Counting down the most valuable Patriots — No. 81 to No. 73

With training camp looming, we’ve decided to rate the Patriots’ roster, counting down the most valuable from No. 90 to No. 1. “Valuable” can be defined on multiple levels, but for purposes of this exercise, we’re going to take a few different things into account: talent, dependability, track record of success in the system, and their individual spot on the depth chart. (Basically: How badly would things be if they were removed from the lineup?)

There are some cases — namely, the first-year players — where it’s tough to predict where they should land. But based on their performances in the spring workouts and having talked to teammates and people around the league, we took our best shot.

We continue our series Tuesday with No. 81 through No. 73. Like our first group, there are more back-end-of-the-roster guys here who could have a shot at crashing the 53-man roster. The bigger difference here? There's more experience, including a few veterans.



81. David Jones: He has a better shot than some of the other defensive backs because he’s more of a safety than corner — and once you get past the McCourty/Harmon/Chung trio, there are some questions at safety. But he’s still behind a lot of others at the spot, which means it’ll be an uphill climb for playing time.

80. Andrew Jelks: Like Keionta Davis at No. 84, he’s a guy who has been around for a full year, but we have yet to see him in pads for a sustained period of time. The Patriots brought in a ton of offensive tackles this season, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out for him. But there’s a reason they kept him around all year last year, even though they didn’t need to. One to watch come camp — when it comes to this list, he could go in one direction or another pretty quickly depending on how he looks.

79. Damarius Travis: A safety who stood out on a few plays over the course of the spring, Travis could crash the practice squad in 2018.

78. Ryan Izzo: Rookie tight end out of Florida State. The depth chart is pretty crowded, so he would appear bound for the practice squad, provided he has a good summer.