Offensive line play

[Deus Irae]

Oh yeah, he's good at what he does.

But he can be upgraded.

He's among the best in the game when healthy, and you think an upgrade will be easily found in the draft?

 

[363839]

I dont know if this is the best line the Pats have ever had. Light, Neal and Mankins are all getting up there in age and I dont think they are as good as they were earlier in their careers. With that being said I think with all the injuries the OL has had this year they are having a solid year and getting better each week getting back to full strength health wise. BB said last week that last week was the first week he can remember having a completely active OL.

I think you're wrong about Mankins. Actually I know you're wrong about Mankins. He's been in the league 5 years and you think he's getting old?
Light frustrates me because he always seems to get beat on the outside. Straight up he's a bull but run around him and if you're fast enough you'll get pressure on TB and maybe even sack him.
Neal is another story. It seems our offense is at it's finest when he's in there but loses it's composure if he goes down so my problem with him is his tendency to get injured too much. He's been in the league 8 years.
Light has also been here for 8 years. I think there is at least a couple years left in the tank for those two.

 

[The Dynasty]

I think you're wrong about Mankins. Actually I know you're wrong about Mankins. He's been in the league 5 years and you think he's getting old?
Light frustrates me because he always seems to get beat on the outside. Straight up he's a bull but run around him and if you're fast enough you'll get pressure on TB and maybe even sack him.
Neal is another story. It seems our offense is at it's finest when he's in there but loses it's composure if he goes down so my problem with him is his tendency to get injured too much. He's been in the league 8 years.
Light has also been here for 8 years. I think there is at least a couple years left in the tank for those two.

I am not saying these players are bad by any means, I am just saying since they are ageing they arent as good as they were at the beginning of their careers.

 

[Fencer]

I am not saying these players are bad by any means, I am just saying since they are ageing they arent as good as they were at the beginning of their careers.

How exactly has Mankins declined from his peak, and how is it due to age? Less strength? Less agility? More mental mistakes, perhaps due to early-stage senility???

 

[Patjew]

It all starts and ends with Neal. He is the one guy on the line who you really notice when he's missing.

 

[glm]

He's among the best in the game when healthy, and you think an upgrade will be easily found in the draft?

Unless I'm not aware of an injury he's had, he's been healthy and he still gets manhandled at the point of attack.

 

[The Dynasty]

How exactly has Mankins declined from his peak, and how is it due to age? Less strength? Less agility? More mental mistakes, perhaps due to early-stage senility???

To me Mankins just isnt getting off the ball as quick as he did at the beginning of his career and that is why he hasnt been as effective this year as he has been in years past. He hasnt been injured so the only thing there is to blame is age.

 

[Kontradiction]

To me Mankins just isnt getting off the ball as quick as he did at the beginning of his career and that is why he hasnt been as effective this year as he has been in years past. He hasnt been injured so the only thing there is to blame is age.

The left side of the O-Line has just simply not been the problem this season. Mankins and Light are fine.

 

[pdangle]

To me Mankins just isnt getting off the ball as quick as he did at the beginning of his career and that is why he hasnt been as effective this year as he has been in years past. He hasnt been injured so the only thing there is to blame is age.

It has been my experience to notice, that more often than not in a case like this, it is a CURRENT but UNKNOWN injury that causes the season(s) of decline. Age drop-off is a relatively slow and yet stable decline until the cliff of course. Wouldn't surprise me if comes out that he's playing through a minor injury. But it would surprise me even less, if we NEVER hear it, but not because it isn't true, but because of general Patriots policy.

 

[Schmo]

Yeah I dont care good of a coach BB is, hes dumb if Kaczur takes over at RT over Vollmer.

Stop posting.

 

[Patjew]

Unless I'm not aware of an injury he's had, he's been healthy and he still gets manhandled at the point of attack.

Brady hasn't been sacked in 3 weeks!

 

[Deus Irae]

Brady hasn't been sacked in 3 weeks!

Details.....

 

[Calciumee]

Details.....

Defensive player tackles TFB when he has the ball = a sack.

And that hasn't happened in 3 weeks. Detailed enough

 

[Kontradiction]

Did the Jags even so much as breathe on Brady last week?

 

[Patjew]

Did the Jags even so much as breathe on Brady last week?

They never got close enough to Brady to smell his farts.

 

[Kontradiction]

They never got close enough to Brady to smell his farts.

Brady doesn't fart. He breaks wind.

 

[JoeShmoe]

It all starts and ends with Neal. He is the one guy on the line who you really notice when he's missing.

Bingo!

Neal being out is when we suffer really badly (think NYG super bowl) - I suspect it'd be the same if we lost Mankins. With those two in there Koppens play seems to go up a notch as well

Its almost a case of a bottom line in some respects. If we lost Neal early in a playoff game i'd be really concerned as I suspect that transmits nerves and fear right through the rest of the OL and TB

Its also why I think we need to try and draft Iupati/Carimi in round one next year as keeping Brady upright and giving him time is what will make us a leading contender

 

[Kontradiction]

Bingo!

Neal being out is when we suffer really badly (think NYG super bowl) - I suspect it'd be the same if we lost Mankins. With those two in there Koppens play seems to go up a notch as well

Its almost a case of a bottom line in some respects. If we lost Neal early in a playoff game i'd be really concerned as I suspect that transmits nerves and fear right through the rest of the OL and TB

Its also why I think we need to try and draft Iupati/Carimi in round one next year as keeping Brady upright and giving him time is what will make us a leading contender

Koppen and Kaczur's play are noticeably better when Neal is in there. The man is simply a beast. There is a reason why he manhandled Lesnar.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Brady not being sacked has always has a lot more to do with Brady avoiding them by sliding around in the pocket to buy time and/or getting rid of the ball quickly. He however gets hit a lot in the process. Most recently Jacksonville isn't a team that gets a lot of sacks or pressures.

That said, the OL is obviously better when Neal plays - but the caveat for most of his relatively brief career (he didn't start before 2004) has been that he doesn't play enough. The line is also obviously better when Vollmer plays either tackle position. That's the great news given he wasn't a first. Need to find some more like him...quick thinkers and quick on their feet athletes but more substance. Koppen isn't starting here because of his ability to clog the middle vs. bullrushers. He's here because of his mental and physical agility. They need to find a larger version of Koppen for the backside of Brady's career in order to maximize it.

The OL needs to be a focus for retooling going forward whether they extend Mankins or not. They need at least one starting guard and one starting tackle in the next two seasons and a starting center in the pipeline simultaneously although upgrading around him could also functionally extend Koppen's career a year or two. All of that is necessary if they want to maximize Tommy's productivity over the next several seasons. All of which will be a lot easier to do than finding his ultimate legitimate successor.

Build an OL lots of backs and QB's could be successful behind... Ditto a DL lots of and pass rush lots of secondaries could be successful behind. It all starts and ends with the LOS (and provided you have a reasonably high functioning QB which we do...it ends better more often than not).

 

[Easywolf32]

Offensive line has been great for a while now, since we ripped them in the first few games they really came together as a unit, all of them.