New England Patriots: 6 most valuable players

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

To help pass the time until the New England Patriots open 2015, I’ve put together a list of the six most valuable players on the roster.

(In case you didn’t know, the Patriots kick-off in just 25 days. Today on Musket Fire, we are profiling the owner of the No. 25 jersey, cornerback Daxton Swanson.)

In many ways, the preseason is a tease. We get to see the starters play, but briefly. We get to see real football on our televisions, but it’s meaningless in terms of who wins and who loses.

However, there’s one thing we can derive from preseason play: the pecking order. Based on the number of snaps a player gets, we can tell how valuable he is to the team in September and beyond.

For example, take this piece of information:

From this, we can tell that the Patriots view Butler in higher regard than those other corners, all of whom are fighting for roster spots and playing time.

You get the idea. Let’s take a look at the six most valuable players the Patriots have on their roster right now.

Honorable mention: Bryan Stork, Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich

Next: 6. Jamie Collins