KontradictioN

Through the past few seasons as Light has aged, we've seen him struggle against the upper echelon of the league's pass rushers and some not-so-elite pass rushers. Time and time again, when his ability at the LT position has been questioned, people more often than not respond with, "well, he was going up against Elite Pass Rusher A (you can really just substitute Aaron Schobel, Jason Taylor, or Joey Porter in here and still win) and he traditionally struggles against him". Uh, okay? If he struggles against elite pass rushers, why the hell is playing LT and protecting the franchise's blind side? Let's take a look at some of the good pass rushers he has and likely will be facing this season...

Week 1. Buffalo - Aaron Schobel: I think it's safe to say Light lost that battle.

Week 3. Atlanta - John Abraham

Week 4. Baltimore - Terrell Suggs

Week 6. Titans - Kyle Vanden Bosch

Week 9. Dolphins - Joey Porter/Jason Taylor (depending on what their scheme for that week is)

Week 10. Colts - Dwight Freeney (another guy Light has traditionally struggled with)

Week 13. Dolphins - Jason Taylor or Joey Porter

Week 14. Panthers - Julius Peppers

Week 15. Bills - Aaron Schobel

Week 17. Texans - Mario Williams

That's a lot of potential problems and headaches for the LT position this season, assuming everyone on that list stays healthy. On top of that, I didn't include the Jets who have shown that they can bring pressure from multiple people. Last year, when people had concerns over Matt Light, they were told that the entire line was suffering due to the loss of Stephen Neal. And, after he came back, it appeared those people were right as you could see the line play get better. This season, the entirety of the line has been intact but they still seem to struggle as a whole, particularly on the left side of the line which is anchored by Light. So, I am calling for somebody, anybody here on this forum make an argument to point out why my concerns for him at LT are unjustified and sway me in his favor.

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PATRIOTSFANINPA

Like I said in another thread I think Light is getting worse each year,He used to be my favorite lineman in this decade (besides Joe Andruzzi) but now he is washed up IMO,He cannot hold his own against speed rushers from the left side and maybe a move to the right side and Vollmer giving it a shot may help.

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Mosi Moose

Agreed. I would also be OK with spending a high pick on a LT next year and start developing him for 2011.

farn

He's not getting face time in Canton (unless BB or TFB ask him to present), but he's sometimes followed up a stinker with a solid performance. I think he is more than serviceable, with the acceptance that he won't be the NE LT for much longer (in years, not games I mean).

If we really think he is the reason they are 1-1 instead of 2-0 I think we're wrong.

KontradictioN

If you think Brady is going to get blasted with Light in there then you have no idea what you'd be in for if the Pats put Vollmer in there as his replacement. I do agree, though, that Light would be better suited moving over to the right side of the line. The only problem with that is the Pats only have an extremely raw and unpolished rookie to replace him as of right now. I think we may be seeing Vollmer in 2010 but, outside of injuries, he's not going to start on the OL in 2009.

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JSn

I think the only real answer is: What else we got?

Vollmer looks good, but he is far from ready to play LT full time.

Options are Kaczur (it's fine to hate him, but largely irrational; he's playing well, and "swings both ways") and LeVoir (also a swing tackle who showed well last year).

I think we have to trust Matt for the year, come-what-may, simply due to no better options. But I agree with the premise, he's looking to either get Vrabel'd or Bruschi'd in '10 or at the VERY latest '11.

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doesntmatter1

You put up a hell of an argument, but over the years i see that light only struggles with 3(Schoebel, taylor, freeney). Considering that we passed 50 times against the Jets, if Brady was in old form he seemed to be given ample time to throw. I expect light to be perfectly fine tommorrow. Also, over the years i have noticed that light has great endurance. During alot of brady's 29 or so comeback wins in the 4th quarter you don't usually see brady on his back from the blindside. If we wear out the defense with a running game, light seems to get better.

Lastly, I have to comment on the fact that we have looked bad in divisional games. The only time we have ever swept our division was in 07. Divisional games aren't easy, especially ours(no matter how good we are i consider the dolphins a threat like in 04). Divisional opponents know our tendencies so you cant judge light so hard in these games. It was only last year that the Bills started out 5-1 and couldn't win a single divisional game.

If light somehow struggles the next 2 weeks ill maybe admit you are on to something. Maybe Cbass will push light for time. It not like light has ever had serious competition before and competition always brings out the best in players. But great post Kontradiction.

SyN65

He's been getting progressively worse each year, but he's the best we got...

KontradictioN

It's true that the first two games have been division games. However, when was the last time this team played teams with this many elite pass rushers (I count 10 weeks out of the 17 weeks in the regular season) in a season before? On top of that, when was the last time the team did it with a major question mark at the LT position. I sincerely hope you are right about his struggles being an effect of playing against two inner-division teams. This week will be a good test as even the "great" (what a f'n joke that is) Jake Long was run over by John Abraham.

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KontradictioN

So... is the anonymous nancyboy that one starred this thread going to take a stab at it or just hit and run? I've been waiting a good 20 minutes now.

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