The situation between the Patriots and sumo guard, Brian Waters, seems to be over, as his jersey number (#54) has been given to rookie linebacker, Donta Hightower. When asked about the situation, Belichick responded as such…
Assuming Waters doesn’t return to the team in the next five days and magically regain his starting right guard position, it’s safe to assume that New England’s offensive line will again be entirely white, with their offense featuring eight whites within their starting eleven…
OFFENSE:
QB – Tom Brady
WR – Wes Welker
TE – Rob Gronkowski
LT – Nate Solder
LG – Logan Mankins
C – Ryan Wendell
RG – Dan Connolly
RT – Sebastian Vollmer
*Danny Woodhead is likely to receive plenty of snaps at halfback, and with Branch cut, Edelman may play in 3-WR sets.
Their starting eleven on defense should feature two whites…
DEFENSE:
LDE – Rob Ninkovich
FS – Steve Gregory
*With the surprising purge of Bobby Carpenter (who was more of a prominent back than a starter), Niko Koutouvides, and Jeff Tarpinain, the only prominent backups are defensive ends Trevor Scott and Jake Bequette. Scott and Bequette will certainly spell rookie RDE, Chandler Jones. The sure-tackling, rookie strong safety, Nate Ebner, is the backup to often-injured starter, Pat Chung, and could receive some playing time opposite of Gregory.
Overall, New England should start 10/22 whites come opening day. Although the Patriots offense featuring a white WR, TE, and RB is nothing new, their defense hasn’t featured a white starting safety in over a decade, when Matt Stevens started during a 4-game span back in 2001…
CAPTION: Matt Stevens, Circa 2001