@felimamaye
What\u2019s your starting 11 at defense?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s actually pretty easy to predict at this point.<\/p>\n
The starting defensive front four should be Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, Keion White and Harold Landry. One of the starting linebackers will be Robert Spillane. The top candidates for the other spot are Jahlani Tavai, Christian Elliss and Jack Gibbens. I don\u2019t think the Patriots handed Elliss a big contract to only play him on special teams, so he would be my other choice at linebacker. And then in the secondary, Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis will be the top cornerbacks, Marcus Jones is the top slot option, and Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers are the most experienced safeties.<\/p>\n
Among players not mentioned, K\u2019Lavon Chaisson and Anfernee Jennings have starting experience on the edge, and Marcus Epps has been a starting safety during his career.<\/p>\n
@usa_k9
Surprise cuts\/trades? Pop is on my list<\/p>\n
I think most players who are carried over from the Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo era are possibilities. I still struggle to see Tavai\u2019s fit in Mike Vrabel\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n
As for DeMario \u201cPop\u201d Douglas, I wouldn\u2019t cut him. Even if he\u2019s not starting, he has the speed and agility to be used as a gadget player on screens, end around and in the slot. He\u2019s one of the most dynamic players on the roster, and I think there are ways to use him.<\/p>\n
I do wonder about his fit as a slot receiver in Josh McDaniels\u2019 offense, only because he\u2019s undersized and those players are asked to block. One former Patriots coach described Douglas as having the game of an outside receiver, and the body type of a slot.<\/p>\n
Douglas does have competition for that slot role, though. Stefon Diggs played in the slot heavily last season. During practice, the Patriots split their receivers up into two groups. To me, it looked like outside options and inside options. Douglas was with Kendrick Bourne, Ja\u2019Lynn Polk and undrafted rookies Efton Chism and Demeer Blankumsee among inside receivers. It was Javon Baker, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, John Jiles and Jeremiah Webb in the outside group. Diggs wasn\u2019t present for practice.<\/p>\n
@DJ40plus
On a scale of 1 \u2013 10 how concerned are you with Campbell\u2019s narrow shoulders?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not ideal, but we have yet to see that it will actually be a concern in the NFL. I guess I\u2019d say a 3 out of 10 right now.<\/p>\n
![\"Patriots](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PATSsc021.jpg\")
Patriots rookie Will Campbell speaks to the media as the Patriots hold rookie minicamp in Foxboro. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill\/Boston Herald)
\n@Dylangree9
Is Efton Chism making the final roster?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obviously too early to say, but he was a standout at OTAs, catching passes from backup QBs Joshua Dobbs and Ben Wooldridge. He certainly looks the part of a Wes Welker\/Danny Amendola-type player, and he has the requisite agility and quickness, though he lacks top speed.<\/p>\n
Chism ran a 4.72-second 40-yard dash at his pro day. Welker clocked a 4.65-second 40 at his pro day, and Amendola ran a 4.70-second 40-yard dash at the combine. Chism\u2019s 3-cone drill was actually faster than Welker (7.09 seconds) and Amendola (6.81 seconds).<\/p>\n
An uber-productive, undrafted undersized slot receiver will always bear monitoring with McDaniels as the offensive coordinator. The only question is whether he turns out to be Amendola and Welker or T.J. Moe and Riley McCarron.<\/p>\n
@JoSpence22
Do you think, come end of training camp, the Pats will have gone from the worst roster in the league to having to make very difficult cuts to get to 53? Players other teams will want?<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see. It looks like there could be some tough cuts at wide receiver, cornerback and safety, but other positions (running back, tight end, offensive line, defensive line, edge and linebacker) are much more clear cut.<\/p>\n
@Castles_Burning
Thought on Jaheim Bell taking a second year leap.<\/p>\n
At one point in practice, the Patriots split the team up into two groups for a walk-through session. The starters were on the right field, and the backups were on the left field. Vrabel said the depth chart is fluid right now, but it was notable to see Bell catching passes from Dobbs on the left field, while Jack Westover, an undrafted free agent out of Washington, was with Drake Maye on the right field.<\/p>\n
@brideez_
Who is going be the starting left guard opening day?<\/p>\n
It looks like Cole Strange and Wes Schweitzer are currently the leaders in the clubhouse. So, I\u2019ll guess Strange. But that is expected to be an open competition this spring and summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Patriots wrapped up their first week of spring practices Thursday. After observing Tuesday\u2019s OTAs session, let\u2019s answer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[80,833,839,7,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,15,835,832,208,836,834,831,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-72582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-2025-nfl-draft","9":"tag-drake-maye","10":"tag-eliot-wolf","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-mike-vrabel","13":"tag-new-england","14":"tag-new-england-patriots","15":"tag-newengland","16":"tag-newenglandpatriots","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-nfl-draft","19":"tag-nfl-news","20":"tag-nfl-rumors","21":"tag-patriots","22":"tag-patriots-2025","23":"tag-patriots-news","24":"tag-patriots-rumors","25":"tag-robert-kraft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114556632182894283","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}