Re: Is Mankins play worth 6.5 mill more then Connelly
I cited some examples in a different thread. And "he's getting a lot of help" is part of the problem with having a lesser LG.
What thread would that be? I'd like to go see what you said (and when). I read every thread here, and I can only recall generalities from you. Admittedly, you've been remarkably consistent and your opinion seems to be impressively impervious to anything Connolly might have more recently done.
Your assertion remains generic, and particularly questionably so. It's the nature of the numerology of interior line play that guards (and centers) are always giving and getting help. This year at least, Connolly has more than held his own in that department
If you actually study the games -- which I very much doubt -- you'd quickly observe that it is Dan Koppen who is the weak link on the line this year. By far. For example, Koppen lost the NT on the sack yesterday (to Neal's side BTW, and to be fair to Koppen, it was a delayed sack).
Connolly had a number of notably great plays yesterday. He's actually a pretty damn fine pulling guard, and managed a couple of nice reach seals yesterday, which are quite difficult blocks. Mankins has more explosion and strength and is a better drive blocker, but Connolly is actually at least as fast and agile, and is doing an excellent job at 2nd level blocks.
This is not to say I wouldn't welcome Mankins back, economics etc aside. Connolly is certainly not (yet) threatening to be an all-Pro. But he is playing quite well; a lot better than I suspect Kaczur would be playing at guard were he not injured. He's a better guard than Koppen is a center. And as Belichick always says, you need to look at the trajectory of players, particularly young players from small schools. Connolly is still improving.
If I had to guess what the basis for your vendettas vs Connolly and Gerard Warren, I'd suspect it something to do with issues you have with the front office. Both Mankins and Seymour are gone because of aggressive and questionable front office decisions. I question those decisions myself. But there's no karmic force that acts to right perceived wrongs. Connolly and Warren are who they are, good football players, both of whom are proving to be decent starters, to many peoples' surprise, and apparently to some's dismay.
