Dante Scarnecchia still involved with Patriots in his retirement

Apparently Dante, even though he's retired, still helped the Patriots with their offensive line picks:

Scarnecchia worked out both players and was highly impressed with their football minds, and he relayed that to the coaching staff and scouting department. Scarnecchia also passed along word the Florida State coaching staff was enamored with Stork.

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Link

Scar deserves to be in the NEP Hall of Fame for what he has done for this franchise. I liked the picks before and like them even more now.

I wasn't crazy about the picks at first, but I definitely think Stork and Halipio can beat out Wendell and Connolly this year.

Dont see Halipio start really, unless both Cannon and Fleming starts as backups. Halipio may / could / try / not gonna happen / dream on / etc replace Mankins in a year. That sayed, he is a 6 round pick for a reason, even if Patriots "only" getting 4 years of backup guard, it's still worth the pick.

Luxusdk said:

Dont see Halipio start really, unless both Cannon and Fleming starts as backups. Halipio may / could / try / not gonna happen / dream on / etc replace Mankins in a year. That sayed, he is a 6 round pick for a reason, even if Patriots "only" getting 4 years of backup guard, it's still worth the pick.

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Halipio fell because of injury. Besides, you can find great interior linemen late in the draft.

Was hoping that he would still be a part of the OL development even though retired. This seems to be a good sign. Hopefully he can come in and tutor every now and then.

Agreed. Glad to see Scar had a voice in peppering the OL with hot prospects like Halapino.

The Pats O-line looks to be bigger, but I don't see a change in attitude. Stork is the same size as Connolly, Fleming is approximately the same size as Solder/Vollmer, and Halapio is smaller then Canon.

Stork sounds like a hardass just like Mankins. All the newcomers were team captains and are smart. NO change as far as I see.

AzPatsFan said:

The Pats O-line looks to be bigger, but I don't see a change in attitude. Stork is the same size as Connolly, Fleming is approximately the same size as Solder/Vollmer, and Halapio is smaller then Canon.

Stork sounds like a hardass just like Mankins. All the newcomers were team captains and are smart. NO change as far as I see.

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The change is in the size of the center and right guard. Stork is larger and meaner than Wendell. Cannon is larger than Connolly.

flasox27 said:

The change is in the size of the center and right guard. Stork is larger and meaner than Wendell. Cannon is larger than Connolly.

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No one is tougher or meaner than game, but undersized, tough-guy, Wendell. He wouldn't have ever been in the League otherwise.

I was just pointing out that the probable new big starters were already on the roster, in Connolly and Canon, and both have been blooded. Still BB probably won't have to play a raw rook with the size upgrade, until ready.

Thanks Again

I'm glad that since Dante retired he's found this new hobby. Keep em comin.

After he left, and we drafted players to "replace his guys" Connolly and Wendell, I was a little bit ambiguous about the "retirement" of Scarnecchia.

Apparently, all is well. I'm glad to see we parted with a great relationship in-tact.

WAR SCAR: what an unbelievable resume as a position coach.

If ever there were a person who deserves an exemption to the waiting period for the Pats Hall of Fame, it's Scar.

Yes, arguably more than BB and TFB.

I liked the OL picks before and I like them even more now

AzPatsFan said:

The Pats O-line looks to be bigger, but I don't see a change in attitude. Stork is the same size as Connolly, Fleming is approximately the same size as Solder/Vollmer, and Halapio is smaller then Canon.

Stork sounds like a hardass just like Mankins. All the newcomers were team captains and are smart. NO change as far as I see.

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Halapio is a pretty tough dude himself, having played through the 2013 season with a torn pectoral muscle injury in where he only missed two games. As you mentioned, he is another team captain, and one of the scouting report positives claims that he was "hard to beat in one vs one matchups."

Do I think he's going to be the second coming of John Hannah? Of course not, but I do like the value of the 3 OL picks when viewing the position itself. The ability to simply remove one of the duo of Wendell/Connelly could go a long way towards seeing some improvement in my opinion.

At the moment we have Solder, Mankins, Wendell/Connelly, Cannon, and Vollmer. In the wings we have Kline who filled in for a game or two last season without looking too shabby, and the 3 new OL picks. The main positive that I see is additional competition and better depth.

AzPatsFan said:

No one is tougher or meaner than game, but undersized, tough-guy, Wendell. He wouldn't have ever been in the League otherwise.

I was just pointing out that the probable new big starters were already on the roster, in Connolly and Canon, and both have been blooded. Still BB probably won't have to play a raw rook with the size upgrade, until ready.

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Even if you're the toughest guy in the entire world, it still doesn't help if you are the weakest link on the line, and also weak enough to require double-team help. I think this in part, hurt Mankin's game.

I initially thought that maybe Stork could start the 2nd half, but the more I think about it, the more I hope we'll see him sooner.

Great news. Respect Scar so much. When it comes to draft picks it is such a crap shoot. I love to pre-draft fall in love with players. But let's face it, I know as much about the whole process of the rest of us. Nothing. To have Scar on board makes me feel confident that these guys have a fighting chance. Can see Stork starting sooner rather than later. The rest will need to wait a bit. It is a rebuilding mentality with any draft pick.