FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots are eight days and 15 practices into training camp, and a few storylines have caused a shift in NESN.com's roster predictions. Thomas Williams and Brandon Deaderick have been added in place of Torry Holt and Derrick Burgess in this week's installment.
Final roster cuts are Sept. 4, when teams must trim down to 53 players. Check back every Friday from now until then for an updated version of our roster predictions.
Defensive Linemen (7)
Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren, Mike Wright, Gerard Warren, Damione Lewis, Myron Pryor, Brandon Deaderick
Note: Deaderick is a new addition, but he'll have some competition from Kyle Love. Here's thinking one of them will come on like Pryor did in 2009.
Linebackers (9)
Jerod Mayo, Tully Banta-Cain, Brandon Spikes, Gary Guyton, Tyrone McKenzie, Jermaine Cunningham, Pierre Woods, Rob Ninkovich, Thomas Williams
Note: All eyes are on Cunningham, whose emergence will be vital for the Patriots' success.
Cornerbacks (6)
Leigh Bodden, Darius Butler, Jonathan Wilhite, Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Terrence Wheatley
Note: The Patriots are using a lot of nickel formations, so they could very likely carry a half-dozen corners again.
Safeties (4)
Brandon Meriweather, James Sanders, Patrick Chung, Brandon McGowan
Note: Bret Lockett still has an outside shot to be a part of this group, but he's absolutely got to get on the field for that to happen.
Offensive Line (9)
Matt Light, Dan Koppen, Stephen Neal, Nick Kaczur, Sebastian Vollmer, Dan Connolly, Mark LeVoir, Ted Larsen, Ryan Wendell
Note: Rich Ohrnberger has gotten a good amount of reps, but it's going to be tough to crack this crew unless the Patriots take 10 linemen.
Quarterbacks (2)
Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer
Note: Hoyer has been a little more human recently, but there's no question he's the No. 2.
Wide Receivers (6)
Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Sam Aiken, Brandon Tate, Taylor Price
Note: Torry Holt comes off the list after an unimpressive first week of camp. Edelman, Tate and Price are getting far more reps at this point, and they're all valuable on special teams. Unless Holt develops a really good rapport with Brady, it's hard to find a spot for him.
Running Backs (4)
Fred Taylor, Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk
Note: Morris has looked all right so far, and Faulk has been his always-excitable self. Otherwise, this has been a very pedestrian group. Then again, it might be tough to judge running backs when there's only limited contact in practice.
Tight Ends (3)
Rob Gronkowski, Alge Crumpler, Aaron Hernandez
Note: Gronkowski is a beast, just a straight beast. If practice is any indication — we'd like to believe it is — Gronkowski is going to catch a lot of red-zone touchdown passes this season.
Kicker (1)
Stephen Gostkowski
Note: With the coaching staff charting his kicks, Gostkowski has made more than 90 percent of his field-goal tries in team drills in camp.
Punter (1)
Zoltan Mesko
Note: The lefty punter is having a solid camp.
Long Snapper (1)
Jake Ingram
Note: All good on the long-snapping front.
On the Bubble (9)
Linebacker Eric Alexander, defensive lineman Ron Brace, outside linebacker Derrick Burgess, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, wide receiver Torry Holt, safety Bret Lockett, offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, wide receiver Matthew Slater, offensive lineman Thomas Welch
A Little Further Away (8)
Linebacker Marques Murrell, offensive lineman George Bussey, offensive lineman Eric Ghiaciuc, defensive lineman Adrian Grady, defensive lineman Kyle Love, defensive lineman Darryl Richard, quarterback Zac Robinson, defensive tackle Kade Weston
Long Shots (11)
Safety Sergio Brown, tight end Carson Butler, running back Thomas Clayton, wide receiver Buddy Farnham, linebacker Dane Fletcher, wide receiver Darnell Jenkins, cornerback Terrence Johnson, tight end Rob Myers, wide receiver Rod Owens, running back Chris Taylor, safety Ross Ventrone
Holding Out
Left guard Logan Mankins
