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Four year starter, RG & LT, his TvN week went well from all reports. I like him as a late round 4-5 position player who is PSquad eligible.
There is no need to trade Light for Kampman, NE just needs to have the most attractive Free Agency offer.
There is no need to trade Light for Kampman, NE just needs to have the most attractive Free Agency offer.
I concur that using a first round pick on Bulaga is unnecessary. Saffold is one of many college tackles whom NE might draft in later rounds who are nearly as good as Bulaga; Saffold's description reads remarkably like Mankins' and Kaczur's in terms of his grasp of technique, athleticism, power, and nasty disposition on the field. In short he's Scarnecchia material and not the only kid in later rounds whom Dante might like for his Big Man Dancing Academy.
Assuming Mankins is retained with an RFA tender:
--- LT - Light/Vollmer/Kaczur/LeVoir/Bussey - depth: Excellent.
--- LG - Mankins/Connolly/Wendell/Orhnberger/Bussey/Light/Kaczur - depth: Excellent.
--- C - Koppen/Connolly/Wendell/Orhnberger - depth: Excellent.
--- RG - Open/Connolly/Wendell/Orhnberger/Bussey/Kaczur/LeVoir - starter: Unidentified - depth: Excellent.
--- RT - Kaczur/Vollmer/LeVoir/Bussey - starter: Competitive - depth: Excellent.
--- And this is before any veterans signings or draft selections to create camp competition.
As of 12 Feb, NE's first round selection might better be directed at critical need areas such as Defensive Line, Outside Linebacker, or Wide Receiver.
Lights best days may be behind him, but until Bill or Dante decree otherwise he's still the #1 option for LT and cheap at the price. He is not a RT, Bill has said so.
) ready to step in, that's the joy of the depth they've built in this unit. If I'm BB, I don't initiate a trade; Light's a team leader and the leader of the OL, someone who is playing well enough to keep and brings stability to the OL and the team.
There is no need to trade Light for Kampman, NE just needs to have the most attractive Free Agency offer.
I concur that using a first round pick on Bulaga is unnecessary. Saffold is one of many college tackles whom NE might draft in later rounds who are nearly as good as Bulaga; Saffold's description reads remarkably like Mankins' and Kaczur's in terms of his grasp of technique, athleticism, power, and nasty disposition on the field. In short he's Scarnecchia material and not the only kid in later rounds whom Dante might like for his Big Man Dancing Academy.
Assuming Mankins is retained with an RFA tender:
--- LT - Light/Vollmer/Kaczur/LeVoir/Bussey - depth: Excellent.
--- LG - Mankins/Connolly/Wendell/Orhnberger/Bussey/Light/Kaczur - depth: Excellent.
--- C - Koppen/Connolly/Wendell/Orhnberger - depth: Excellent.
--- RG - Open/Connolly/Wendell/Orhnberger/Bussey/Kaczur/LeVoir - starter: Unidentified - depth: Excellent.
--- RT - Kaczur/Vollmer/LeVoir/Bussey - starter: Competitive - depth: Excellent.
--- And this is before any veterans signings or draft selections to create camp competition.
As of 12 Feb, NE's first round selection might better be directed at critical need areas such as Defensive Line, Outside Linebacker, or Wide Receiver.
Lights best days may be behind him, but until Bill or Dante decree otherwise he's still the #1 option for LT and cheap at the price. He is not a RT, Bill has said so.
Kaczur gets a lot of fan vitriol, and he may not be everything people want at RT, but for now I still consider him the starting RT until we see otherwise (he's held the job for four seasons and not had BB or Dante too worried). If Neal does not re-sign and Kaczur slides inside, fine by me, I like the kid, he's done a better job than he's given credit for.
Vollmer is competitive at both tackle positions and I expect him to battle well for a starting job. If he gets one it's because he was the better player, not an argument that the loser sucked.
Saffold came out and kicked butt at LT in the Shrine game, including your binky Hardy. He's a kid I can see sliding inside at G like Mankins did, and being competitive with the NE Tackle pool, I like him better than Iupati in this draft because he's good enough to plug in right away. Interesting factoid: The last three OL drafted by NE in the first three rounds (all day one picks depending on the draft format at the time) all played in the Shrine game - Dante does his shopping at the budget stores, and he got good value.
Change on the OL is one of the things BB and Dante have worked to limit. They like a nice cohesive unit and trading Light if you've also got to replace Neal is just more change for change's sake. Now if someone makes a strong offer for Light I can see BB making that move with Vollmer or Kaczur (I'll bet that struck a nerve
As far as getting younger: Mankins, Vollmer, LeVoir, Connolly, Wendell, Ohrnberger, Bussey - there's a fair bit of youth there. Light, Koppen, and Kaczur are the only "old men." :confused2:
WR, DL, and OLB (maybe CB too) need the help more than the OL, that's why I don't get excited about Bulaga or any other projected round one OL - the true value for NE lies later.
It could happen.
Only if they draft Saffold and move him to RG.
Lights best days may be behind him, but until Bill or Dante decree otherwise he's still the #1 option for LT and cheap at the price. He is not a RT, Bill has said so.
Kaczur gets a lot of fan vitriol, and he may not be everything people want at RT, but for now I still consider him the starting RT until we see otherwise (he's held the job for four seasons and not had BB or Dante too worried). If Neal does not re-sign and Kaczur slides inside, fine by me, I like the kid, he's done a better job than he's given credit for.
Vollmer is competitive at both tackle positions and I expect him to battle well for a starting job. If he gets one it's because he was the better player, not an argument that the loser sucked.
Saffold came out and kicked butt at LT in the Shrine game, including your binky Hardy. He's a kid I can see sliding inside at G like Mankins did, and being competitive with the NE Tackle pool, I like him better than Iupati in this draft because he's good enough to plug in right away. Interesting factoid: The last three OL drafted by NE in the first three rounds (all day one picks depending on the draft format at the time) all played in the Shrine game - Dante does his shopping at the budget stores, and he got good value.
Change on the OL is one of the things BB and Dante have worked to limit. They like a nice cohesive unit and trading Light if you've also got to replace Neal is just more change for change's sake. Now if someone makes a strong offer for Light I can see BB making that move with Vollmer or Kaczur (I'll bet that struck a nerve
As far as getting younger: Mankins, Vollmer, LeVoir, Connolly, Wendell, Ohrnberger, Bussey - there's a fair bit of youth there. Light, Koppen, and Kaczur are the only "old men." :confused2:
WR, DL, and OLB (maybe CB too) need the help more than the OL, that's why I don't get excited about Bulaga or any other projected round one OL - the true value for NE lies later.
Why would BB plug Light back into the line-up if Vollmer was the better player?
Yep, but we said that about LB until he did draft Mayo, so though I'm not expecting it, I am not going to dismiss it out of hand until after the Combine, Pro-Days, and medical issues are in - especially before Free Agency starts.
Again, reasoning ahead of the data.
Unlike Runningbacks and speed rushers "30" is not an automatic cutoff for Offensive Linemen.
BB said Connolly was playing well enough to be competitive for starting time. LeVoir did get bumped down by Vollmer, then again LeVoir also missed Training Camp and started the season on PUP, so he hasn't yet competed for a starting job in camp.
Sure, but NE has one first round draft pick. Are you rating OL as the highest priority?
I saw Brady and the Wide Receivers let the O-line down too, maybe we should draft a QB instead?
Neal said he'd have to assess how he felt after he healed up, we've had Bruschi and others explain how that works so until he announces his retirement it's premature.
I suspect so, but again we're dealing with that blending of talent needed to put together the most effective O-line. Some have advocated Vollmer at RT, which is a possibility even if I do like Kaczur. Let's see how Vollmer does in Training Camp and who he beats out.
Well, Kaczur and LeVoir were extended to start the season, so BB must think they offer something for the future - and they were extended after BB and Dante had gotten a good look at Vollmer. As things stand I see this as a very deep Tackle draft class, there looks to be kids who will be signed as UDFAs who are likely to be competitive in NFL camps. Bulaga may be everything you say he is, and he may be the best choice in the first round, I'd still trade back if he was the best choice for NE - the extra picks can be used to good advantage and there just may be another Vollmer you aren't counting on waiting for BB.
