guyton
Tracy White

The return of Brandon Spikes and Dane Fletcher to practice diminishes the importance of a guy like Tracy White, who is more of a special teams player (he ranked second on the team in special teams tackles in 2010). His roster spot is in jeopardy, but the importance of a special teams ace shouldn't be diminished. Just ask the San Diego Chargers. 

Cornerback

Devin McCourty
Leigh Bodden
Kyle Arrington
Ras-I Dowling
Antwaun Molden
(dropped Jonathan Wilhite, cut by the team)

Just when it seemed like Darius Butler's roster spot might be safe with the release of cornerbacks Jonathan Wilhite and Malcolm Williams, they brought in Antwaun Molden just hours before Thursday's game. The former Texans cornerback played very well in 15 first-half snaps and played throughout the second half as well.

Safety

Brandon Meriweather
Patrick Chung
Sergio Brown
James Ihedigbo
(dropped James Sanders, cut by the team) 

To avoid going on a rant about Sanders, you can find my thoughts on him here.

Moving forward, this significantly improves James Ihedigbo's shot at making the roster. His value was already high, as according to Mike Reiss, he contributed on four special teams units. Furthermore, Reiss states that Ihedigbo was in on five of the Patriots' 12 different combinations at safety on Saturday night.

James Ihedigbo is also in contention for that final spot, and he's what ESPN Boston's Mike Rodak calls a "big 4" special teams contributor, to boot. Ihedigbo is a much cheaper option than Barrett at safety and is much more capable on special teams. Barrett isn't familiar enough with the system to have a significant leg-up on Ihedigbo.

Specialists

K: Stephen Gostkowski
P: Zoltan Mesko
LS: James Dearth
(dropped Matt Katula, cut by the team)

When the Patriots released long snapper Matt Katula on Monday, the immediate question was whether the Patriots would carry a long snapping specialist or if they would ask one of their positional players like maybe Rob Ninkovich or Lee Smith to double as a long snapper.

Belichick was asked about this at Tuesday's press conference, and said, "I think the risk that you run when you have a regular player doing something like that is if something were to happen to them, then who is the replacement? It's such a key position, that it's hard to have just two people who are regular players to do it, let alone one."

With the signing of free agent long snapper James Dearth, I think we have our answer. 

Conclusion

The depth at safety is slightly unsettling, and there could be a move in the works. The Patriots have brought in several safeties, including Dashon Goldson, Renaldo Hill, and even Darren Sharper. Goldson has already been re-signed to the 49ers, but the other two remain available.

Not much changed from last time, as most of the roster spots were just about set in stone beforehand. Thursday night's game just reinforced a lot of what we already knew.

With this my first true attempt at a 53-man roster projection, I'll set the bar moderately low. I'll be happy with 49 out of 53 correct guesses. We'll see how I do over the next 48 hours.