OL -- next man up

This is getting ridiculous. The Pats are literally down to 5 OL at the moment.

Fortunately, it's 1 1/2 weeks to the next game, and 4 guys at least have the possibility of returning quickly (Cannon, Mason, Jackson, Stork).

I wonder how much Stork or Andrews will practice at guard. I'm not seeing that as an attractive option for Stork, since he needs practice reps at his primary position. And I'm wondering about Andrews at guard physically.

That's going to be a very good question- BB isn't known for fixing something that isn't broken. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I'm not worried about our interior as much as I'm worried about our tackles. Our #3 tackle is a steep drop-off in talent.

I wonder if BB has any DL take reps at OL just in case.

Or maybe one of our eleventy billion safeties can take a crack at it.

Fencer said:

I'm not seeing that as an attractive option for Stork, since he needs practice reps at his primary position. And I'm wondering about Andrews at guard physically.

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Well Stork has history at G and Andrews doesn't.

Paper thin, can't wait to see where we are in 10 days.

I said it in the game thread. Why waste a roster spot on some useless 8th safety who couldn't cut it on Indy. That would have been a roster spot better spent on a position of need, such as OL

I really think BB brings in another tackle.

Foxyboro said:

I said it in the game thread. Why waste a roster spot on some useless 8th safety who couldn't cut it on Indy. That would have been a roster spot better spent on a position of need, such as OL

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You should call up BB and let him know

Foxyboro said:

I said it in the game thread. Why waste a roster spot on some useless 8th safety who couldn't cut it on Indy. That would have been a roster spot better spent on a position of need, such as OL

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It could be for a number of reasons:

1) Emergency CB depth due to injury, which may force McCourty into seeing more reps there. It's possible that one of those players would play a limited role at his usual position, or force the safeties to move around a bit in terms of the depth chart

2) STs role for wedge players, due to some recent injuries to guys like Bolden

3) A possible competition to replace a guy like Tavon Wilson, who coincidentally (or not), would save approximately 900,000 dollars against the cap

4) Belichick has simply had an eye on one/two of these players for developmental purposes

5) Belichick recognizes that the team is strong in most areas, and is taking a shot by planning ahead for safeties

6) He's just trying to piss you off

supafly said:

It could be for a number of reasons:

1) Emergency CB depth due to injury, which may force McCourty into seeing more reps there. It's possible that one of those players would play a limited role at his usual position, or force the safeties to move around a bit in terms of the depth chart

2) STs role for wedge players, due to some recent injuries to guys like Bolden

3) A possible competition to replace a guy like Tavon Wilson, who coincidentally (or not), would save approximately 900,000 dollars against the cap

4) Belichick has simply had an eye on one/two of these players for developmental purposes

5) Belichick recognizes that the team is strong in most areas, and is taking a shot by planning ahead for safeties

6) He's just trying to piss you off

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Listed in reverse order of likelihood, of course.

Foxyboro said:

I said it in the game thread. Why waste a roster spot on some useless 8th safety who couldn't cut it on Indy. That would have been a roster spot better spent on a position of need, such as OL

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They all play special teams.

It's why they're the best special teams unit in the league.

Foxyboro said:

I said it in the game thread. Why waste a roster spot on some useless 8th safety who couldn't cut it on Indy. That would have been a roster spot better spent on a position of need, such as OL

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Just because something is currently beyond our understanding doesn't mean it is a waste.

Just because we won, doesn't mean we're not cutting it too close for comfort. Having just 6 true OL dressed for a game, especially a game where power running was a significant part of the game plan, is not something teams normally do. We already had 7 safeties, most of whom play special teams.

It's not weird to be puzzled that they would use that roster spot on an 8th safety instead of a position where they are hurting.

supafly said:

It could be for a number of reasons:

1) Emergency CB depth due to injury, which may force McCourty into seeing more reps there. It's possible that one of those players would play a limited role at his usual position, or force the safeties to move around a bit in terms of the depth chart

2) STs role for wedge players, due to some recent injuries to guys like Bolden

3) A possible competition to replace a guy like Tavon Wilson, who coincidentally (or not), would save approximately 900,000 dollars against the cap

4) Belichick has simply had an eye on one/two of these players for developmental purposes

5) Belichick recognizes that the team is strong in most areas, and is taking a shot by planning ahead for safeties

6) He's just trying to piss you off

Click to expand...

3 and 4 are my thoughts.