Mike Vrabel made a bit of a statement during the New England Patriots’ preseason opener. No one from his first unit played a snap in Thursday's 13-13 tie with the Indianapolis Colts in Foxboro.
That could mean a couple of things. Either Vrabel is extremely comfortable with all 22 starters, at least enough to protect those players from injuries. Or the coach knows his biggest position battles right now are further down the roster.
Some of those competitions were front and center against the Colts, from the depth running backs and inside linebackers to the current logjam at defensive back. New England also had a number of rookies on the field Thursday, including all nine of its 2026 draft picks.
Not many jobs are won or lost this far out from roster cutdown day. But there was definitely some movement, and the biggest shakeups are reflected here in our latest 53-man roster prediction off of Preseason Game 1:
Quarterback (2): Drake Maye, Tommy DeVito
Toughest decision: Behren MortonÂ
The Patriots initially carried two quarterbacks in 2025, Maye and Joshua Dobbs, before claiming DeVito off waivers. The guess here is they'll start with two again while stashing Morton, their seventh-round rookie, on the practice squad to run the scout team.
Running back (3): Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson, Jam Miller
Toughest decision: Lan Larison
Larison’s overall skill set is intriguing, but Miller showed some promise running between the tackles against the Colts and led the team in scrimmage yards on just 22 snaps. We know Larison can catch the football out of the backfield, but he’ll need to prove that he can protect the passer and be effective as a rusher to seriously challenge for the 53-man roster.
Wide Receiver (7): A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, Efton Chism
Toughest decision: Kayshon Boutte
The Boutte trade speculation will remain a major storyline until the end of this month. From a team perspective, it might make sense to move on early from Boutte’s $3.6 million base salary, which was boosted this offseason by a proven performance escalator, as the depth chart is now stacked with boundary options after the additions of Brown and Doubs.
There are still some quality veteran wide receiver options waiting to be signed in free agency, though, which could make it hard for the Patriots to fetch a quality draft pick in exchange for Boutte.
He’s far too good to dump for anything less than a fifth-round pick, so the trade market could end up dictating whether the Patriots carry six or seven wide receivers into Week 1.
Tight end (4): Hunter Henry, Eli Raridon, C.J. Dippre, Reggie Gilliam (FB)
Toughest decision: Tanner Arkin
Arkin, New England’s undrafted rookie out of Illinois, has generated some buzz in camp as one of the team’s best in-line options at tight end following the season-ending injury to Julian Hill. Second-year pro C.J. Dippre could block Arkin from the No. 3 tight end role, though.
Dippre spent the 2025 season on the Patriots’ practice squad, and while he opened camp on the PUP list, he’s back healthy and was able to log some snaps in the preseason opener.Â
The Patriots listed Dippre as their second-string tight end — ahead of Raridon — on their first unofficial depth chart of the preseason. Arkin was listed among a cluster of fourth-stringers along with Jack Westover. That might not mean anything, but Dippre is definitely a name to watch as a sleeper going forward.Â
Offensive line (9): Will Campbell, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Jared Wilson, Mike Onwenu, Morgan Moses, Caleb Lomu, Ben Brown, Marcus Bryant, Dametrius Crownover
Toughest decision: Andrew Rupcich
Rupcich got a long look on Thursday night, playing 58 snaps, the second-most on the team outside of James Hudson III. The Patriots need all the interior line help they can find right now after No. 2 center Ben Brown went down with an injury.
Rupcich got banged up in the game as well, and the assumption is that the team will go light initially with four guards, with an eye on adding down the line.Â
Defensive line (10): Milton Williams, Cory Durden, Christian Barmore, Dre’Mont Jones, Gabe Jacas, Elijah Ponder, Eric Gregory, Joshua Farmer, Leonard Taylor III, Brayden Swinson Â
Toughest decision: Jeremiah Pharms Jr. | PUP: Harold Landry
Pharms has now spent three seasons with the Patriots, and he made Vrabel’s initial 53-man roster in 2025. But New England’s defensive tackle group is among the deepest on the team, and it’s hard to see the team parting with Taylor, who came on strong at the end of the year and was part of the defensive line rotation throughout the playoffs.
Harold Landry III still hasn’t practiced this offseason, so his status for the first few games of the regular season remains very much up in the air.
Linebacker (5): Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss, Chad Muma, Khalil Jacobs, K.J. Britt
Toughest decision: Namdi ObiazorÂ
The Patriots used a sixth-round draft pick on Obiazor this past April, so in a perfect world, he’d be on the team. But Jacobs has played his way to the right side of the roster bubble, and Britt, the veteran, was among the Patriots’ best defenders against the Colts on Thursday.
Obiazor brings a lot of special teams upside, which will keep him in the mix. He’s facing an uphill battle to carve out a role on defense, though, entering Week 2 of the preseason.
Defensive back (9): Christian Gonzalez, Kevin Byard III, Craig Woodson, Marcus Jones, Carlton Davis, Charles Woods, Dell Pettus, Karon Prunty, John Saunders Jr.
Toughest decisions: Kindle Vildor, Mike Brown, Channing Canada
The secondary might be the Patriots’ toughest to predict, as they have a slew of depth options at both cornerback and safety. Saunders was quietly one of the team’s biggest risers this week, picking off passes against the Colts both in joint practice and the preseason game.
His playmaking abilities could convince the team to carry a fourth safety, along with Brenden Schooler.
Special teams (4): Brenden Schooler, Andy Borregales, Bryce Baringer, Julian Ashby
Toughest decision: None
No surprises here. In fact, Ashby’s value as the Patriots’ long snapper may have risen on Thursday despite his missing the game with an ankle injury. New England pivoted to Niko Lalos at long snapper, and kicker Andy Borregales ended up missing three of his five field goal attempts, including a potential game-winner.
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