Breaking down the Patriots’ 53-man roster:

OFFENSE
Wide receiver: (6) Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Sam Aiken, Julian Edelman, Joey Galloway, Greg Lewis.
Analysis: No surprises here, although it is interesting that both Galloway and Lewis made the roster — it seemed a strong bet at the start of camp that the Pats only would have kept one of them. Aiken is a wide receiver in name only — he has some value in the passing game, but his real value lies on special teams. And Edelman should produce at least one memorable moment this season.

Tight end: (3) Benjamin Watson, Chris Baker, Michael Matthews.
Analysis: Some big moves with the trade of Dave Thomas and the release of Alex Smith. No shock that Baker sticks around — the most consistent performer at the position through camp and into the preseason. Watson makes the final roster, something that seemed like quite a long shot midway through camp. A bit of a surprise that they dealt away Thomas — he lined up at fullback a few times in the preseason, and there’s no traditional fullback on the Patriots roster. Matthews? Who knows at this point? He’s described by some as more of a blocker than a pass-catcher. We’ll see how it all shakes out with him early on. (FYI: He was a starting tight end for the Giants in Super Bowl XLII.)

Running back: (5) Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, BenJarvus Green-Ellis.
Analysis: No surprises here, either. They started camp with four locks to make the roster in Maroney, Taylor, Morris and Faulk, and Green-Ellis played his way back onto the 53-man roster with an excellent camp and stellar preseason performance. Not sure where Chris Taylor might fit with this group, but we won’t have to worry about that this year — he was placed on IR Saturday afternoon. It will be interesting to see how the carries are divvied up, especially with Maroney’s improvement in the passing game.

Offensive line: (9) Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, Nick Kaczur, Logan Mankins, Ryan Wendell, Dan Koppen, Rich Ohrnberger, Stephen Neal, Dan Connolly.
Analysis: Some head-scratchers here. The Patriots left themselves a little thin at tackle in my opinion, with just Light, Vollmer and Kaczur, although Ohrnberger did play some tackle in college, and might have the positional versatility to become Russ Hochstein for the next generation. The rest of the starters make sense — Mankins and Neal at the guards and Koppen at center. Wendell and Connolly project to be backups. Rookie George Bussey was placed on IR, so we’ll see him in 2010.

Quarterback: (2) Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer.
Analysis: Right now, Hoyer is the No. 2 quarterback. New England has gone with just two quarterbacks before, but that being the case, I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the Patriots end up combing the waiver wire to bring in another established backup. (Could they still pull off the AJ Feeley trade? How about Brian Griese? They have a thing for Oakland’s castoffs — how about picking up Jeff Garcia?)

DEFENSE
Defensive line: (9) Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Mike Wright, Richard Seymour, Jarvis Green, Ron Brace, Myron Pryor, Derrick Burgess, Tully Banta-Cain.
Analysis: The last roundup for the big men: Green, Seymour and Wilfork are all heading into the final year of their contracts. Enjoy watching them this season — I can’t imagine they’d all return for 2010. Ty Warren is the other starter up front if the Patriots are in the 3-4, while Brace has had an excellent camp and preseason – don’t be shocked if he plays significant minutes this season at defensive tackle. Pryor is a backup at defensive tackle, while Burgess and Banta-Cain are defensive linemen in name only — they will fill the role of DL/OLB hybrid when New England operates out of a 4-3.

Linebacker: (6) Jerod Mayo, Adalius Thomas, Eric Alexander, Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods, Rob Ninkovich.
Analysis: Mayo and Thomas are no-brainers (both could be Pro Bowlers this year if healthy), but once you get past them, this group looks a little thin. Look for Woods and Guyton to see some significant time — it will be interesting to see if Guyton is able to build on a surprisingly strong rookie season at inside, or if that was just a fluke. Alexander beat out Paris Lenon for the role of backup inside linebacker, while Ninkovich will add depth outside. It’ll be another long year on IR for Shawn Crable, who suffered from a shin injury that put him on the shelf all last season. This year, it’ll be a groin injury.

Cornerback: (5) Leigh Bodden, Jonathan Wilhite, Shawn Springs, Darius Butler, Terrence Wheatley.
Analysis: The secondary is the great X-factor of the New England defense — at corner, it’ll be Bodden and Wilhite as the starters. No one is sure what to expect out of Springs, who struggled to see the field in the preseason, while second-year CB Wheatley looked plain awful a lot of the time this preseason. Rookie Butler could provide depth, as well as see time in nickel coverage and on special teams.

Safety: (5) Brandon Meriweather, James Sanders, Pat Chung, Matthew Slater, Brandon McGowan.
Analysis: Meriweather and Sanders are your slam-dunk starters at safety. Beyond that, it’s a question mark: Chung and McGowan were a mixed bag in the preseason, with some good (McGowan showed a knack for being around the ball with a forced fumble and an interception, while Chung had some nice hits) and some bad (Chung really had a hard time in coverage against the Giants’ offense at the start of the fourth preseason game). Slater is there to provide depth, but is likely more of a special teams presence than anything else, provided he stays away from the penalties.

SPECIAL TEAMS
(3) Kicker Stephen Gostkowski, punter Chris Hanson, long snapper Jake Ingram.
Analysis: No surprises here – Gostkowski wasn’t challenged in camp, and is a returning Pro Bowler. Hanson had a good preseason, and the two of them appear to be developing a nice rhythm with rookie long snapper Ingram.