Way, waay back this spring, right after rookie mini-camp, we tried a Pats roster preview. Now, for your reading pleasure, we have taken the time to review our predictions.

(Keep in mind, people: this was on May 14. That’s a long time ago, like before “the Red Sox” served as a punchline for “What has 18 legs, no head, and refuses to live up to expectations?”)

Below lies a look back and how it compares to the primary cutdown. Names of those who made the initial roster on Friday are in bold, with updates from weekend transactions.

QUARTERBACK: Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer.

Missed Picks: Hoyer cut.

Ship A Hoyer: You like that? How about this one: “I guess the Patriots front office acted with Mallett A Forethought.” BOOM.

Seriously, though, a big surprise, albeit a pleasant one regarding Mallett’s surge.

RUNNING BACK: Danny Woodhead, Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden.

Missed Picks: None, now that Jeff Demps has been safely tucked away on injured reserve.

Bolden The Beautiful: We actually made the right call on Joseph Addai, whose veteran presence didn’t seem to make up for the affects of age. (I’m in my 40s, so that hurts.) Happy with the addition of Bolden, who could contribute in many ways. Looking at Bolden and BenJarvus Green-Ellis, from now on shouldn’t every Ole Miss running back get drafted?

FULLBACK: Spencer Larsen, Eric Kettani.

Missed Picks: Larsen, Kettani both cut.

No Thanks, We’re Full: While it seems that our desire to bring back the fullback has been dashed, it’s possible that Bolden could take some reps at the position (as well as a tight end, an offensive lineman, or groundskeeper. Anyone who’s around, really). Larsen’s injury hurt (literally, we assume), giving him little chance to show what he could do. We left Tony Fiametta off the team, though we couldn’t have predicted his Agatha-Christie-level mystery departure from Foxboro.

Update: New England signed Kettani to the practice squad.

TIGHT END: Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski

Missed Picks: Daniel Fells, Visanthe Shiancoe kept.

Say Please And Shiancoe: We picked Larsen over Fells (Shiancoe had not yet been signed). Surprised at keeping four TEs and the apparent impact on our next position…

WIDE RECEIVER: Brandon Lloyd, Julian Edelman, Matthew Slater, Deion Branch, Jabar Gaffney, Jeremy Ebert.

Missed Picks: Wes Welker kept; Branch, Gaffney, Ebert cut.

Getting More Out Of Wes: I had Welker sitting out for the first few weeks trying to hammer out a contract (remember that?). Sometimes it’s good to be wrong. Gaffney’s injury kept him off the field, but even before then he seemed to falter. Branch’s cut came as a big surprise to me, especially after his preseason production.

We knew a bunch of vets had to go, like Anthony Gonzalez, Donte Stallworth and Chad Lastname. But Gaffney and Branch? Looks like Brady’s going to make more short passes than Casanova at a little person convention.

Update: The Patriots traded for Rams receiver Greg Salas over the weekend. On the positive side, they add depth with someone familiar with Josh McDaniels’ offense. On the negative side, Salas is a Welker type. Or an Edelman type. Whatever he’s adding, it’s nothing new.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Dan Connolly, Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Marcus Cannon, Nick McDonald, Dan Koppen, Matt Kopa, Kyle Hix.

Missed Picks: Donald Thomas, Ryan Wendell, Logan Mankins kept; Koppen, Kopa, Hix all cut.

Working On Our Koppen Skills: Congrats, Thomas and Wendell! We underestimated you, and apparently overestimated the veteran leadership of Koppen. We had a good feeling about McDonald due to his versatility. Also thought Mankins would start season on PUP list due to knee injury. Mankins so tough that off-season surgery consisted of sewing up knee with fishing line while shooting at skeet to keep mind off pain.

Update: New England signed former Boston College offensive lineman Matt Tenant over the weekend. Apparently, the Pats must always have at least one OL from BC. Also, Kopa made the practice squad.

DEFENSIVE LINE: Brandon Deaderick, Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Chandler Jones, Trevor Scott, Marcus Forston, Myron Pryor, Jonathan Fanene, Gerard Warren.

Missed Picks: Jermaine Cunningham, Ron Brace, Justin Francis kept; Fanene, Warren cut; Pryor (PUP list).

Keeping Jermaine: Very happy being wrong regarding the progress of Cunningham and Brace; we gave up on the 2010 picks, but they didn’t give up on themselves (that’s the potential tagline for the upcoming ESPN doc and/or Lifetime movie). Francis’ consistency helped him stick. Had a good feeling about Forston. Sorry to see Warren go, but understandable. The word “Fanene” roughly translates into “oops.”

LINEBACKER: Jerod Mayo, Rob Ninkovich, Brandon Spikes, Dont’a Hightower, Jake Bequette, Tracy White, Jeff Tarpinian, Dane Fletcher.

Missed Picks: Bobby Carpenter*, Mike Rivera kept; Tarpinian cut; Fletcher to IR.

Take Me To The Rivera: Rivera may be one of the few Patriots to benefit from late preseason production, as he was all over the field against the Giants (Fletcher’s injury opened a door for him as well). Tarpinian failed to step up, apparently, while Carpenter had a firm grasp of this defense from day one.

Did you know that sperm whales were called carpenter whales because they make a noise that sounds like hammering? It’s true. While humpback songs sound New Age, sperm whale chatter sounds like a house renovation. (Sorry. Just went to a whaling museum.  I’m full of more Blubber-based trivia than a Judy Blume fan club.)

*Update: New England cut Carpenter over the weekend, making the above paragraph an even greater non sequitur. Also, Tarpinian made the practice squad.

CORNERBACK: Kyle Arrington, Devin McCourty, Ras-I Dowling, Alfonso Dennard.

Missed Picks: Marquice Cole, Sterling Moore kept.

Stocking With Cole: Surprised at six corners sticking around, but Cole’s preseason performance got him a longer look. Moore, while inconsistent, continued to flash at the position.

SAFETY: Patrick Chung, Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson, Josh Barrett.

Missed Picks: Nate Ebner kept; Barrett cut.

In-Nate Ability: How ’bout this Ebner kid? Watching highlights of him playing for Ohio State’s 7 rugby team, we dared hope for a long-term transition to safety. Very impressive work from a college special teams guy in his rookie preseason.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Stephen Gostkowski, kicker; Zoltan Mesko, punter; Danny Aiken, longsnapper.

Missed Picks: None. I mean, come on.

Aiken To Belong: Aiken has shown some inconsistency (read: don’t be too surprised at a change in the position).

If you’d like to praise Chris Warner for his astounding writing skill, please drop him a line at [email protected]

by Chris Warner

Despite the fact that a team’s preseason performance has little relation to how the regular season will go, New England’s competition over the next few weeks will mean a great deal to fans.

For one, it’s the closest thing we’ve had to actual football in over six months. We can also begin to answer questions: Has the offense gotten its deep threat in Brandon Lloyd? Has the defense-minded draft made that side of the ball less charitable? We shall see, eventually.

In the meantime, we’ve compiled some predictions based on preseason reports, gut instincts, and a lack of interest in whatever Olympic event happened to be on television as we wrote this.

Keep reading this post

by Chris Warner

Off-season, off-season, free agents, rookies, whatchathink, whaddyaknow, blah, blah, blah.

Enough. Let’s do this …

Jones-ing For Athleticism: Before we speak of rookie Chandler Jones, a quick anecdote about last year’s defense, focusing on fan (and BSMW) favorite Rob Ninkovich. Playing against an AFC East rival, Ninkovich made two plays that defined the 2011 season defensively. On one play, he read a misdirection play, avoided the block, and ran toward the outside. Due to his lack of quickness, however, the back eluded contain and gained a first down.

Keep reading this post

Now that New England’s rookie mini-camp has wrapped up, it’s high time we put together the roster for 2012.

(Is it really high time? No, not at all. But with all these players in Foxboro, the temptation proved too much.)

Keep reading this post

By Chris Warner

Followers of the most recent New England draft noted the contrast between the elation of Day One and the confusion of Day Two. This isn’t a new phenomenon, as we see in our round-by-round review of Bill Belichick’s drafts. (We ran a similar piece in 2009 on Patriots Daily – worth checking out for the scathing critique of the 2007 selections.)

This just in: drafting looks really, really hard. Sometimes Coach Bill Belichick seems to make it a little bit harder on himself.

Keep reading this post

By Chris Warner

New England entered the draft needing defensive help and went after it, snatching pass-rushers (Chandler Jones, Dont’a  Hightower and Jake Bequette, oh my!) plus defensive backs (Tavon Wilson, Nate Ebner, Alfonzo Dennard) before snagging a receiver (Jeremy Ebert) in Round Seven.

That late focus on offense continued post-draft, as the Patriots invited two offensive linemen and a tight end to Foxboro, along with a defensive tackle. A quick review…

Keep reading this post

By Chris Warner

Over the past week we’ve been studying potential players available throughout the NFL draft who fit New England’s needs. After much debating, head-scratching, and coffee-drinking (America runs on it, after all), we’ve decided on the following to best aid the Foxboro Footballers.

As of right now, the Patriots have two picks in the first round (27 and 31 overall), two in the second (48, 62), one in the third (93) and one in the fourth (126). They traded their fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks.

Keep reading this post

By Chris Warner

Let’s look at some possible 2012 additions who could bolster New England’s defensive backfield.

Last season the Patriots’ lineup of DBs went through a revolving door, if said door was hooked onto some super-fast thresher. Has-beens, Never-weres and Someday-might-bes helped contribute to a consistently poor passing defense that never seemed to form a cohesive unit.

While some of those players shall remain, a rookie signing would supplement a thorough housecleaning and possibly give opposing quarterbacks the least bit of apprehension that 2011 lacked.

The Patriots have two picks in the first round (27 and 31 overall), two in the second (48, 62), one in the third (93) and one in the fourth (126). They traded away their fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks.

Keep reading this post

By Chris Warner

Today we preview possible New England draft picks for the guys up front protecting quarterback Tom Brady.

In 2012, the Patriots got surprise performances from veterans Matt Light and Brian Waters. The latter’s effort deserves special praise considering he arrived late in the preseason and ended up as a 16-game starter.

All seemed set for an uneventful transition year to give 2011 rookies Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon more experience, but both Light and Waters are considering retirement, guard Logan Mankins is recovering from knee surgery, and center Dan Koppen is entering his tenth season, crossing the Rubicon for NFL linemen. The health of tackle Sebastian Vollmer has become a lingering concern.

That all points to an unexpected urgency in finding at least one new linemen in the 2012 draft. The Patriots have two picks in the first round (27 and 31 overall), two in the second (48, 62), one in the third (93) and one in the fourth (126). They traded away their fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks.

Keep reading this post

By Chris Warner

Today, we look at dominant pass rushers, creatures that have remained elusive to Coach Bill Belichick and his band of merry draftniks. The footballers chosen below aren’t meant as predictions (best to avoid those, judging by our track record); rather, they represent the level of talent available to the Pats in each round.

New England has two picks in the first round (27 and 31 overall), two in the second (48, 62), one in the third (93) and one in the fourth (126). They have traded away their fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks.

Keep reading this post