- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
- Messages
- 37,522
- Reaction score
- 16,305
It is clear that Belichick and Dante have considerable faith in our interior line.
After all, Belichick went though four rounds without drafting an interior lineman. There were many available at 73: Cannon, Rackley, Moffitt and Boling. Rackley and Moffitt were picked immediately after the patriots picked at 73 and 74, so this seemed a reasonable match of quality and draft position.
We have Cannon. That's great. But it is clear that Belichick was willing to go without a top interior line addition. He passed on OG/OC at #73 and #74, and then immediately traded away our #92 and #125, not even waiting to see who was available at #92.
Personally, I think that this means that Belichick sees a future somewhere among Koppen, Connolly, Wendell, Orhnberger and Austin. This seems to be true no matter how long Mankins stays.
After all, Belichick went though four rounds without drafting an interior lineman. There were many available at 73: Cannon, Rackley, Moffitt and Boling. Rackley and Moffitt were picked immediately after the patriots picked at 73 and 74, so this seemed a reasonable match of quality and draft position.
We have Cannon. That's great. But it is clear that Belichick was willing to go without a top interior line addition. He passed on OG/OC at #73 and #74, and then immediately traded away our #92 and #125, not even waiting to see who was available at #92.
Personally, I think that this means that Belichick sees a future somewhere among Koppen, Connolly, Wendell, Orhnberger and Austin. This seems to be true no matter how long Mankins stays.