The New England Patriots have finished their 16th season under head coach Bill Belichick and they've had an astonishing run of success. Six Super Bowls, ten conference champions, 13 division titles, and probably the greatest array of talent in the entire league over that span of time.
I was curious and trying to compare the recently retired Jerod Mayo to other Patriots linebackers under Belichick (article coming out later today), and came across the Patriots All-2000s Team. That group of players was stacked.
Naturally, I wanted to update the roster because there have been some Patriots players at the turn of the decade that would turn that All-2000s team from one of the scariest groupings of players in the era to one of the greatest groups of player in the history of the sport.
I also wanted to highlight some of the players that weren't, or haven't been, around long enough to make the All-Belichick era team. These players will be categorized under the "One Game" title, in the sense that if we could arrange the greatest Patriots roster for just one game, who would make the squad?
So without further ado, here's the list:
Offense
Quarterback:
Tom Brady: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Running back:
Corey Dillon: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Wide receiver:
Randy Moss: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Wes Welker: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Troy Brown: 2000s, All-Belichick
Deion Branch: One Game
I thought that Branch's Super Bowl MVP warranted the one-game distinction, and because he was the fourth receiver on the list for me. Julian Edelman needs some more time before cracking the list.
Tight end:
Daniel Graham: 2000s
Rob Gronkowski: All-Belichick, One Game
Offensive tackle:
Matt Light: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Nick Kaczur: 2000s
Sebastian Vollmer: All-Belichick, One Game
Offensive guard:
Logan Mankins: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Joe Andruzzi: 2000s
Stephen Neal: All-Belichick
Brian Waters: One Game
I had some difficulty deciding whether I'd want Waters or Neal for my one game, but I think Waters was one of the most outstanding guards in the Belichick era for his short time.
Center:
Dan Koppen: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
Defense
Defensive tackle and nose tackle:
DT Richard Seymour: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
DT Ty Warren: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
NT Vince Wilfork: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game
If I had to choose two, it would be Seymour and Wilfork, but the All-2000s team was a 3-4 construct. I thought a similar structure still made sense for the modern Patriots All-Belichick team.
Edge defenders:
Mike Vrabel: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game
Willie McGinest: 2000s, One Game
Rob Ninkovich: All Belichick
I had a lot of trouble with Ninkovich as an All Belichick nominee, but I value longevity when it comes to my All Belichick roster and Ninkovich holds the edge over McGinest from a statistical standpoint. I'd still pick Willie for a single game.
Linebackers:
Tedy Bruschi: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game
Roman Phifer: 2000s
Jerod Mayo: All Belichick
Dont'a Hightower: One Game
The linebacker position for the Patriots is one of the most interesting ever. I think Hightower is better than his well-regarded counterpart Jamie Collins, and is one of the best linebackers I've ever seen in a Patriots uniform.
Cornerback:
Ty Law: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game
Asante Samuel: 2000s, All Belichick
Darrelle Revis: One Game
Can you imagine a secondary with both Law and Revis? My goodness.
Safety
Rodney Harrison: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game
Lawyer Milloy: 2000s
Devin McCourty: All Belichick, One Game
It wasn't a big decision to put McCourty over Milloy, and the idea of pairing Harrison with McCourty is incredible.
Special Teams
Kicker:
Adam Vinatieri: 2000s, One Game
Stephen Gostkowski: All Belichick
This was really tough since I think Vinatieri could clear the board with Gostkowski's missed extra point fresh in our minds. But Gostkowski has been the kicker for twice as long as Vinatieri under Belichick. This is the one pick where if you wanted Vinatieri to be the All Belichick, I wouldn't argue against it.
Punter:
Josh Miller: 2000s
Ryan Allen: All Belichick, One Game
The punter position has to be the worst position under Belichick and it's not even close. Yeesh.
Returner:
Kevin Faulk: 2000s, All Belichick
Julian Edelman: One Game
Faulk is the best kick returner and Edelman is the best punt returner, but Faulk has done both. Edelman is my single game because he's good on a historic level, but Faulk is good over a long stretch of time.
Special Teamer:
Larry Izzo: 2000s
Matthew Slater: All Belichick, One Game
Not a difficult decision.
The following players made every list:
Offense: QB Brady, RB Dillon, WR Moss, WR Welker, OT Light, OG Mankins, C Koppen
Defense: DT Seymour, DT Warren, NT Wilfork, ED Vrabel, LB Bruschi, CB Law, S Harrison
Full list
| OFFENSE | ||
| All-2000s Team | All-Belichick Team | One Game |
| T Matt Light | T Light | T Light |
| T Nick Kaczur | T Sebastian Vollmer | T Vollmer |
| G Joe Andruzzi | G Steve Neal | G Brian Waters |
| G Logan Mankins | G Mankins | G Mankins |
| C Dan Koppen | C Koppen | C Koppen |
| TE Daniel Graham | TE Rob Gronkowski | TE Gronkowski |
| WR Troy Brown | WR Brown | WR Deion Branch |
| WR Randy Moss | WR Moss | WR Moss |
| WR Wes Welker | WR Welker | WR Welker |
| QB Tom Brady | QB Brady | QB Brady |
| RB Corey Dillon | RB Dillon | RB Dillon |
| DEFENSE | ||
| All-2000s Team | Change | One Game |
| DT Richard Seymour | DT Seymour | DT Seymour |
| DT Ty Warren | DT Warren | DT Warren |
| NT Vince Wilfork | NT Wilfork | NT Wilfork |
| ED Willie McGinest | ...ED Rob Ninkovich? | ED McGinest |
| ED Mike Vrabel | ED Vrabel | ED Vrabel |
| ILB Tedy Bruschi | LB Bruschi | LB Bruschi |
| ILB Roman Phifer | LB Jerod Mayo | LB Dont'a Hightower |
| CB Ty Law | CB Law | CB Law |
| CB Asante Samuel | CB Samuel | CB Darrelle Revis |
| S Rodney Harrison | S Harrison | S Harrison |
| S Lawyer Milloy | S Devin McCourty | S McCourty |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||
| All-2000s Team | Change | One Game |
| K Adam Vinatieri | …K Stephen Gostkowski? | K Vinatieri |
| P Josh Miller | P Ryan Allen | P Allen |
| Ret Kevin Faulk | Ret Faulk | Ret Julian Edelman |
| ST Larry Izzo | ST Matthew Slater | ST Slater |
| HEAD COACH | ||
| All-2000s Team | Change | One Game |
| Bill Belichick | lol | still lol |