Bedard chat

[Gronkandez]

Since there was a lot of good stuff in it, I think it's worth starting a thread.

Summary
-BJGE won't find much of a market. Ridley/Vareen will be the #1/#2 RBs. Pats should pursure Tolbert or Bush instead of BJGE.
-Pats should pursue Mario but the cost may be too prohibitive, around 6 yrs/$100M+
-Pats should pursue Vincent Jackson
-Solder is the starting LT
-McCourty in no way should return to Safety (this part was confusing as a couple questions were posted before he responded)

Chat with Greg Bedard at noon - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

[Fencer]

Sounds even firmer on Waters' return than before, saying they "reported" that.

Light being gone and Solder hence being handed the LT job is just his educated guess, I think, even if based on some info we don't have. I don't have a strong guess, as it comes down in no small part to Light's ego.

 

[Gronkandez]

Sounds even firmer on Waters' return than before, saying they "reported" that.

Light being gone and Solder hence being handed the LT job is just his educated guess, I think, even if based on some info we don't have. I don't have a strong guess, as it comes down in no small part to Light's ego.

Greg A. Bedard: Well, Solder is going to be the LT. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Waters was terrific in pass protection at RG, and was average run blocking. The Patriots already made Mankins, who along with RT was the problem in the Super Bowl, the highest paid interior lineman. I don't think they're interested in adding another huge contract there.

Sounds more than just an opinion.

 

[Rob0729]

Sounds more than just an opinion.

Earlier in the chat, Bedard says there is a chance that Light comes back and competes with Solder for the starting LT position, but he doesn't think so.

Solder did a pretty good job for a rookie tackle. Typically, tackles show significant improvement from year to year early in their careers. Solder didn't even have the benefit of an offseason. Solder could be a solid starting LT next year.

 

[DefenseRules]

The Patriots already made Mankins, who along with RT was the problem in the Super Bowl, the highest paid interior lineman

For some reason, that line annoys me the most. It's true, but it annoys me. It makes me wonder if at the the end of the day we fans will look back and say Mankins was over paid. I heard the same thing after the last Super bowl.

 

[Gronkandez]

For some reason, that line annoys me the most. It's true, but it annoys me. It makes me wonder if at the the end of the day we fans will look back and say Mankins was over paid.

Well, at least we can say he wasn't overpaid in 2010.

I assume the RT Bedard is talking about is Solder since he got benched for Vollmer in the 2nd half. Solder really struggled in the playoffs which worries me about how ready he is for next year at LT. Hopefully the full offseason which greatly benefit him.

 

[Ivan]

For some reason, that line annoys me the most. It's true, but it annoys me. It makes me wonder if at the the end of the day we fans will look back and say Mankins was over paid.

I'm not worried about it, Mankins is a beast and a hard worker, his career will be HOF quality.



The really interesting thing to me is that the Patriots are really good yet have many areas to address this offseason, and if they do a good job of it they could be significantly better next season, which would make them scary imo. I can't wait for free agency to start, i'm really looking forward to what they will do.

 

[DefenseRules]

I'm not worried about it, Mankins is a beast and a hard worker, his career will be HOF quality.



The really interesting thing to me is that the Patriots are really good yet have many areas to address this offseason, and if they do a good job of it they could be significantly better next season, which would make them scary imo. I can't wait for free agency to start, i'm really looking forward to what they will do.

I'm looking forward to free agency too. I don't expect them to sign a big name though.

 

[PatsFan2]

-McCourty in now way should return to Safety (this part was confusing as a couple questions were posted before he responded)

He didn't seem like much of CB last year either ouch!:snob:

 

[Rob0729]

Well, at least we can say he wasn't overpaid in 2010.

I assume the RT Bedard is talking about is Solder since he got benched for Vollmer in the 2nd half. Solder really struggled in the playoffs which worries me about how ready he is for next year at LT. Hopefully the full offseason which greatly benefit him.

Was he benched because he was bad or because Belichick wanted a veteran at the position and knew he couldn't play Vollmer at RT the entire game because of his injury and figured it was better to play him in the second half over the first? We don't know that. The plan from the start might have been to split the halves between the two.

Besides, going against a DE like Jason Pierre Paul isn't an every game performance.

 

[JackBauer]

Was he benched because he was bad or because Belichick wanted a veteran at the position and knew he couldn't play Vollmer at RT the entire game because of his injury and figured it was better to play him in the second half over the first? We don't know that. The plan from the start might have been to split the halves between the two.

Besides, going against a DE like Jason Pierre Paul isn't an every game performance.

Yeah, if it happened I didn't notice it. I thought Solder was solid in the playoffs. Not great in the Super Bowl by any means, but nowhere near as bad as our putative best offensive lineman.

 

[PatsFan2]

Yeah, if it happened I didn't notice it. I thought Solder was solid in the playoffs. Not great in the Super Bowl by any means, but nowhere near as bad as our putative best offensive lineman.

Yeah Mannkins-Tuck.

 

[letekro]

Yeah, if it happened I didn't notice it. I thought Solder was solid in the playoffs. Not great in the Super Bowl by any means, but nowhere near as bad as our putative best offensive lineman.

Mankins IS undoubtedly our best offensive lineman. He just can't block Justin Tuck. People foolishly ignored that fact arguing that our O line was better than in 2007. It may have been, but Tuck was the one that caused all the problems in 2007 and did it again 2011.

 

[Ian]

For some reason, that line annoys me the most. It's true, but it annoys me. It makes me wonder if at the the end of the day we fans will look back and say Mankins was over paid. I heard the same thing after the last Super bowl.

I know, and I agree with you there. But that just seems to be a match-up issue than a big-picture problem. For whatever reason he just seems to have a hard time with them. 'It is what it is'

 

[Mossed]

Makes you wonder even more why we didn't just run the ball up the gut more, especially with the giants playing 2 ends, Tuck and Pierre-Paul at DT, and with Mankins struggling.

But nope keep running the outside sweeps, and keep throwing it (which you can't really argue with at least, considering Brady had like 16 in a row at one point). I thought Ridley could have done some damage against that front with his quick burst, but I can understand him not playing due to the fumble concerns in the biggest game.

It'll be interesting to see if McDaniels has a different approach on running the ball since we all know how much he loves to call the bombs.

 

[Gronkandez]

Was he benched because he was bad or because Belichick wanted a veteran at the position and knew he couldn't play Vollmer at RT the entire game because of his injury and figured it was better to play him in the second half over the first? We don't know that. The plan from the start might have been to split the halves between the two.

Besides, going against a DE like Jason Pierre Paul isn't an every game performance.

I thought I remembered Berdard saying he was benched in a chat shortly after the game. This is what I found when I google it....

Right tackle was a borderline disaster, as Solder played the first half and was basically benched for Vollmer after allowing 2.5 hurries and two other poor blocks.

http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-09/sports/31038338_1_perry-fewell-gronkowski-and-aaron-hernandez-wes-welker/4

 

[Rob0729]

I thought I remembered Berdard saying he was benched in a chat shortly after the game. This is what I found when I google it....



Patriots? offense a failure in Super Bowl - Page 4 - Boston.com

You left out this part right after it:

Vollmer (three hurries, knockdown) didn’t do much better. Everyone had trouble against Tuck (two sacks, three hurries, knockdown, stuffed run). Mankins (sack, two hurries, stuffed run, penalty) didn’t cover himself in Super Bowl glory. Waters (half hurry, knockdown, penalty) was solid. Connolly (knockdown) and Light (knockdown, stuffed run) were excellent.

So the half of o-line sucking isn't so much a damnation on Solder as an individual player. Also, did Bedard count Solder's stats at TE too because on the first offensive play of the game, he was a TE on that safety which might have been one of his QB hurries allowed. You know blowing guys like JPP can do wonders (or disasters) for your performance. Luckily, there are only about two DEs in the league as good as JPP.

 

[The_Riddler]

Well, at least we can say he wasn't overpaid in 2010.

I assume the RT Bedard is talking about is Solder since he got benched for Vollmer in the 2nd half. Solder really struggled in the playoffs which worries me about how ready he is for next year at LT. Hopefully the full offseason which greatly benefit him.

Vollmer was the one who had issues, re-watch the game.

 

[Gronkandez]

Vollmer was the one who had issues, re-watch the game.

Whether or not Vollmer or anyone else struggled in the game isn't the point...unless any of those guys are the ones protecting Brady's blindside next year.

The bottomline is Solder wasn't out there much in the second half. Maybe that's b/c BB likes to go with the "Cold Hand." You're right, I overlooked that possibility.

Here is part of Reiss's 3 Up 3 Down after the Ravens game. My only point is that he struggled in the playoffs last year. Not sure why people are so sensitive about that.

Down

Nate Solder -- Right tackle is beaten by Paul Kruger for a first-quarter sack on first down, which puts the Patriots in long yardage situations as they settle for a field goal. The play highlights the Patriots' struggles in the red zone as they score two touchdowns in five trips, setting for field goals on the other three.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4715675/3-up-3-down-for-the-patriots-25