DaBruinz

Mankins was a starting LT in college and was moved inside to LG by the Pats.

The issue with Pouncey is his shot-gun snapping, which I have heard is mediocre at best. If that isn't the case, then having him as a center could be a good thing. Personally, I'd rather put him at guard and have him prove he can handle center than have him at center and then have to move him to guard.

bucky

My personal favorite is James Carpenter from Alabama. He's probably better suited to play OT, but short and stout enough to play OG. The only question is whether he's mobile enough to do all the pulling the Patriots' guards do. Based on what I've seen, I'd say yes.

DaBruinz

Carpenter is one of the few OTs that I have not seen mentioned as being moved inside potentially.

His 10 yard split was 1.81 (not the fastest,but not the slowest either)

I don't know what his shuttle or 3 cone numbers were.

His bench press was only 23 reps.

That being said, he does look intriguing.

patchick

I think this OT class is notable for being full of pure OTs. The classic inside/outside guy is somebody like Nick Kaczur. We know that the Pats chose to play him at tackle but experimented with moving him inside when Mankins was out. We also have Bruschi's comments about Kaczur struggling with the move inside because of his height and arm length.

Kaczur is 6'4.5" 319 with 32 7/8" arms.

The top 5 tackles in the draft -- Castonzo, Carimi, Sherrod, Smith, Solder -- are all taller than Kaczur, most of them much taller. They all have much longer arms, too. (Costanzo has the "shortest" at 34 1/2"!) And except for Carimi, they all have better quickness times than Kaczur to boot. Those are pure, classic OT bodies, and I have to think that a move to guard would be detrimental for them.

So for swing players let's look beyond the big 5. Eliminating intriguing but raw prospects not ready to start at RG (Ben Ijalana, Derek Newton), I see four guys who could fit the description:

Clint Boling
James Carpenter
Jason Pinkston
Stephen Schilling

kurtinelson

If I'm going to use a first round draft pick on an offensive lineman, I would want this player to be a starter from day one or at a minimum be the full time starter in year two. If Light is coming back for 2-3 years, I'd rather use my high round picks for a DE, OLB or a player who can start at OG and move to OT should it be necessary.

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DaBruinz

The Pats could use the #33 pick on an OT who would learn the system and get spot playing time the way Vollmer did. And use him to push Light. I have no issue with them having Light on the bench if he was beat out by a rookie.

IllegalContact

ok.......not really much of conversion since everyone had him pegged as an LG long before he got drafted, and he has started there ever since day 1.....

there's nobody in this draft who compares to mankins physically except for pouncey.....

patchick

Mankins played tackle exclusively in college. How can he not count as a conversion? Just because he made it look easy?

For a purely physical twin in this draft, try Mike Person of Montana State.

DaBruinz

Actually, most people had him as a TACKLE with a possibility as going to guard. Most people didn't have him on the Pats radar. The few that did have him on their lists, had him at RT, not LG.

Tackle is where the 49ers wanted him to play. And they would have taken him if the Pats didn't.

DaBruinz

*chuckle* I was actually looking at Person today and saying to myself that he'd be a great fit at RG and would be relatively inexpensive. The only thing I wasn't sure of is his aggressiveness.

Another player the Pats may look at is Stephen Schilling from Michigan..