2020 Patriots 53-Man Roster Projection 1.0

Since the New England Patriots' offseason was centered around getting younger and cheaper as the team enters the post-Tom Brady era, that will lead to fierce competitions at numerous positions this summer because of alot of young and unproven talent that is spread throughout their roster. Because of that, trying to decide who will make the Patriots' 53-man roster is tough, but we decided to take our first crack at it.

Here is our very first 53-man roster projection for the 2020 season:

Quarterback	Runningback	Fullback	Tight End	Wide Receiver
Jarrett Stidham	Sony Michel	Jakob Johnson	Devin Asiasi	Julian Edelman
Brian Hoyer	James White	Danny Vitale	Dalton Keene	N'Keal Harry
Brandon Bolden	Mohamed Sanu
Damien Harris	Marqise Lee
Will Hastings
Matthew Slater

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
Isaiah Wynn	Joe Thuney	David Andrews	Shaq Mason	Marcus Cannon
Justin Herron	Hjalte Froholdt	Dustin Woodard	Michael Onwenu	Yodny Cajuste

Left End	Defensive Tackle	Right End	Outside Linebacker
Lawrence Guy	Adam Butler	John Simon	Chase Winovich
Nick Coe	Beau Allen	Deatrich Wise	Anfernee Jennings
Byron Cowart	Josh Uche
Brandon Copeland

Inside Linebacker	Cornerback	Safety	Kicker	Punter
Dont'a Hightower	Stephon Gilmore	Devin McCourty	Justin Rohrwasser	Jake Bailey
Ja'Whaun Bentley	Jason McCourty	Patrick Chung
De'Jon Harris	Jonathan Jones	Adrian Phillips
J.C. Jackson	Kyle Dugger
Joejuan Williams	Cody Davis
Justin Bethel

Notable cuts:

Rex Burkhead
Matt LaCosse
Jakobi Meyers
Shilique Calhoun
Derek Rivers
Ryan Izzo
Gunner Olszewski
Brandon King

Let's first explain some of the notable cuts. At some point the Patriots need to utilize Damien Harris, who was a great value pick in last year's draft. Because Sony Michel and James White are not going anywhere (at least not this year) and Brandon Bolden is a pivotal special teams player, Burkhead is the odd man out in the backfield.

The Patriots don't need to carry three tight ends, especially since they drafted two in this year's draft, so LaCosse - who has not proved to be a very useful piece to the offense - will be cut. Having a player like Cody Davis - who counts as one of the five safeties on the team but is a great special teams player - made it even harder for any of those notable cuts to make the team. Having several UDFAs make the roster made it more difficult as well.

There aren't just one or two UDFAs that will make the roster, but three. Those players are wideout Will Hastings, defensive lineman Nick Coe, and linebacker De'Jon "Skuta" Harris. Hastings has rapport with Jarrett Stidham because of their time together in college, and could be the potential successor to Julian Edelman as the primary slot receiver in New England's offense. Coe has all the physical tools, but what is going on in between his ears caused him to not be selected in the draft. My guess is he proves during the preseason he has what it takes to buy into the Patriot way. Harris can help out an inside linebacker grouping that lost Elandon Roberts this offseason and outside of Ja'Whaun Bentley and Dont'a Hightower does not provide much upside.

I tried to find some way to keep quarterback J'Mar Smith on the roster because of his talent, but there were too many needs elsewhere to keep him on the 53-man roster. However, if New England can put him on the practice squad and keep him there for the season, he would be a valuable asset during practice as a dual-threat player under center.

Since Jakob Johnson is part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, he does not count towards the 53-man roster, which allows Danny Vitale to also make the team.

Where did I go wrong and which ones did I ace? Feel free to comment below.