Connolly and Wendell – Only room for 1

[hwc]

Between his chronic back problems and a very serious leg injury last year, I don't think it's at all a given that Volmer is able to return to football. I hope he can, but we certainly can't count on it right now.

 

[mgteich]

It has not been demonstrated that this was a deep draft class for offensive linemen. Hilapio has a good chance because he was devalued because of injury.

Mankins is at the end of his career??????? You will be shocked at his next contract bonus. It is true that Mankins may make more than the patriots are willing to pay.

There are lots of scenarios in which Hilapio makes the team. For me, he is straight up a better talent than Kline. HOWEVER, he has to show this in camp. After all, Kline showed that he can start. It seems that as of now, Kline is the most likely cut, unless Belichick wants to save cap money on Connolly, as Miguel has been suggesting for months. Cutting Wendell makes sense only to those on message boards.

AS OF NOW
We are in fine shape with last year's starters starting, although many hope that Cannon can start at RG.
I would keep Kline and Cannon as game Day backups, and the 3 developmental players. Of course, Stork can start as soon as Belichick is sure that he can call all the signals. 10 is a lot, but this will be reduced by an injury or two (or a disappointment) before Game 1.

The reality is that the veterans are very vulnerable for 2015. Cannon and Connolly are UFA's. Vollmer is
always a health issue. Mankins may not be worth $7M to us. Wendell is, well, Wendell. Solder will be in his contract year, wanting a big extension, even though he too has been injured. So, BOTTOM LINE, we need to keep our youngsters.

A LONG TIME AGO,
I indicated that one of Wendell or Connolly might need to go for cap reasons. However, I also said that the solution was to extend one or both of them. Wendell has already been extended at backup pay. He is a reasonable 2015 backup for Stork. THe spotlight now moves to Connolly and Cannon. IMHO, it makes sense to extend of one of them at backup pay if we can.

I apologize then if I was defensive.

To answer your question, I think Halapio makes the team, my reasoning is that he was the third player selected in the sixth round in a very deep draft class, I also assume he was drafted in tandem with Easley so he was scout extensively by the Patriots both on tape and in person. Most of all he has a lot of talent, and with Mankins, and Connolly both at the end of their careers, Cannon entering UFA after the season and Wendell being a UDFA JAG who struggle badly in pass blocking last season I cannot see us putting a player of Halapio talent on waivers to be scooped up by another team.

I also think that unless a serious injury occurs it is likely that Wendell or Connolly would remain as UFAs during the season and could be resigned if need be.

 

[mgteich]

Special Teams. Isn't Connoly still an upback? Was Wendell a Special Teamer?

Connolly is our best kick returner, certainly our #2.

 

[mgteich]

A STRANGE THOUGHT

If Cannon starts at RG, we will have FOUR tackles in our starting lineup. We will have our backup LT and backup RT playing LG and RG respectively.

 

[Brady6]

A STRANGE THOUGHT

If Cannon starts at RG, we will have FOUR tackles in our starting lineup. We will have our backup LT and backup RT playing LG and RG respectively.

Realistically Mankins is not our backup LT he moved outside for one game when Solder, Vollmer, and Svitek were all out and Cannon was playing on an injured ankle.

If Solder was out for an extended period of time Vollmer would move to LT, Cannon move out to RT, and who ever our backup guard is would play RG.

 

[deters]

I'd rather have Connolly over Wendell any day of the week. Hoping Stork becomes the starting center and our OL looks like...

Solder - Mankins - Stork - Connolly/Cannon - Seabass

 

[patchick]

IMO the choice between Wendell and Connolly isn't simply about caliber of player or even cost, it's about the kind of player. Connolly can play all three interior line positions, which should earn him an gameday active slot even if he's not starting. Wendell, as a pure center, is harder to make room for on the roster unless he's starting game 1.

(As for Hilapio, I don't consider him a "near lock" because I'm just not high on the player. He was my least favorite draft pick this year. I would be delighted to be proved wrong, though.)

 

[IcyPatriot]

Right now, I see these OL as near locks to make the 53-man roster –

- Nate Solder
- Sebastian Vollmer
- Logan Mankins
- Marcus Cannon
- Bryan Stork
- Cameron Fleming
- Jon Halapio

In addition to those 7 players it appears the Patriots like Josh Kline a lot, so that puts the team at 8 offensive lineman. That leads to me to think at best we only have room for Connolly or Wendell, and that is if we decide to keep 9 lineman, and players like Cave, Barker, etc. do nothing to impress in camp.

Do you think Connolly or Wendell makes the team, or do you think neither?

No way 2 of Stork, Fleming or Halapio are on the field at the same time unless we have suffered serious injuries. Someone will end up on the practice squad and/or the phantom IR injury and both Connolly and Wendell will be on the 53. You don't build up the entire team and have 2 rookie's on the OL at the same time IMO. If there's injuries that is what will happen if all 3 make the 53.

 

[mgteich]

No way 2 of Stork, Fleming or Halapio are on the field at the same time unless we have suffered serious injuries. Someone will end up on the practice squad and/or the phantom IR injury and both Connolly and Wendell will be on the 53. You don't build up the entire team and have 2 rookie's on the OL at the same time IMO. If there's injuries that is what will happen if all 3 make the 53.

1) I guess it's my turn to remind folks that no patriot rookie has ever spent the year on IR and had a successful career. The phantom injury scenario is itself a phantom.

2) No 4th rounder has failed to make the 53 under Belichick, unless he was put on the IR (a precursor to failure). Kareem Brown was cut a few games into the season.

3) We can bring back our starting six offensive linemen from last year (including Cannon). ONE of the rookies can be active on Game Day. The other two would be inactive. This presumes that we have all 10 linemen healthy for the start of the season. Kline would be the odd man out, or Hilapio.

Alternatively, Wendell could be beaten out for a roster spot by Kline, with Stork active as the starting center or backup center. Kline would be active. AGAIN, 6 of the 7 active OL's would be the same as last year.

Finally, the team could choose to cut Connolly (a truly bad idea) and have one of the rookies active on Game Day, likely Stork since he would be the only other center besides Wendell.

 

[supafly]

I agree that both Wendell and Connelly could be candidates to be let go, and that getting rid of this un-dynamic duo should definitely help the cause.

I for one, really like the prospects of our OL--both current and future.

 

[supafly]

No way 2 of Stork, Fleming or Halapio are on the field at the same time unless we have suffered serious injuries. Someone will end up on the practice squad and/or the phantom IR injury and both Connolly and Wendell will be on the 53. You don't build up the entire team and have 2 rookie's on the OL at the same time IMO. If there's injuries that is what will happen if all 3 make the 53.

I'm not as sure that we'd definitely need to have 2 rookie OL on the field at the same time, especially if one of Connelly/Wendell is kept. There's still the prospect of having Josh Kline hold down a spot in the interior as well, particularly if they keep 9 OL like I assume they will.

I see:

1.Solder
2.Mankins
3.ONE of Connelly/Wendell
4.Cannon
5.Vollmer
6.Kline
7.Stork
8.Fleming
9.Halapio

I'm counting 4 tackles (Solder, Vollmer, Cannon, and Fleming), and 5 interior players (Mankins, Stork, Halapio, Kline, and ONE of Connelly/Wendell).

I think it would take a pretty bad injury situation to need to use 2 rookie OL at the same time, and even then Belichick would likely search for outside help.

I think that the 3 rookie prospects provide a good future addition to the corp, especially since Dante Scarnecchia made several trips to their college campuses to look at them, work them out, etc. I think that Belichick will attempt to take advantage of this aspect.

 

[BTTA]

I see:
1.Solder
2.Mankins
3.ONE of Connelly/Wendell
4.Cannon
5.Vollmer
6.Kline
7.Stork
8.Fleming
9.Halapio

The most important thing here isn't those bottom two, but that Stork play well enough to move up at least in front of Kline, and by the end of the season, to #3 on this list.

 

[BTTA]

The Pats do, by they way, already have the second best OL in the league:
Ranking the best and worst offensive lines in the NFL | SportsonEarth.com : Mike Tanier article

 

[50-yard-line]

I apologize then if I was defensive.

To answer your question, I think Halapio makes the team, my reasoning is that he was the third player selected in the sixth round in a very deep draft class, I also assume he was drafted in tandem with Easley so he was scout extensively by the Patriots both on tape and in person. Most of all he has a lot of talent,

Haven't been around for a while, but weren't you shouting on draft day that this was an awful pick and that Halapio basically stunk?

 

[patfanken]

The Pats do, by they way, already have the second best OL in the league: http://www.sportsonearth.com/articl...-new-england-patriots-baltimore-ravens#!T0jDm

I think this guy hit the nail on the head. He acknowledged the issues, but pointed out the strengths that most here seem to want to ignore. In the end the sum is greater than the individual parts and the depth is pretty much unrivaled.

You can count me among those where were disappointed with 3 OLmen in the draft. .I would have been fine with 1, OK with 2, but 3 seemed excessive and unnecessary, especially when one of those picks could have been used on LB depth. That being said, they are here now, and it will becomes very interesting in seeing how fast they develop.

One thing I find intriguing about the OL picks is that we seem to be starting to move from the smaller agile type of OLman, to a bigger more powerful model. It will be interesting to see if along with a new OL coach, we will be be changing our philosophy on blocking schemes. For me at least, it will be one of the big questions I will have when I watch TC practices.

As for who stays and who goes, camp competition is going to be at a very high level. The upgrade along the DL is going to force the OL to play better and thus improve the final product. There are very legit scenarios that would have either Wendell or Connolly being cut, but there are equally legitimate scenarios where they both stay.

I'd love to think that Stork could come in and win the job. He simply has more physical talent than Wendell or Connolly. However I also think its too optimistic to believe that could happen right out of the gate. That being said, my fantasy OL if everything breaks perfectly would be Solder, Mankins, Stork, Cannon and Volmer. That's a big and powerful OL.

Unfortunately it looks like Cannon is stuck playing swing T and Stork is doomed to pay his dues for a year before he become our C for the next decade. The one thing that I'm certain of is that the Pats will keep only 9 OLmen, so something has got to give.

BTW- for those who are worried about Volmer's health, it was VERY encouraging that he was his participation was unlimited during the first OTA's

 

[Brady6]

Haven't been around for a while, but weren't you shouting on draft day that this was an awful pick and that Halapio basically stunk?

Yes I was, I was not high on the pick, I am still not, I just believe Belichick and his staff feels differently.

He is talented, I just felt he was a bad fit for our scheme because he is slow footed.

 

[Nunchucks]

I think it is far to early to make any roster determinations on the OL.

 

[Brady6]

No way 2 of Stork, Fleming or Halapio are on the field at the same time unless we have suffered serious injuries. Someone will end up on the practice squad and/or the phantom IR injury and both Connolly and Wendell will be on the 53. You don't build up the entire team and have 2 rookie's on the OL at the same time IMO. If there's injuries that is what will happen if all 3 make the 53.

I think the ideal depth chart would be –

LT – Solder
LG – Mankins, Kline
OC – Connolly, Stork
RG – Cannon, Halapio
RT – Vollmer, Fleming

 

[patchick]

He is talented, I just felt he was a bad fit for our scheme because he is slow footed.

I think it's pretty clear that's changing. Cannon, Stork, Fleming and Hilapio -- the last 4 Pats' OL draft picks -- all point to a power blocking scheme.

 

[Ring 6]

Yes I was, I was not high on the pick, I am still not, I just believe Belichick and his staff feels differently.

He is talented, I just felt he was a bad fit for our scheme because he is slow footed.

I don't get your thought process.
You conclude that since Belichick used a 6th round pick on the guy (as we saw well less than half of them end up on a roster) he loves him, but he must hate Connolly who has started for him for 4 years and Wendell who has started for him for 2, and he just gave a new contract to him.

If Halapio ends up doing for the Patriots what either Connolly or Wendell have BB will tell you that he got way more than he ever expected from the pick.

I'm also not sure how Kline passed these guys on the depth chart but didn't play ahead of them last season.