It All Starts In The Trenches.
Where We're At & Where We're Heading
LT Nate Solder ~ An Ascending Star, both as a Run Blocker and as a Pass Blocker. Beast Years are Dead Ahead.
LG Logan Mankins ~ An excellent Run Blocker and adequate Pass Blocker. Going on 32. Past his Peak.
OC Ryan Wendell ~ A tremendous Run Blocker but horrific Pass Blocker. A Free Agent who should be wished well.
RG Dan Connolly ~ An adequate Run Blocker but awful Pass Blocker.
RT Sebastian Vollmer ~ A Star ~ yes: Star ~ both as Run Blocker & Pass Blocker since he joined us 5 Years ago.
OL Marcus Cannon ~ A talented Grizzly of impressive Core Power and Agility. Poised for a BreakOut Year.
As I perceive it, we are incredibly young and talented at Offensive Tackle, very adeptly talented at Offensive Guard, and hamstrung by an enormous, gaping wound at Center...which of course undermines absolutely everything.
What I'd Love To See
1 ~ We need a Top Shelf Center. Badly. I believe that Centers are the Lynch Pin of the entire Offensive Line and are both crucial to the Success of the Run Game and vitally important both to the Success of the Passing Game and to the QuarterBack's short term health and long term Durability and Success, especially in the 21st Century.
2 ~ The rest of the world doesn't seem to share my Perception about the vital importance of a Center as the Lynch Pin of the entire Offensive Line and thus the Offense as an whole. Thus, there is an annual Bear Market on Top Shelf Centers coming out of College, because the more talented Prospects tend to end up at Offensive Guard.
3 ~ And even within the depleted Ranks thereof, it is rare, indeed, that I find an experienced College Center who brings an exceptional level of both Power and Agility to the position and is also compact enough ~ less than 6040 or so ~ to withstand the rigors and abuse of the Job for a decade or more without breaking down.
4 ~ This Year, not one but two of that Caliber have declared for the Draft.
5 ~ Offensive Guard is way up there with Center, QuarterBack, and of course Defensive Tackle at the top of my List of Players whose potential Impact on a Team's Fortunes could be immediate and enormous.
6 ~ As it stands, we have a very good Left Guard who has peaked but who should still play at a superior though not great level for at least the next couple of Years ~ if we retain his Contract beyond this coming Campaign ~ and a young and talented Right Guard who I believe is poised to become a very good one, though I prefer them much more agile.
7 ~ The Achilles Heel of this Line, though, is Pass Blocking, and I foresee no improvement in the mediocre Pass Blocking that we received from our Offensive Guards last Year. Mankins is only adequate as a Pass Blocker, and is slowing down, while Cannon isn't exactly what I'd call "spry", and even if he excels overall will have enormous problems with Speed.
8 ~ As such, I would want us to aggressively seek out High Caliber Offensive Guard Talent in the Draft. It's always there, and tremendous Prospects are usually available for astonishingly low Investments, respective to their potential Impact.
9 ~ I would want us to draft at least two High Caliber Offensive Guard Prospects, and perhaps even three, for if I were running things, I'd ship Marcus Cannon off to the Highest Bidder. I'd hate to make that move when I believe that he's probably about to Break Out, but I seek Explosiveness and Agility in my Offensive Guards, and he's not a Match.
10 ~ I would likewise want us to draft not one but two High Caliber Offensive Tackle Prospects. It's a very tough job, and guys miss Snaps, especially Vollmer, the last couple of Years. With the crucial importance of Offensive Tackles to the health of the most vital component of a Team's success ~ the QuarterBack ~ I consider it criminally foolish to ignore development of High Caliber Depth of Talent at that Position. All it takes is once for some Scrub to get Brady killed.
