PATRIOTSFANINPA

Age and the OL - Why the 2010 Cowboys could be all sizzle, no steak - Bleeding Green Nation

Interesting notes here is that only Jeff Saturday of the Colts is the only projected OL starter in the league over 34 years old.

As we look into 2011,the RBs on the Pats aren't the only area that needs to get addressed for younger players.

Without doing mathematics,I think Vollmer who is all but penciled in as a starter this season is probably what keeps NE from having the oldest OL over Dallas,but the age between oldest OL and mid pack is only a matter of a year or less in most cases.

I think Larsen (if he makes the team) will be a start to next season of getting younger at the position as we go into 2011.

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pats1

That's what happens when you draft a 26-year old (Kaczur)...

pats1

Larsen isn't exactly the first of his kind. He's currently joined by Ohrnberger, Bussey, and Welch and was preceded by Mike Elgin, Corey Hilliard, Clint Oldenburg, Dan Stevenson, and Ryan O'Callaghan, all of whom were Day 2 picks since 2005, when the Patriots first used a Light-Mankins-Koppen-Neal-Kaczur setup. So despite all of the action behind the starters, the starting situation hadn't been clouded at all (except for injuries) until Vollmer was drafted in Day 1. In fact, the most reliable backup OLs the Pats have had since 2005 were all free agent pickups - Hochstein, Connolly, LeVoir, and Britt.

In other words, the starting situation won't change until the Pats make more Day 1 picks to replace their current starters. Vollmer so far has been the only one; some could say Larsen counts as a Day 1 pick because of the high grade he was apparently given by Belichick vis-a-vis the poor grades he gave the 2007 picks (Elgin, Hilliard, Oldenburg).

BelichickFan

Not a serious issue IMO, we'll likely re-sign Mankins, him and Vollmer along with the mediocre Kaczur give us 60% of the starters going forward and we have a slew of recent draftees who should be competent. Similar to saying Moss and Holt are the oldest pair of WR (if they are) but not mentioning that we've drafted young players with an eye towards replacing the old players when necessary.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Question is how many backups that we will have this season will be good enough next season to be starters if BB shakes up the OL a little.

We know Mankins and Vollmer are the most likely players almost a lock for next season on the line...I would not bet on any of the others being there for certain.

Pouncey would have been a nice addition,but we had so many needs this year other than OL that it was not going to happen in this years draft and we weren't going to trade up to get him anyway.

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KontradictioN

Stephen Neal (33), Matt Light (31), and Dan Koppen (30) are the primary reasons for this. IMO, Neal is the only guy on the O-Line whose body was looking like it was beginning to break down due to age and injury last year. Light is still a very capable LT and will hold the spot for one more year while I expect Vollmer to take over at RT (then move to LT in 2011). Koppen is 30 and could be upgraded, but it isn't like he should hit the retirement home. 30 years old is still relatively young in this league. Mankins is only 28 and Vollmer is 25, in his second year in the league.

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CREDIT - Sicilian

pats1

Why would you consider Kaczur part of the plan going forward if he is only a few months younger than Koppen and just over a year younger than Light?

Kaczur will be 31 by the time training camp begins. He's a heck of a lot older than Vollmer and Mankins.

KontradictioN

Just a nitpick, but you shouldn't count Kaczur as a starter anymore. He was supplanted by the rookie Vollmer in the last few games of last season at RT (including our playoff loss to the Ravens).

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CREDIT - Sicilian

BelichickFan

Both Koppen and Kaczur have a ton less wear and tear on their bodies than Neal who is the only truly old body on the OL. I don't expect Koppen to be gone any time soon but he's only signed through 2011 and would probably get more on the open market than Kaczur; if Koppen signed an extension I'd be fine with him too (I realize Kaczur is only signed a year longer). Bottom line, Neal is the only one whose body is really old IMO.

BelichickFan

I'm expecting Kaczur and Vollmer to be the starters this time next year as Light's contract expires at the end of this season. Not that I love Kaczur, but that's what I expect to happen.