Bryan Stork SUPERSTAR!

patchick said:

There are a lot of moving pieces inside, but I'd lean toward:

LT- Vollmer
LG- Klein
C- Stork
RG- Mason
RT- Cannon

IMO Kline has quietly become a solid starting OG, and has played both very consistently and very well. And a right side of Cannon and Jackson is massive but incredibly slow-footed.

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I think Jackson gets a bad rap for his feet. I think he meets the team's standard for that position. He does a nice job getting out there in space. BB highlighted a couple of plays vs MIA that he did a decent job getting out there and run blocking.

With that said Kline has really raised his game. He is absolutely a starting-caliber G.

Sicilian said:

I think the bottom line is, if all of the OL that aren't already on IR come back healthy, we have plenty of options to find the best five. I'm comfortable with our OL depth, assuming everyone is able to return (and there are no other injuries, of course).

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The word "depth" is a confusing word.

Some people equate depth=quantity which is the wrong way to look at it.

There is no question that the Pats are lacking depth in quantity but the QUALITY of the amount of depth they have is very, very good.

I feel comfortable saying that if faced with same amount of injuries on the OL as the Pats have, 99% of the other NFL teams would be royally screwed.

With how quickly TB12 gets the ball out, calls the protections and gets out of bad plays and how well the coaching staff coaches and prepares these guys, they just absorb it and continue on....

Its really special to watch (unfortunately)

patchick said:

Hear, hear!

And a second round of cheers to Cam Fleming, who had never played left tackle, ever. Not even in high school. (The flip from right side to left is often underestimated -- many say it's a bigger adjustment than tackle vs. guard.)

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I am glad someone brought up Cameron Flemming who gets little respect around here and is already 10 times better than Marcus Cannon. Bryan Stork didn't look out of place at RT either a little shorter than we would like but he kept his guy in front of him.

Credit I think to the guy who drafts these players. Amazing to put an OC at RT and see no dropoff in play, and have him actually come away thinking that the position change was kinda fun. The run game was terrific, the pass protection was sound. Maybe Washington is just that bad, but I have to believe this is just terrific planning.

That points to (1) players who are just ballers (2) crazy good coaching and preparation (3) scheme smart (4) something magic in the water in Foxboro (5) more probable than not cheating of some kind.

And let's not forget, Mike Williams seemed completely viable at RT, too!! If for some reason we need to go... let's see... (1) Solder (2) Vollmer (3) Cannon (4) Fleming (5) Stork (6) Williams... six players deep at OT with no visible drop-off in productivity... how can we make that work?

I am reminded of the years when BB started playing Troy Brown as the emergency slot CB, out of necessity. And that worked too.

robertweathers said:

I respectfully disagree.

If I had a my magic wand and pixie dust.....

LT- Vollmer
LG- Mason
C- Stork (but very comfortable with Andrews there. Just think Stork brings more to the running game)
RG- Jackson
RT- Cannon

A G gets hurt you slide Stork/Kline to the G slot
A T gets hurt you have Fleming/Stork or worst case Williams.

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I think Kline and Andrews are too good for the bench. This is a great problem to have though once the OL is fully healthy.

patsinthesnow said:

I think Kline and Andrews are too good for the bench. This is a great problem to have though once the OL is fully healthy.

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Putting Kline on the bench is putting your best playing OL this season on the bench.

patsinthesnow said:

I think Kline and Andrews are too good for the bench. This is a great problem to have though once the OL is fully healthy.

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So that puts Stork/Jackson/Mason on the pine.

This isn't a high-class problem...this is a Warren Buffett problem

patchick said:

IMO, Stork and Andrews are cut from the same cloth: tough, smart guys who LOVE football. The thing is, Stork is cut from a much bigger piece of that cloth.

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I'd add Shaq Mason in there.

He is an agggressive BEAST.

I think they keep Andrews at C for continuity, as he has been outstanding all season long, and with the fact that Stork has proven himself flexible down the line.

We need a streak of luck though regarding health. This Washington run D has been weak all year long and there is no guarantee our mash up OL can continue success against a more formidable front.

This will be interesting to follow where these guys land. I would feel much safer with Vollmer back at LT. While Stork held up, Washington is pretty sad in generating pressure in general.

Luxusdk said:

Honestly shouldn't "Guge" be in the conversation as Coach of the year? I mean, you can give the reward to BB or Josh, but why not give to the horse instead of the riders?

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He should, but COY is limited to HCs.

ctpatsfan77 said:

He should, but COY is limited to HCs.

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I think there's some kind of assistant of the year award now. I don't know how official or widely recognized it is.

When's cannon coming back? Call me crazy but i have faith in this guy getting the job done

Before we go too far in trying to pick The Very Best Five, please recall that none of these guys is known for his durability. In fact, that's a big part of why we're having this conversation.

(No rookie is known for his durability, period. Only after a guy is through the "rookie wall" should he enter any kind of "proven durability" discussion.)

shmessy said:

Easily the MVP of the game yesterday.

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shmessy said:

Does anyone realize what this guy did yesterday??????

In his FIRST action of the season, he starts out playing a different position than what he played last year - - Guard.

Then when Vollmer goes down, he takes over at Right Tackle.

The man has played Center, Guard and Tackle - - the two new ones yesterday.....in his first NFL action since February 2015.


......and Brady was not sacked once and our running game (ex of 2 QB kneel downs) mauled the opposition for 159yds on 35 carries (4.54 avg).

INCREDIBLE.

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He reminds me of Mankins, he is best at OC but able to step in when needed.

nfl.com seems to have issues with out Oline:" New England has always been incredibly deep at running back, especially for a team that is underwhelming at best across their offensive line."

I think Mason is a LG.

Whats the latest injury update on Jackson and Cannon? I'm wondering when they are expected to be 100%

I just laugh now with those suggestions of trading either Andrews or stork because they both play center. To scared to think out of the box that either of them can switch positions. You don't trade players that perform well that are on rookie contracts.