How worried are you about not having Mankins?

[Water Boy]

I'm a little nervous.

I don't blame the front office for the hold out or for not having a better plan B in place considering the sizable offer that they made to him. I think BB fully expected that Mankins would (and should have IMO) accepted the contract that was offered, but alas Mankins is a money grubber.

I think the Pats front office was caught with their pants down a little bit here. Had they known of Mankin's resolve and money demands I think they would have made drafting a starting caliber OG in the 2010 a priority - but they didn't.

That being said, how confident are you that Kazcur, Connolly, Orhnberger, et al and can play adequately enough at L OG in 2010-2011? To further the Debbie Downer tone of this threat, how confident are you that Stephen Neal will stay healthy throughout the season at the R OG position?

 

[Ring 6]

I'm a little nervous.

I don't blame the front office for the hold out or for not having a better plan B in place considering the sizable offer that they made to him. I think BB fully expected that Mankins would (and should have IMO) accepted the contract that was offered, but alas Mankins is a money grubber.

I think the Pats front office was caught with their pants down a little bit here. Had they known of Mankin's resolve and money demands I think they would have made drafting a starting caliber OG in the 2010 a priority - but they didn't.

That being said, how confident are you that Kazcur, Connolly, Orhnberger, et al and can play adequately enough at L OG in 2010-2011? To further the Debbie Downer tone of this threat, how confident are you that Stephen Neal will stay healthy throughout the season at the R OG position?

We had 6 starting OL so the damage shouldnt be devastating.
I think Kaczur ultimately will be better at G than at T, and Vollmer is going to be a stud.
Maybe Kaczur has trouble moving inside, but he shouldn't and we end up with 4 of 5 starters returning with Vollmer replacing Mankins.
This all assumes Mankins stays away, which doesnt make a ton of sense either.

 

[Patstopia]

The OL is mediocre WITH Mankins, they are going to get Brady killed without him! Time for both sides to start talking again!

 

[Ring 6]

The OL is mediocre WITH Mankins, they are going to get Brady killed without him! Time for both sides to start talking again!

I dont know how you can call the OL mediocre when all of the numbers suggest something quite different.

 

[BelichickFan]

The OL is mediocre WITH Mankins, they are going to get Brady killed without him! Time for both sides to start talking again!

With Crumpler and Gronk and without Mankins - plus Vollmer as a starter from day one, I believe we have a better OL than last year. Getting Mankins back would be even better but I'd prefer to be where we are now with our OL than where we were 12 months ago.

We have Kaczer at G instead of T, that's a win for Brady's protection. And we have Crumpler and Gronk over Watson and Baker. I'll take this year.

 

[Deus Irae]

The absence of Mankins is huge, because the only other O-lineman currently even remotely/potentially capable of playing guard at a high level has also been injured. All the tackles, tight ends and wide receivers in the world will be useless if Brady's getting knocked on his ass because of pressure up the middle. Kaczur needs to get healthy soon, so that he can work on the transition. If Connolly is responsible for the health of Brady, we might as well schedule #12's funeral services now.

 

[swheeler23]

The absence of Mankins is huge, because the only other O-lineman currently even remotely/potentially capable of playing guard at a high level has also been injured. All the tackles, tight ends and wide receivers in the world will be useless if Brady's getting knocked on his ass because of pressure up the middle. Kaczur needs to get healthy soon, so that he can work on the transition. If Connolly is responsible for the health of Brady, we might as well schedule #12's funeral services now.

Very worried. I hope Brady does not pay the price for Mankins not being on the field. I have a feeling he will.

 

[zoffle]

It hasn't been encouraging for the O-line that the reports from camp that they have been struggling to run the ball on the O-line, Kazur has been banged up and Neal struggles to last 16 games.

So Guard depth at the moment would be:

Neal
Kazur

Connelly
Larsen/Bussey/Ohrnberger/Wendell/Ghiaciuc

There seems to be a big drop off in line play when Connelly comes in. The Depth on the interior line is paper thin and a few injuries would be a big problem. If Mankins doesn't come back, we better hope one (or more) of the young guys steps up to become an NFL caliber player.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Here is my take.....

Lets assume instead that Makins had showed up to camp and in the first practice he landed on IR. Hmmm...thats why we have backups. Is the team a bit worse off yeah. The reason why starters start, and backup backup is cause the starters are better. (except at the QB position in the year 2001) But even with the league MVP goes down week 1, the show goes on. You send in the back up and you can still win 11 games.

BB will figure out something. I an fully confident.

 

[Deus Irae]

Here is my take.....

Lets assume instead that Makins had showed up to camp and in the first practice he landed on IR. Hmmm...thats why we have backups. Is the team a bit worse off yeah. The reason why starters start, and backup backup is cause the starters are better. (except at the QB position in the year 2001) But even with the league MVP goes down week 1, the show goes on. You send in the back up and you can still win 11 games.

BB will figure out something. I an fully confident.

16-0 against a difficult schedule, followed by a trip to the Super Bowl


v.


11-5 against an easier schedule, and no playoffs






Helluva big difference

 

[Tunescribe]

I love Mankins, but he's an idiot hell bent on shooting himself in both feet out of blind stubbornness. I don't think he's ever coming back and appears willing to ruin his career in the process. I've written him off as disabled by insanity, like being disabled by a ruptured hamstring. Time to move on from his nonsense and go with what we have. Given enough reps to acclimate himself, Kaczur will do OK.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

16-0 against a difficult schedule, followed by a trip to the Super Bowl


v.


11-5 against an easier schedule, and no playoffs






Helluva big difference

Logan Makins is no Tom Brady. BB will figure something out. I have faith.

 

[Rob0729]

The OL is mediocre WITH Mankins, they are going to get Brady killed without him! Time for both sides to start talking again!

Ummm... you do realize Brady was sacked less times last year (only 16 times which other than Manning was the fewest sacks of any Qb who started all 16 games last year) than any year in his career?

 

[Deus Irae]

Logan Makins is no Tom Brady. BB will figure something out. I have faith.

No, Mankins isn't Brady. But when you cite to the Brady example to bolster your argument, it's misleading. The Patriots had a relative collapse post-Brady, despite Cassel eventually coming around and playing quite well.

 

[Rob0729]

I am a little concerned, but not that worried. The staple of Dante Scarnecchia's o-line system has been that they have been able to plug and play players all over the line. The only constants on that lne through the years are Light and Koppen. Every other position have seen quite a few players play in those spots and many of them were rather mediocre players who played on Super Bowl teams.

I do believe the line will protect Brady whether Mankins is there or not. I think where his absence will be missed will be more in the running game. Brady's pocket awareness and quick release have always overcome breakdowns in the o-line when they occur.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Ummm... you do realize Brady was sacked less times last year than any year in his career?

Actually it was his third lowest. 2000 and 2008 both had lower totals.

 

[Coach42]

No, Mankins isn't Brady. But when you cite to the Brady example to bolster your argument, it's misleading. The Patriots had a relative collapse post-Brady, despite Cassel eventually coming around and playing quite well.

I'm not sure collapse is the most appropriate word and comparing a historic year like 07 to any other is kind of unfair. Not to mention almost any other year in the history of the NFL 11-5 makes the playoffs. Not to nitpick.

I think with the team having as many questions as it does this year we need our best players on the field and Mankins certainly qualifies as one of our best. I wouldn't blame this holdout on Mankins or the team without some more info nobody really knows what is going on at the table except for Mankins and the FO.

 

[Nikolai]

Ummm... you do realize Brady was sacked less times last year than any year in his career?

To be fair, a lot of that had to do with having Welker there to take the quick passes; 5 of his 16 sacks came in the three games during which Welker was absent. Brady was knocked around a lot.

I'm a little nervous about the OL this year, but I'm not going to prognosticate doom and gloom until we see what happens. I like having Vollmer in a starting role and moving Kazcur is a good thing too, as long as he's healthy.

 

[Reckedtrek]

I have faith in Dante to get the most out of the line we have. That being said I'm hoping the Pats FO and Mankins can find a middle ground they can both be equally dissatisfied with We're obviously much better with Mankins as a part of the OL.

 

[Rob0729]

To be fair, a lot of that had to do with having Welker there to take the quick passes. Brady was knocked around a lot.

I'm a little nervous about the OL this year, but I'm not going to prognosticate doom and gloom until we see what happens. I like having Vollmer in a starting role and moving Kazcur is a good thing too, as long as he's healthy.

Brady gets knocked around a lot every year because he holds onto the ball until the last second to allow his receivers to get open. That wouldn't change no matter how good his line is because that is his playing style. Besides, Brady had Welker in 2007 and was sacked 26 times on the best offense in league history with three linemen going to the Pro Bowl.