Patriots position-by-position breakdown

The Patriots begin their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions and to avoid a repeat of their last title defense -- 9-7, no playoffs. There will be more than 30 new faces under those helmets that will be butting one another at Gillette Stadium for the next three weeks. Eighteen of 22 starters from the last-second win over Carolina are back, but there are still jobs to be won and roster spots up for grabs (* - will miss start of camp).

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACKS

PROJECTED STARTER
Tom Brady

BACKUPS
Rohan Davey
Kurt Kittner
Kliff Kingsbury
Jim Miller*

The Patriots are the envy of most of the league in this department. They have one of only four quarterbacks in league history to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards guiding their offense. Brady will be 27 Tuesday and is signed at a reasonable rate through 2006. For the better part of the next decade, the only intrigue here will be the No. 2 spot.

It's Davey's job to lose, and the competition isn't overwhelming. The fourth-round pick in 2002 is coming off an MVP, championship spring in NFL Europe and has the edge in experience over Kingsbury, a sixth-round selection last year who spent his rookie campaign on injured reserve. The recently signed Miller, 33, has been placed on the nonfootball injury list as he recovers from shoulder surgery and isn't expected to begin throwing until late August at the earliest. And while camp arm Kittner has starting experience (four last year for Atlanta), he faces the longest odds to make the final roster. Kittner, 24, or Kingsbury could land on the practice squad. Brady has proved durable, starting 52 consecutive games since taking the controls from Drew Bledsoe in the third game of the 2001 season. Other than Miller, there isn't much experience behind him -- Davey, Kingsbury, and Kittner have 123 career attempts among them, 114 by Kittner.

Brady's experience in the system has prompted the coaches to give him more freedom in terms of play calling at the line. The quarterbacks should benefit from the additions of Dillon and Watson.

WIDE RECEIVERS

PROJECTED STARTERS
Deion Branch
Troy Brown
David Givens

BACKUPS
Chas Gessner
Michael Jennings
Bethel Johnson
David Patten
P.K. Sam
J.J. Stokes

New England has a young trio of talented pass catchers in Branch, Givens, and Johnson. Brown is, well, Brown. The Patriots can always count on him to get open and catch the ball.

Don't count on Brown playing for the Patriots beyond this year. He and the team agreed to restructure his contract, lowering his salary cap number for this season. Next year he'll be going on 34 with a cap number approaching $6 million.

Givens, who, along with Branch, came up big in the Super Bowl, has added incentive for this year. He's playing for the minimum ($380,000) and his next contract after his agent and the team failed to come to terms on a long-term deal. He'll be a restricted free agent after this season. The Patriots will be looking for Johnson (a solid No. 4) to make the Year 1-to-Year 2 jump Branch made last year.

The competition for the fifth (and, possibly, sixth) receiver spot is shaping up as one of the best battles of camp. Patten, who finished last year on injured reserve following knee surgery, has overcome long odds before. Sam has his draft status (fifth round) and size (6 feet 3 inches, 210 pounds) in his favor. Gessner is coming off a spring of catching passes from Davey in NFL Europe. Stokes is the tallest of the group at 6-4.

RUNNING BACKS

PROJECTED STARTER
Corey Dillon

BACKUPS
Michael Cloud
Cedric Cobbs
Kevin Faulk
Malaefou Mackenzie
Fred McCrary (FB)
Patrick Pass (FB)

Dillon was great -- six seasons of at least 1,100 yards in seven years in Cincinnati -- for a terrible team. One can only imagine what he'll be able to accomplish playing on a Super Bowl champion. For the first time in his career, he isn't the focal point of an offense, though as perhaps the biggest player acquisition via trade in franchise history, he'll have a lot of eyes on him during camp.

The Patriots know what they have in Faulk -- a versatile, change-of-pace runner capable of big plays in the passing game and on special teams -- and liked him enough to sign him to a long-term contract in March. Last year Faulk was competing with Antowain Smith for the No. 1 role. Now that Dillon's aboard, watch to see if and how Faulk's role is adjusted.

Cloud, inactive for 10 of the last 12 games last year, and Mackenzie have their work cut out for them competing for a roster spot with Cobbs, the team's second fourth-round pick.

The Patriots' offense doesn't emphasize the fullback position. A fullback was included in their starting lineup only about half the time last year; the rest of the time they went with either a third (or fourth) receiver or a second tight end. The versatile Pass was among the final cuts last year before being re-signed in September. McCrary, a punishing lead blocker, finished last year on injured reserve after blowing out a hamstring in Game 9.

TIGHT ENDS

PROJECTED STARTER
Daniel Graham
Christian Fauria*

BACKUPS
Matt Cercone
Zeron Flemister
Andy Mignery
Benjamin Watson

This has the potential to be the best group of tight ends Bill Belichick has had here. Graham has shown flashes of the receiving ability that prompted the Patriots to trade up in the 2002 draft to get him, and they hope he'll be more consistent now that his role has been more defined. Graham is focusing on the ''Y'' position (standard tight end alignment) as opposed to the more demanding ''F'' position, the Patriots' equivalent to the H-back. Graham looked confident catching the ball and drew rave reviews from Belichick during the team's three-day minicamp last month.

Watson is a unique physical specimen who should draw frequent mismatches down the middle of the field. He is that rare player who can pick things up quickly in the film room (he scored an impressive 41 on the Wonderlic exam) then apply it on the field. Watson won't be what they call a ''rep'' guy, someone for whom it takes a few turns to get a play down.

Fauria, who will begin camp on the active physically unable to perform list with an undisclosed injury, is 32 but can still find holes in the defense, and has sure hands, especially in the red zone. He's been a good tutor for Graham and will be for Watson. Flemister comes over from the Redskins, for whom he started nine games last year.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

PROJECTED STARTERS
LT Matt Light*
LG Russ Hochstein
C Dan Koppen
RG Joe Andruzzi
RT Tom Ashworth

BACKUPS
Wilbert Brown
Jack Fadule
Brandon Gorin
Bob Hallen
Adrian Klemm
JamesWilliams
Gene Mruczkowski
Stephen Neal
Tim Provost
David Bruce
Jamil Soriano

Belichick calls line coach Dante Scarnecchia one of the best he's worked with in his almost three decades of coaching in the NFL. For ''Scar,'' this may be the most challenging job of his 35-year career. The starters proved what they could do in the Super Bowl against Carolina's vaunted D-line. Light, also on the camp PUP list following an appendectomy last month, has matured into a solid pass protector. Koppen played like a seasoned veteran last year and the idea of him taking a big step in his second year has to excite the Patriots. Andruzzi epitomizes what this bunch is about: toughness, tenacity, and technical precision. Ashworth may have finally ended the Patriots' search for a right tackle -- six players have started there since 2000. The only question among the projected starters is whether Hochstein can perform the way he did in the playoffs in place of Damien Woody over a full season.

But outside of Hallen, a free agent pickup from San Diego who can play all three interior positions, and James "Big Cat" Williams, a 36-year-old right tackle signed yesterday, there isn't much experience among the reserves. Fadule, Provost, Bruce, and Soriano are in their first year, and Mruczkowski is in his second year. Provost and Soriano (acquired through trade from Chicago) were on the practice squad last year, and Mruczkowski spent the year on the injured list.

This in all probability is Klemm's last chance here to live up to his status as Belichick's first pick (second round, 2000). With Light out, Klemm, an unrestricted free agent after the season, should get first-team reps. Same for Gorin, who is coming up on restricted free agency.

A subplot worth mentioning: Andruzzi, Ashworth, and Light are entering contract years. Andruzzi and Light will be unrestricted free agents after this season, Ashworth restricted.

SPECIAL TEAMS

P Josh Miller
K Adam Vinatieri, Cody Scates
PR Troy Brown
KR Bethel Johnson
LS Lonie Paxton*

New England could have one of the league's strongest special teams units if the specialists stay healthy. An injured Vinatieri is still clutch, a healthy Vinatieri has few equals. Scates will help Vinatieri save his leg for the season. Paxton, rehabbing from a torn ACL, is one of the game's most consistent long snappers. It's an understatement to say Miller is an upgrade from Ken Walter. Just two years ago, the sure-handed Brown led the league in punt return average, averaged 10.1 yards per runback last year, and can still break one (remember the touchdown that was called back against the Titans in Week 5?). And Johnson led the conference with a 28.2-yard average on kickoff returns, helped by a couple of game-changing returns in the first meeting with the Colts. Larry Izzo, Matt Chatham, and Je'Rod Cherry are good cover men, though the Patriots will miss Chris Akins (free agent, Miami) on the outside.

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

PROJECTED STARTERS
DE Richard Seymour
DT Vince Wilfork
DE Ty Warren

BACKUPS
Rodney Bailey
Jarvis Green
Marquise Hill
Ethan Kelley
Buck Rasmussen
Keith Traylor

The same question -- who will play nose tackle? -- was on everyone's mind this time last year until the Patriots acquired Ted Washington from Chicago. Question answered.

Washington is now an Oakland Raider, and the Patriots went in search of a big man to man the middle of their 3-4 front. They signed Washington's old Chicago sidekick, Traylor, who has never played nose tackle, and then drafted Wilfork, a prototypical nose, in the first round. One is expected to emerge as the guy, or maybe they tag team it. If neither can handle the job, the Patriots could scrap the 3-4 as their base defense and switch to a four-man front.

Seymour can play at a Pro Bowl level anywhere on the line. Bailey, a former reserve in Pittsburgh, has experience in the 3-4, and rookie Hill knows the defense, having played under Nick Saban at LSU. Another ex-Tiger, Green, is looking to build off a three-sack performance in the AFC Championship Game.

The Patriots have a lot of youth along the D-line -- only Traylor, entering his 14th season, has played more than three years. That's exciting for the future, but what about now? Can Green or Warren, last year's first-round pick who had his moments as a rookie, step in and replace the steady Bobby Hamilton at end opposite Seymour? Can Traylor or Wilfork or a combination be nearly as effective as Washington?

LINEBACKERS

PROJECTED STARTERS
Willie McGinest
Tedy Bruschi
Roman Phifer
Mike Vrabel

BACKUPS Eric Alexander*
Tully Banta-Cain
Matt Chatham*
Rosevelt Colvin*
Don Davis
Quinn Dorsey
Lawrence Flugence
Larry Izzo
Ted Johnson
Dan Klecko
Justin Kurpeikis
Grant Steen

Each of the starters is coming off perhaps the finest season of his career. Vrabel, 28, seems to get better with each year in the system, but can the aging McGinest (32), Bruschi (31), and Phifer (36) continue performing at the level they did last year? Colvin is the X-factor. The team did OK without him after he broke a hip in Game 2, so whatever he contributes in his first year back from injury should be considered a bonus. If he's ready to go by the opener, ends up being a regular in the rotation, and manages to log 7-9 sacks rushing from opposite McGinest or Vrabel, this group could be special. But Colvin is not yet ready for contact and will begin camp on the PUP list, along with Alexander and Chatham, whose injuries have not been disclosed.

As with their lines, the Patriots have some youth but not much experience on the bench at linebacker. They like Alexander, a rookie free agent out of LSU whom they considered drafting, and they're trying to convert Klecko from an interior lineman to an inside linebacker, a la Bruschi at the beginning of his career. Banta-Cain is a solid special teamer and is the only linebacker on the roster drafted by Belichick and Scott Pioli.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

PROJECTED STARTERS
CB Ty Law
CB Tyrone Poole
FS Eugene Wilson*
SS Rodney Harrison

BACKUPS
Terrell Buckley
Jeff Burris
Je'Rod Cherry
Scott Farley
Randall Gay
Shawn Mayer
Christian Morton
Dexter Reid
Asante Samuel
Guss Scott

The Patriots had arguably the best secondary in the league last year, and it should be just as good this year with the additions of crafty veterans Buckley and Burris, and Wilson and Samuel going into their second year. Law loves everybody now, so expect another strong season in what likely is his contract year.

New England addressed the secondary's only apparent weakness -- depth -- by drafting safeties Reid and Scott and corner Morton. They also signed Gay, another LSU Tiger. The team carried only three full-time cornerbacks last year, and everyone remembers how the Patriots were caught at the end of the Super Bowl when Wilson and Harrison both went down with injuries. Wilson tore his groin in that game and will begin camp on the PUP list, while Harrison has recovered from a broken arm.

Buckley, who was here in 2001 and 2002, was a good pickup who should push Samuel for the nickel spot. Burris may get a look at safety.