New England Patriots 2019: Ranking team’s top 5 offensive playmakers

Rob Gronkowski is gone, but the New England Patriots have some offensive playmakers who can step up into important roles for the team.

While most of the talk surrounding the New England Patriots offense going into the 2019 season has been and will remain centered around two playmakers currently not on the roster, the team will be looking for new players to step up and make an impact.

Will Rob Gronkowski come out of retirement at some point in the season?

Will the NFL reinstate Josh Gordon giving Tom Brady another big target to throw to?

Those are certainly intriguing questions for Patriots fans, but at this point the team has to work with what they have and hope a young player like Braxton Berrios takes steps in becoming the next version of Wes Welker, Danny Amendola or Julian Edelman.

They also hope to get something out of veteran receivers Demaryius Thomas, Dontrelle Inman or Phillip Dorsett.  If one or two of those players can enter Tom Brady’s circle of trust, the offense should be alright even if they get no production out of the tight end position.

Speaking of the tight end position, they need someone like Matt LaCosse, undrafted rookie free agent Andrew Beck or second-year tight end Ryan Izzo step up and make some kind of consistent contribution.

If the passing game struggles at first, the Patriots can turn to their running game.  Behind a solid offensive line and with James Develin searching as a lead hammer at fullback, the team should have a solid rushing attack led by second-year player Sony Michel.

Though there are a lot of questions offensively, what we can count on is the team being versatile and adjusting their game plan according to who they are facing on a week-to-week basis.

So, as the team heads into training camp, here are the top 5 New England Patriots offensive playmakers without Rob Gronkowski or Josh Gordon in the mix.