Scouts Inc., which is a division of ESPN, rated all of the 106 players who are on the active rosters of the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. I think for the most part I agree with the list. It’s kind of hard and pretty senseless to argue about whether or not Patriots long snapper Lonnie Paxton rated too low at #79. Or if Giants linebacker Gerris Wilkinson, who see’s most of his time on special teams, is rated too high at #50. The chances of either of those guys being involved in a play that determines the outcome is much smaller than either of the teams stars.
Scouts Inc. says:
In determining our rankings, we took into consideration the player’s current performance, as well as his play throughout the season. A player’s special teams contribution also influenced our decision.
I guess what struck me the most about the list were these placings:
- Giants quarterback Eli Manning being ranked15th behind Plaxico Burress and Chris Snee, not to mention Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora. I’d think a player who is going to touch the ball on every offensive play would be ranked higher than 15th. Plus give Manning credit he’s played more like Eli than Elisha lately.
- How low the place kickers were rated. New England’s Stephen Gostkowski was #52 and New York’s Lawrence Tynes was #71 . I know some of this is based on what they’ve done and each has at least one miss in this years playoffs but one of these guys could decide the game more than say a back up offensive lineman.
The top ten guys on the list are:
- Patriots QB Tom Brady
- Patriots WR Randy Moss
- Giants DL Osi Umenyiora
- Patriots DL Richard Seymour
- Giants DL Michael Strahan
- Giants WR Plaxico Burress
- Patriots OG Logan Mankins
- Patriots CB Asante Samuel
- Patriots LB Mike Vrabel
- Giants OG Chris Snee
No real surprises there, especially with the two left guards getting listed they will be very important in the blind side protection of the quarterbacks. I just would have thought that Manning would be more important than a guy he was throwing the ball to.
Matt Mosely, who authors the fine Hashmarks blog at ESPN.com, came up with his own Top 10 in terms of which players mean the most to their respective teams. His Top five are:
- Patriots QB Tom Brady
- Giants QB Eli Manning
- Patriots WR Randy Moss
- Giants WR Plaxico Burress
- Patriots DL Richard Seymour
His list is good but I don’t think Manning and Burress are that high. I agree that they are the two players that mean the most to the Giants offense but in the grand scheme of the game I think other players are more deserving of a higher overall rating than Manning and Burress. Go here to see all of Mosely’s list and his reasoning.
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One roster note on the Patriots safety Mel Mitchell, who plays mostly on special teams, was placed on the injured reserve list on Thursday and will miss Super Bowl XLII with a biceps injury. This leaves the Patriots roster at 52 a player to take Mitchell’s spot probably won’t be signed until next week. I believe at this point in the season the player has to come from the teams practice squad.
Mitchell played in 10 regular season games and the AFC Divisional game against Jacksonville. He missed the AFC Championship game against San Diego with the injury.
