10 days in - Josh and the boys are ready

Why is the OL weaker? Unless Light and Waters retire, it's deeper and better. Signed Robert Gallery. Solder will be much better with an off-season to work with scar. Marcus Cannon won't be fighting cancer. Time table for Mankins return is 6 months. Beginning August. Not worried about the OL at all. Unless Light and Waters retire. Until they do. I have them on the team. After all, they are signed and stand to make pretty good $$$.

Ridley losses a fumble on a play he was spread out as a receiver when the game was a blow out and now he is labeled a fumbler.

Ya I know he fumbled against Buffalo but it wasn't a turnover.

There is no doubt that Belichick is going to have Fears coach Ridley to death on ball security.

And Vereen showed what he could do in that Chiefs game he gets consistent carries of the ball. 8 for 39 and a TD all on the Pats last drive of that game.

Joker said:

Did you see his upper body??? krist, he was built ...but then...those freakin' chicken legs...yeah, I thought he was going to be a player...

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I was excited about The Crab. Saw him rush the QB in camp well. Looking at his Chris Canty chicken legs I figured an off season in the Pats vaunted conditioning program would address this flaw. I was wrong.

Joker said:

agreed 100%..if it was me, EVERY pick would be an edge rushing monster...Bill just never fails to confound my football judgement, but , as I've posted about six years ago, I gave up questioning his personnel decisions,. saving what little sanity I have.

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I think protecting the franchise trumps any defensive holes that need to be filled.

TheComeback said:

I think we need more OL before they're ready.

Gallery is a good insurance policy, but there's no guarantee Waters is coming back. Mankins is a question mark with the ACL injury. Light might retire, which could force Cannon to play tackle. Vollmer may have back problems, on top of it all.

I wouldn't be surprised if they drafted OL with a 1st or 2nd round pick

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I wouldn't consider Mankins a question mark. ACL surgery is routine these days and virtually everyone comes back from it as stronger or stronger.

JMC00 said:

Ridley losses a fumble on a play he was spread out as a receiver when the game was a blow out and now he is labeled a fumbler.

Ya I know he fumbled against Buffalo but it wasn't a turnover.

There is no doubt that Belichick is going to have Fears coach Ridley to death on ball security.

And Vereen showed what he could do in that Chiefs game he gets consistent carries of the ball. 8 for 39 and a TD all on the Pats last drive of that game.

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Ridley's fumbling problems have been well documented going back to his time at LSU. The Patriots benched him because he doesn't hold the ball correctly, regardless of how many times he fumbled. There's no need to excuse him.

However I wouldn't say the running game is "weaker." Odd statement, since we have no idea what Vereen can give us. He could be bad, he could be great. You just don't know either way.

If Ridley learns proper ball handling technique then he's a clear upgrade from Law Firm. And they'll almost certainly sign an adequate #4 back before training camp. Maybe Thomas Clayton again? I thought he looked pretty solid in preseason last year for a JAG

Jackson 2 said:

I wouldn't consider Mankins a question mark. ACL surgery is routine these days and virtually everyone comes back from it as stronger or stronger.

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Not always true. Welker had a pretty weak year by his standards after coming off his ACL injury. Brady was solid but wasn't really himself until 2010.

My point was that you don't know how Mankins will react until he gets back on the field. Belichick will hope for the best and plan for the worst.

TheComeback said:

I think we need more OL before they're ready.

Gallery is a good insurance policy, but there's no guarantee Waters is coming back. Mankins is a question mark with the ACL injury. Light might retire, which could force Cannon to play tackle. Vollmer may have back problems, on top of it all.

I wouldn't be surprised if they drafted OL with a 1st or 2nd round pick

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Agreed. I think we draft a Center with one of our 2nd rd picks (won't be shocked if it's our 1st rd pick - although I really hope it's not). I'm assuming we trade the 2nd 1st rd pick and get another 2nd rounder out of it - of which one, I think, will be used on Center.

Mosi Moose said:

Agreed. I think we draft a Center with one of our 2nd rd picks (won't be shocked if it's our 1st rd pick - although I really hope it's not). I'm assuming we trade the 2nd 1st rd pick and get another 2nd rounder out of it - of which one, I think, will be used on Center.

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Why is C such a big need? We signed our starting center for 3 years. He'll be 30 by the time the season starts. So, he's not going to be too old to play out his contract? We have a good backup in Wendell who is 26 and an emergency 3RD C Nick McDonald who is 25.


Only way I would draft an OL is if Light and/or Waters retire. Even then. We have their replacements already. Solder and Gallery. Looking for young depth to develop. Don't have to use premium picks on OL depth.

DarrylS said:

Whoever they sign does not matter, they will pick another offensive lineman in the first four picks... BB has been rebuilding this team on the fly, and he knows that you have to balance the line between young and old to protect the franchise..

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I totally agree. Let's say he uses all four 1st and 2nd rounders, one of them will be an offensive lineman - possibly a center. Solder last last year was a great selection who will get better this year with a full off-season with Scarnecchia. Depth behind Connolly or replacing him is a wise move.

Brady has plenty of experienced receivers around him. The line is the main area of draft need on offense.

The remaining three picks should be on defense - particularly up front where the Patriots are oldest.

mgteich said:

I agree. I would be very satisfied indeed if we drafted a couple of DE's and a safety, and then drafted a couple of offensive linemen.

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I don't expect us to draft any OL.
We have young players at both T spots and the primary T backup spot (and possibly Light as well) Mankins is here long term and Connolly semi long term. We just signed Gallery in case Waters retires. We have Wendel and Thomas for additional depth. Aside from Mankins, I don't ever remember BB using a pick in the first 3 or even 4 rounds on an interior OL.
If we had late rounds picks I could see a developmental OL, but not in the top 4 rounds. No need and no developmental picks available.

patsfaninpa said:

Why is C such a big need? We signed our starting center for 3 years. He'll be 30 by the time the season starts. So, he's not going to be too old to play out his contract? We have a good backup in Wendell who is 26 and an emergency 3RD C Nick McDonald who is 25.


Only way I would draft an OL is if Light and/or Waters retire. Even then. We have their replacements already. Solder and Gallery. Looking for young depth to develop. Don't have to use premium picks on OL depth.

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Connolly is not a true center. He was a tackle all through college and played guard in Mankins spot before Koppen went down and he shifted to center. He's a great backup since he can play everywhere and somebody is always getting hurt. The Pats need a young center with size and excellent fundamentals.

I'd love to see the Pats get the big guy out of Baylor who snapped the ball to RG3 - Phillip Blake - he'll be the 3rd or 4th center off the board.

TheComeback said:

Ridley's fumbling problems have been well documented going back to his time at LSU.

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Ridley had three fumbles in 323 touches at LSU according to these stats :

Stevan Ridley, LSU, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com

The two in 2010 were in the same game in September. A little more than we're used to but one fumble in 2009 plus one bad ball security game in 2010 is hardly "fumbling problems have been well documented going back to his time at LSU".

Faulk had a ball security problem that was fixed....I'm sure Ridley's minor problem will be fixed also. :rocker:

TheComeback said:

Not always true. Welker had a pretty weak year by his standards after coming off his ACL injury. Brady was solid but wasn't really himself until 2010.

My point was that you don't know how Mankins will react until he gets back on the field. Belichick will hope for the best and plan for the worst.

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Welker's was MCL and ACL- big difference.

TheComeback said:

Not always true. Welker had a pretty weak year by his standards after coming off his ACL injury. Brady was solid but wasn't really himself until 2010.

My point was that you don't know how Mankins will react until he gets back on the field. Belichick will hope for the best and plan for the worst.

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Not to beat a dead horse, but Welker and Brady both had MCL - no comparison to ACL. I don't mind anyone being skeptical, but you really do need to know the difference. It's huge.

RhodyPatriot said:

Josh and the boys are ready for who?? The Giants?? The Ravens??
I think not.
Seems to me all the Pats have done is sign WR's and lose their only steady RB. OL is weaker and the QB is a year older.

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What exactly have the Ravens and Giants done to improve? What's that? Nothing? Correct. And who has half the picks the Pats do in the first 2 rounds?

The Ravens? And the Giants? The hell you say!

Why would it matter if Koppen is coming back btw? How may games did he play?

BlueThunder said:

Faulk had a ball security problem that was fixed....I'm sure Ridley's minor problem will be fixed also. :rocker:

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Tiki Barber was historically bad and they fixed him.

Jackson 2 said:

Not to beat a dead horse, but Welker and Brady both had MCL - no comparison to ACL. I don't mind anyone being skeptical, but you really do need to know the difference. It's huge.

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Either you need to learn how to reword your sentences, or you are completely wrong. Brady and Welker DID tear their ACLS.

ProudestRyno said:

Either you need to learn how to reword your sentences, or you are completely wrong. Brady and Welker DID tear their ACLS.

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And their MCLs.