28-year old WR Wes Welker is Tom Brady’s safety net.  Welker tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee in the regular season finale against the Texans.  Brady looked lost without him in the playoff game against the Ravens.  Welker played in 14 games for the Patriots last season and he caught 123 passes for 1,348 yards (11.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 36 yards (7.2 avg) last year.  Welker also helped out on special teams for the Patriots last season as he returned 27 punts for 338 yards (12.5 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 45 yards (22.5 avg).  Welker has been on fire since he came to the Patriots three years ago.  He has played in 46 games for the Patriots in his career and he has caught 346 passes for 3,688 yards (10.7 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  Welker also has carried the ball 12 times for 96 yards (8.0 ypc) for the Patriots.  Welker has returned 76 punts for 824 yards (10.8 avg) and he has also returned 10 kickoffs for 247 yards (24.7 avg) in his time in New England.  Welker is basically the one player the Patriots can not afford to be without so they hope he is healthy and ready to go for the 2010 season.

32-year old QB Tom Brady missed almost all of the 2009 season but you would never have known that watching him play in 2010.  Brady played in all 16 games for the Patriots this season and he completed 371 of 565 passes (65.7%) for 4,398 yards with 28 TD passes and 13 INTs (96.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 29 times for 44 yards (1.5 ypc) with 1 TD run this year.  Brady has now played in 129 games in his NFL career and he has completed 2,672 of 4,218 passes (63.3%) for 30,844 yards with 225 TD passes and only 99 INTs (93.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 305 times for 577 yards (1.9 ypc) with 6 TD runs in his career.  Brady is the top reason the Patriots are back in the playoffs as he leads by example.

24-year old undrafted rookie QB Brian Hoyer was the back-up for the Patriots in 2009.  He played in 5 games for the Patriots in which he completed 19 of 27 passes (70.4%) for 142 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (82.6 QB Rating).  Hoyer also carried the ball 10 times for 25 yards (2.5 ypc) with a TD run.  The Patriots will likely bring in either a cheap veteran QB or draft one late to compete with Hoyer for the back-up job in 2010.

28-year old WR Wes Welker is still Tom Brady’s right hand man.  He has played in 9 games for the Patriots this season and he has caught 85 passes for 886 yards (10.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 4 times for 31 yards (7.8 ypc) and he has returned 16 punts for 236 yards (14.8 avg).  The Patriots really need Welker to stay healthy the rest of the year because he gets the tough yards over the middle for them.  Welker has now played in 41 games in his three years with the Patriots in which he has caught 308 passes for 3,226 yards (10.5 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 11 times for 91 yards (8.3 ypc) and he has returned 65 punts for 722 yards (11.1 avg).  Welker is one of the best players on the Patriots so they can’t afford to have him miss any more time due to injury this year.

33-year old running back Kevin Faulk is a outstanding football player as he does anything the Patriots need him to do.  He has played in 9 games so far this season for the Patriots and he has carried the ball 37 times for 188 yards (5.1 ypc) and he has also caught 25 passes for 199 yards (8.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Faulk is also helpful on special teams when needed as he has returned 5 punts for 31 yards (6.2 avg) and 6 kickoffs for 144 yards (24.0 avg) so far this year.  Faulk has now played in 146 games for the New England Patriots in which he has carried the football 814 times for 3,358 yards (4.1 ypc) with 14 TD runs and he has also caught 406 passes for 3,503 yards (8.6 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  Faulk has returned 99 punts in his career for 932 yards (9.4 avg) and 181 kickoffs for 4,098 yards (22.6 avg) with 2 TD returns.  Faulk has never been the main man of the offense for the Patriots but he has always been there to make a big play when they need one.

Stephen Gostkowski is off to a good start to the season for the New England Patriots.  He has made 13 of 16 field goals this season and he has made all 21 of his extra point attempts.  The Patriots really like Gostkowski who has been solid this season and he has a big leg trying a lot of field goals that many kickers wouldn’t even attempt.