Super Bowl LI: How the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons were built

HOUSTON -- There are two ways of analyzing teams when the task is to learn how their rosters were put together.

Most often, some numbers are slapped together to show how many draft picks, especially in the lower rounds, a team has on the 53-man roster.

That can be misleading because many are backups and special teams players, and only 46 players actually suit up for games. That's not to say special teams isn't important, but it's much more meaningful to scrutinize those that play the most from scrimmage.

Along those lines, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons are somewhat similar when analyzing where they acquired their top players.

For this exercise, we expanded the reach beyond just starters for this season's Super Bowl teams. In the current package world of the NFL, there are numerous players that don't start but will still participate in at least 25 percent of the offensive or defensive snaps.

For the Falcons, 15 players on both offense and defense were identified, while the Patriots had 15 on offense and 16 on defense.

Atlanta offense: Offensive linemen Chris Chester, Andy Levitre, Kevin Mack, Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder; tight ends Levine Toilolo and Austin Hooper; wide receivers Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Taylor Gabriel and Aldrick Robinson; quarterback Matt Ryan; running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman; fullback Patrick DiMarco.

Atlanta defense: Defensive linemen Jonathan Babineaux, Dwight Freeney, Ra'Shede Hageman, Grady Jarrett, Tyson Jackson, Brooks Reed and Courtney Upshaw; linebackers Vic Beasley Jr., De'Vondre Campbell and Deion Jones; defensive backs Robert Alford, Ricardo Allen, Jalen Collins, Keanu Neal and Brian Poole.

New England offense: Offensive linemen David Andrews, Marcus Cannon, Shaq Mason, Nate Solder and Joe Thuney; tight end Martellus Bennett; wide receivers Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell; quarterback Tom Brady; running backs LeGarrette Blount, Dion Lewis and James White; fullback James Develin.

New England defense: Defensive linemen Alan Branch, Malcom Brown, Trey Flowers, Chris Long, Rob Ninkovich and Jabaal Sheard; linebackers Dont'a Hightower, Shea McClellin, Elandon Roberts and Kyle Van Noy; defensive backs Malcolm Butler, Patrick Chung, Duron Harmon, Devin McCourty, Eric Rowe and Logan Ryan.

For the Falcons offense, 12 of the 15 players were draft picks, with seven of their own and five selected by other teams. Three were their own No. 1 choices: Ryan, Jones and Matthews, while three from other teams were first- or second-round picks: Mack (first round), Chester and Levitre. The only undrafted players were Schraeder by the Falcons in 2013, Gabriel (Browns, 2014) and DiMarco (Chargers, 2011).

Atlanta's defense features 14 of 15 draft picks, with nine of its own. Seven of the nine were first- or second-round picks with just two No. 1s: Beasley and Neal. Two of the five from other teams were first-rounders (Freeney, Jackson) and another two were No. 2 picks (Reed, Upshaw). The only undrafted player was Poole, who signed with the Falcons as a rookie this season.

That makes the final count for Atlanta's 30 players -- 26 that were drafted, including 16 by the Falcons, and 10 No. 1 picks and seven No. 2 choices.

New England isn't much different. On offense, 10 of the 15 were drafted -- eight by the Patriots. Only one was a New England first- or second-round choice, No. 1 pick Solder. There was also only one selected by another team in the first two rounds, which was second-round pick Bennett. The five undrafted players are Andrews -- originally signed by the Patriots -- along with Hogan (49ers, 2011), Amendola (Cowboys, 2008), Blount (Titans, 2010) and Develin (Bengals, 2010).

On defense, the Patriots have 15 draft picks among their 16 players with seven of their own and a whopping eight from other teams. Of their seven, only three are from the first two rounds and all three are No. 1 choices: Brown, Hightower and McCourty. Seven of the eight drafted by other teams are No. 1 or No. 2 picks. The first-rounders are Long and McClellin, with Sheard, Branch, Van Noy, Chung and Rowe second-round picks. The only undrafted player is Super Bowl XLIX hero Butler.

New England's 31 top defensive players are comprised of 25 draft choices, with 15 by the Patriots and 10 from other teams. Of those 25, there are four No. 1 picks and eight from the second round.

It's also notable that with the start of the new league year coming March 9, neither team has tried to keep pace with the near insanity that takes place when free agents begin changing teams.

The Patriots have just three unrestricted free agents on their entire roster: Amendola, McClellin (No. 1 pick Chicago) and Sheard (No. 2 pick Cleveland). The latter two were signed four years after they were drafted, and Amendola was added five years after he entered the league undrafted.

Atlanta has six unrestricted free agents, and four were signed four or five years after entering the league: Sanu, Jackson, Reed and Upshaw. Mack was drafted seven years before signing, while backup quarterback Matt Schaub was drafted 12 years ago by the Falcons before rejoining them this season. All six were drafted in the first three rounds.

Howard Balzer is a columnist for The Sports Xchange and is in his 40th year covering pro football. He is also on the Hall of Fame selection committee.