Have the Pats already addressed the O-line issues??

AndyJohnson said:

Apparently BB sees the G position the same way I do.
cooper immediately becomes the #1 G Mason Jackson and Kline can battle for the other spot and hopefully we being in a vet JAG to compete with them.

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no way BB just gives #1 to a player who hasn't earned it on the practice field and in the locker room.

cooper gets to compete with the other OL players on the roster, and vice versa. may the best win, that just makes the team stronger whichever way it comes out.

If bb could package 60 and 61 to move up for spriggs, that would solve the backup tackle/future starter problem.

50-yard-line said:

Aside from all of that, I'm still trying to figure out why you hate Andrews so much. Granted, I'm a layman and only have my eyeballs to tell me, but I thought the line got much worse when they took him out and put Stork in there (and I really like Stork - thought he should have gone to Guard with all the injuries). I'm hoping Andrews put on a few pounds of muscle, bcause I thought his smarts at C were pretty great.

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Consider that Andrews contributed a lot toward the NEP being as steady and good during the first half of last season. All of a sudden the NEP were 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 and it kept going with Andrews starting at C. And he wasn't a top pick...came out of nowhere and more than held his own. Then Pats fans started asking questions...where did he play, etc... Personally, I ended up digging into a Dan Reeves connection where the former NFL coach is just not surprised at the success that Andrews had last season.

"I love football. It's what I've done since I was 6 years old. It kind of clicks to me and makes sense. I wish I could major in coaching." (David Andrews)

"He is a better player than he is an athlete. He has excellent quickness and remarkable explosion in his small area. Nobody is smarter or adapts to situations better than David." (Offensive line coach at Georgia, Will Friend)

LINK-> Starter or not, rookie center David Andrews is a great fit with the New England Patriots

Rhodey said:

Consider that Andrews contributed a lot toward the NEP being as steady and good during the first half of last season. All of a sudden the NEP were 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 and it kept going with Andrews starting at C. And he wasn't a top pick...came out of nowhere and more than held his own. Then Pats fans started asking questions...where did he play, etc... Personally, I ended up digging into a Dan Reeves connection where the former NFL coach is just not surprised at the success that Andrews had last season.

"I love football. It's what I've done since I was 6 years old. It kind of clicks to me and makes sense. I wish I could major in coaching." (David Andrews)

"He is a better player than he is an athlete. He has excellent quickness and remarkable explosion in his small area. Nobody is smarter or adapts to situations better than David." (Offensive line coach at Georgia, Will Friend)

LINK-> Starter or not, rookie center David Andrews is a great fit with the New England Patriots

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Belichick reportedly reached out to Andrews multiple times throughout the draft to try and hook him, so he must have seen something that he liked but felt that he would last until after the draft.

n6249c said:

no way BB just gives #1 to a player who hasn't earned it on the practice field and in the locker room.

cooper gets to compete with the other OL players on the roster, and vice versa. may the best win, that just makes the team stronger whichever way it comes out.

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Didn't mean he is handed the job I meant he is the best player we have at the position.

the bigger question is, were the oline issues coaching, injuries, talent or a combination of all 3? We know for sure that coaching was a large part of the reason we lost the afccg. and guys regressed from year 1 to year 2. but also injuries took their toll losing guys each week.

not to mention, losing guys like edelman, amendola and lewis greatly hurt the O-line as they had to block longer than 1-2 seconds they were previously as guys couldnt get open as quick

I think better health coupled with better coaching will have our O-line operating at a solid level again

after missing and now revisiting this heated debate - and in the light of new signings
i think the O-line issues here were considered only from one side (the O-line)

if we assume that the O-line itself will be at least somewhat better than last year (Scar+health+experience+waddle+cooper+draft) without FA addition or trade that are not very likely
we should also take a look on the other aspect of addressing this issue - the offence itself - to get a better and complementary answer

it was already said many times that the O-line looked decent in 2014 and early 2015
it was not only because the line was healthier but because the offence had all the weapons
and the opposite Ds were more conservative because there were just too many possibilities to address
once lewis and edelman went down the pressure on the O-line came much stronger with NE offence becoming more predictable and less talented
one key element missing at running game without houdini-lewis was develin - very much underrated injury last year

so if we can argue that better offence versatility and talent have big impact on O-line performance
(especially with TB needing just some 2s to make a play) that means that the O-line issues have been addressed - and dramatically - with adding develin, hogan and bennett (and maybe even d brown as lewis' back up) to the offence. having brady+lewis+gronk+bennett+edelman+hogan/martin/DA on the field means even half decent O-line should be good enough

what offence as a whole needs most right now imho is simply a solid, experienced big/3rd down back.

with this i think BB can go to the draft thinking about the future (landing some surprising starter in the process)

with Starks now gone
and big back the only real need left in FA - what's the latest word/vote on that ?

long distance said:

with Starks now gone
and big back the only real need left in FA - what's the latest word/vote on that ?

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Starks is not a big back. Hes a little bigger than Brown but they are close to being the same player with Starks being a better runner. Nevertheless Brown was a depth signing who hopefully doesnt make it out of camp (that means Lewis is back close to 100%, and they have an outstanding stable of runners who can also catch the ball).

I've maintained that they will draft one or possibly two this year.

They might bring back Blount as well.

robertweathers said:

They might bring back Blount as well.

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Possibly may even bring Foster in for a visit once he is ready

JMC00 said:

Possibly may even bring Foster in for a visit once he is ready

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Not sure if he can stay healthy but if this highlight reel from a 2015 Week 6 game is close to demonstrating what he can still do he above Blount in priority IMO.

long distance said:

with Starks now gone
and big back the only real need left in FA - what's the latest word/vote on that ?

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I agree with your overall take on the problems with the OL buy but disagree regarding RB. I think their OL problems were due to injury, inexperience, and the inability to ever put a consistent unit on the field. I also think the complete lack of a run game and the resulting one dimensional offense put them in a situation where the defenses knew what was coming and simply lined up and teed of on them. Lewis is a really exciting player but he has a significant issue staying healthy and is coming off a big injury, their biggest use of him will be as more of a 3rd down back but expect him in on all passing downs. Blount is a good power back and is limited in utility. The rest can contribute in small doses and that's all. What they really need is a really good first and second down back who can get outside and contribute in the passing game and the draft is the only place left to fill that need. I think they have the talent to become a very good OL but can't realize that until they have the balance to run the ball effectively. OL get to dish out the hits when they run the ball, and they take the hits when pass blocking, so when they are asked to pass block 50 times they spend the entire game taking the hits and are worn down late in games, when they are running effectively it's the defense taking the hits and that's wears them down. The return of the 2 TE offense will really help both in terms of running the ball and the balance to keep defenses guessing and if they can get a true first down back and good production from them then I think this OL will be much improved over last season's edition. I am hopeful Scar can turn this OL around and think the only change between now and camp will be an OT in the draft and possibly a vet inside for insurance, possibly Wendell. I think Belichick will address RB in the draft and expect this year's OL to be significantly better than last season's, and given the D Lines they will face, especially in their division, I think the will be battle tested and ready when the playoffs roll around.

robertweathers said:

Not sure if he can stay healthy but if this highlight reel from a 2015 Week 6 game is close to demonstrating what he can still do he above Blount in priority IMO.

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No thanks, he's done.

Ivan said:

No thanks, he's done.

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How do you come to that conclusion by watching those highlights? If his Achilles is 100% singing him to an incentive-laden deal is not an unreasonable thing to do.

There is already a thread specifically about Foster so I'll stop and move on...

Ridley?
(always liked him for some reason - he sounded humble, clever in interviews)

RIpats88 said:

the bigger question is, were the oline issues coaching, injuries, talent or a combination of all 3?
...not to mention, losing guys like edelman, amendola and lewis greatly hurt the O-line as they had to block longer than 1-2 seconds than they were previously, as guys couldnt get open as quickly...

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To answer the question: the OL isuues were mostly talent-related; not all talent-related, but mostly.
And if an OL cannot hold blocks longer than 2 seconds, then I have no use for those players.

long distance said:

with Starks now gone
and big back the only real need left in FA - what's the latest word/vote on that ?

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"…the only real need left in FA…"
Are you kidding me? We have a gigantic holes at LG AND Swing Tackle that are championship-killing.
We also still have need for another WR & CB, a 3rd-down DT, a Move TE, and a LB who can actually cover somebody.