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I thought we should have drafted a center this year (to get someone ready to replace Koppen in the future). Glad to see I was wrong: Connolly was able to fill the gap. However, who is the long-term replacement?
Connolly just turned 29. Surely, he can play 3-5 years if you think he's the man for the job. He's a UFA along with Koppen. Will probably come down to one or the other. Wendell already signed as a backup.
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To me, O-Line is key. I thought it pretty clear from last night's game that Brady proves ~again~ that you cannot give him time.
That fact isn't lost on Baltimore, for sure. My feeling is the AFC Championship will be decided by O-Line performance, and how Brady/Receivers hook up in the face of blitzes.
Most games are decided by O-Line performance.
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Patriots fan since around 4pm EST January 27, 2002.
Absolutely. Although he did have a couple of rough games, the rest of the season he was excellent and even dominated against some elite speed rushers, something he was never known for. If this wasn't Light's best year, it was very close.
1) Everyone is talking (rightfully so) about the great pass protection last night, but how about 30 runs for 146 yards???? Against a pretty good defense???
2) We should have Vollmer back and Mankins closer to 100% next week (with 8 days until the next game). The depth and quality on this line is perhaps the best we've ever had at playoff time. Hell, I have no qualms about our backups - - Wendell, Cannon, Thomas or Vollmer/Solder.
3) We all love "Kope", but am I being sacreligious in saying I prefer Connolly at this point? Koppen was smaller and many here were complaining in recent years of him getting pushed around more and more. Connolly is a load and has shown tremendous nastiness. Obviously Brady loves Koppen's intelligence and ability to call out the plays for the line, but Connolly has been terrific at Center in my opinion.
Connolly has, indeed, been excellent in passpro. However, Koppen's run-blocking up the gut is still significantly superior, IMO. Runs between the guards had been the main focus and success of the Pats ground game for years, accounting for 55%-60% of rush attempts, underscored by BGE's performance last season. This season, up the gut rush attempts are down to 44%. Some of that dropoff might be attributable to Waters at RG and/or to BGE's nagging foot injury (though, last season, even Woody had more runs and more success up the middle). But the loss of Koppen shouldn't casually be ignored as a possibly significant factor, at least.
Which brings up a potentially difficult problem wrt off-season personnel decisions. Koppen and Connolly are both UFA for 2012.
Koppen's 2011 cap hit was around $4.4M (sixth highest in the league for centers). He missed this season on IR and will turn 33 in mid-September. Can't be sure how much (if any) hometown discount Koppen would be willing to accept for a 1-2 year renewal.
Connolly's cap hit was around $1.3M, which is not bad for a center, but actually on the low side for a quality starting OG. For a player who's shown he can handle BOTH starting jobs, I don't think it's unreasonable to speculate that a team with a shaky or older interior OL may offer him as much as $3.5M-$4.0M and that the Pats would likely have to match or beat that to keep him.
I'd be mildly surprised if the Pats kept them both.
3) We all love "Kope", but am I being sacreligious in saying I prefer Connolly at this point? Koppen was smaller and many here were complaining in recent years of him getting pushed around more and more. Connolly is a load and has shown tremendous nastiness. Obviously Brady loves Koppen's intelligence and ability to call out the plays for the line, but Connolly has been terrific at Center in my opinion.
I agree with this.
The Oline is superb. I think it may be the best in the league.
As someone said, if the Oline can keep Brady clean, no team will
stop the PATS.
Everyone is signed for 2012 except Connolly and Koppen. Since both Connolly should get starting pay, I suspect that we will keep only one of them. It is just possible that Koppen might be willing to stay as a backup, but I suspect not.
STARTERS: Light, Mankins, Connolly (or Koppen), Waters, Solder/Vollmer
(with Solder as 3rd TE when Vollmer is healthy).
BACKUPS: Thomas, Cannon, Wendell, McDonald
BOTTOM LINE
1) We have one of the very best OL in the league.
2) We have found our center to replace Koppen; his name is Dan Connolly.
3) We need to re-sign Connolly (alternative is to re-sign Koppen)
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Sure, we'll draft another OL or two for Dante to develop, but there is no draft need.
1Likes
Re: How About the Oline??!!
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