New England Patriots: 53-man roster cut down analysis

Safeties (4)

Patrick Chung, Nate Ebner, Duron Harmon, Devin McCourty

I love seeing the team previews talking about Jason McCourty as a safety. He is a cornerback. He is an emergency safety. Chung, Harmon and Devin McCourty will continue to get almost every snap at safety.

All Patriots fans get down on their knees and are thankful that Jordan Richards is off to Atlanta to miss key tackles there instead of in Foxboro!

Ebner is special teams only and maybe a handful of snaps as a gadget safety to get in the head of an opposing quarterback are all he is good for. Remember when Bill Belichick had Ebner out on defense against Denver trying to get in the head of Peyton Manning a few years ago?

Safeties Damarius Travis and A.J. Moore were both cut but the Texans have already snagged Moore off of waivers. Travis looked promising at times and was on the practice squad last year. He struggled in the preseason games and was out of position on a few big plays and that likely ended his tenure.

Specialists (3)

Ryan Allen, Joe Cardona, Stephen Gostkowski

So much for the plan to hide Corey Bojorquez and stash him on the practice squad as the Bills scooped him up and put him on their 53-man roster. Allen remains effective and his accuracy dropping balls inside the 20-yard line cannot be overlooked.

Fortunately, Gostkowski got a miss out of the way in preseason. He needs the mental adjustment every once in a while and a perfect preseason may not have been the best thing for him. Cardona remains the invisible long-snapper–which is good as long snappers only stand out when they struggle.