Rebooting the OL decisions

[203Pat]

The issue is guaranteed salary. If they cut him the team will lose that, and have to begin paying Reiff again, if he stayed.

Um, that’s a sweetheart contract—over $4 million guaranteed—for an aging veteran likely in his last year. Very un-Belichickian. Doesn’t make much sense. Now we almost have to keep him on the 53 even though he’s injured.

Why this hamstrung contract (from the Patriots’ view)? Must be the fact the two share the same sports agent played a role. Neil Cornrich.

Bill seems to know they have an issue at tackle and has been throwing stuff at the wall hoping it sticks. Trades for other team's bubble players and overpaying for an aging part time starter from another team.

 

[Wozzy]

Bill seems to know they have an issue at tackle and has been throwing stuff at the wall hoping it sticks. Trades for other team's bubble players and overpaying for an aging part time starter from another team.

A rookie he drafted to play tackle sits in the starting RT position. How is that throwing stuff at the wall?

We brought Korey Cunningham and Jermaine Eluemunor in at the exact same time back in 2019 to find a better backup OT.

In fact 31 other teams are doing this exact same thing at different position groups this week as they cut their own down to 53. They're looking at teams that have a strength at a position they need some depth help at.

It's always been this way, it always will be. The Patriots are no different.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Bill seems to know they have an issue at tackle and has been throwing stuff at the wall hoping it sticks. Trades for other team's bubble players and overpaying for an aging part time starter from another team.

I don't think $4 million guaranteed for a potential starting tackle is overpaying with the current cap.

 

[p8ryts]

This appeared in Steve Balestrieri's article last night. This sums it up perfectly for me. The bold is from me. (Worked hard to try to spell your name correctly Steve)>

"On the subject of the offensive line, if you’d like a measured (and smaht!) opinion on the matter, read what Matt Chatham, @chatham58 had to say about the supposed lack of attention paid to the OL this offseason.

“The you-shoulda-taken-[whatever position] instead game is so tired & intellectually dishonest. I don’t get how one can still muster the energy to fake those arguments in 2023. If they hadn’t taken Christian Gonzalez, the IDENTICAL o-line conversation would now be happening about CB. 0.0 doubt about that. And if NE took a RT in the 2nd instead of Keion White—who has caused talker wet pants across the region for two months—not taking the game-changer freak instead of a boring RT would be the angle. It’s just a street corner card table shell game for dum-dums. The challenge of the NFL is you can’t get everything you need at an ideal level. That’s the setup. All the adult brains get this.”

And then there was this: “Making late camp trades for a position thin on experienced, fully healthy bodies isn’t necessarily an indication of wrong transactions. It’s an indication of a shortage of healthy bodies. And, for the most part, one can’t predict future health at signing. People forget that.”

I, for one, love it."

 

[203Pat]

A rookie he drafted to play tackle sits in the starting RT position. How is that throwing stuff at the wall?

We brought Korey Cunningham and Jermaine Eluemunor in at the exact same time back in 2019 to find a better backup OT.

In fact 31 other teams are doing this exact same thing at different position groups this week as they cut their own down to 53. They're looking at teams that have a strength at a position they need some depth help at.

It's always been this way, it always will be. The Patriots are no different.

Sow? That hardly makes me feel better. He hasn't looked good.

 

[203Pat]

I don't think $4 million guaranteed for a potential starting tackle is overpaying with the current cap.

The thing is I don’t think he is a starting tackle at this point in his career and the staff may not either with his playing at guard.

 

[Wozzy]

Sow? That hardly makes me feel better. He hasn't looked good.

For a rookie he very much has looked good, that's why he's starting.

 

[mike_usagisan]

The thing is I don’t think he is a starting tackle at this point in his career and the staff may not either with his playing at guard.

Right, but during free agency, they figured either he or Anderson probably would be the starting RT with maybe Sow eventually overtaking them and making them reserves. Should they have known better then? Maybe. But I can still see Reiff being needed for this season especially if he can play tackle and guard. Again, $4 million is not a huge salary for our offensive line.

 

[203Pat]

Right, but during free agency, they figured either he or Anderson probably would be the starting RT with maybe Sow eventually overtaking them and making them reserves. Should they have known better then? Maybe. But I can still see Reiff being needed for this season especially if he can play tackle and guard. Again, $4 million is not a huge salary for our offensive line, where most of them are on their rookie deals.

I just don't know what they see in Sow that they think he can play, and start, at tackle in the NFL coming from college as a guard. I don't fault the guy for struggling in pass protection as he has been at the position for about 5 minutes now. It just seems like at this point they signed a couple of backup level veterans and drafted a guard and hoped one of them would pan out. If Reiff is health and is able to be an adequate starter at either guard or tackle then I think $4 million is a steal. I just don't think he can be an average starting tackle at this point in his career.

For a rookie he very much has looked good, that's why he's starting.

I think he starting due to injuries and basically necessity. I also don't think they view Sow as a starter if they're trading for multiple tackles within days.

 

[Wozzy]

I think he starting due to injuries and basically necessity. I also don't think they view Sow as a starter if they're trading for multiple tackles within days.

Sow passed Reiff and McDermott before either got injured... so this doesn't track.

Reiff and McDermott got injured afterwards, also they weren't good enough and Anderson has missed all offseason, that's why they're looking for OT depth now.

The Patriots and all 31 other teams trade or acquire players at roster cutdowns.

You act like this is special or unique to the Pats, it's not, it happens every year with every team.

 

[203Pat]

Sow passed Reiff and McDermott before either got injured... so this doesn't track.

Reiff and McDermott got injured afterwards, also they weren't good enough and Anderson has missed all offseason, that's why they're looking for OT depth now.

The Patriots and all 31 other teams trade or acquire players at roster cutdowns.

You act like this is special or unique to the Pats, it's not, it happens every year with every team.

I don't care about other teams. I just care about this one. I wish Bill invested in at least one higher end tackle this offseason like Kaleb Mcgary or took a guy who played tackle in college to play tackle for us. Dawand Jones was available when we took Jake Matthews who so far has only played center.

 

[upstater1]

I don't care about other teams. I just care about this one. I wish Bill invested in at least one higher end tackle this offseason like Kaleb Mcgary or took a guy who played tackle in college to play tackle for us. Dawand Jones was available when we took Jake Matthews who so far has only played center.

Dawand Jones may very well be a stud. But he has a lot of plays like this second one in this clip where he is totally off balance:

 

[Wozzy]

I don't care about other teams. I just care about this one. I wish Bill invested in at least one higher end tackle this offseason like Kaleb Mcgary or took a guy who played tackle in college to play tackle for us. Dawand Jones was available when we took Jake Matthews who so far has only played center.

David Andrews is old and starting to miss games. The time to find a center isn’t when you need one, it’s prior to that. Rookies typically need development.

Again if Sow and/or Wheatley become competent players your take will look silly.

 

[Wozzy]

Dawand Jones may very well be a stud. But he has a lot of plays like this second one in this clip where he is totally off balance:

Sidy Sow also played against the third overall pick DE in the draft in game two, and a Pro Bowl DE in game three.

Preseason is practice, the scores don’t matter. Fans apparently don’t understand this.

The only way to develop rookies is to give them reps. You do it now in preseason so they’re ready when real bullets start flying.

 

[AQPE]

I was skeptical of Klemm from the beginning.

Its hard enough for long in the tooth OL position coaches to succeed as it is.

If there was a Hall of Fame for least surprising posts on this forum, this one would be qualify. Congratulations on your achievement

Nobody rational here puts Klemm on a pedestal yet, he’s got plenty to prove. What I see so far is what I consider an overspend on Rieff (unlikely that was solely Klemm’s decision), some choices in the middle rounds of the draft that I wish had been different (also not clear how much Klemm is responsible for that), bad luck with Anderson’s illness and injuries to Strange and Onwenu (zero fault to Klemm on that) and so far at least two mid to late round picks who are locks for the roster (Sow and Mafi - some credit to Klemm on that if we are to blame him for what we currently think didn’t go well).

 

[Stu Pidassle]

If there was a Hall of Fame for least surprising posts on this forum, this one would be qualify. Congratulations on your achievement

Nobody rational here puts Klemm on a pedestal yet, he’s got plenty to prove. What I see so far is what I consider an overspend on Rieff (unlikely that was solely Klemm’s decision), some choices in the middle rounds of the draft that I wish had been different (also not clear how much Klemm is responsible for that), bad luck with Anderson’s illness and injuries to Strange and Onwenu (zero fault to Klemm on that) and so far at least two mid to late round picks who are locks for the roster (Sow and Mafi - some credit to Klemm on that if we are to blame him for what we currently think didn’t go well).

During the preseason the OL looked much more efficient lining up and reducing penalties. That is a good first step regardless of who is playing and a big change from last year.

 

[State]

Sow passed Reiff and McDermott before either got injured.

Really? I didn’t know that. We all know McDermott passed Reiff. Then he started getting dinged up before his injury.

Why we have an old guy brought in like Reiff instead of a younger free agent like Dalton Risner is a legitimate question to ask.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Really? I didn’t know that. We all know McDermott passed Reiff. Then he started getting dinged up before his injury.

Why we have an old guy brought in like Reiff instead of a younger free agent like Dalton Risner is a legitimate question to ask.

And once Sow started taking over that spot is when they started trying Reiff at guard.

Isn't Risner a guard? Not exactly what we were looking for back during free agency.

 

[Triumph]

If there was a Hall of Fame for least surprising posts on this forum, this one would be qualify. Congratulations on your achievement

Thank you. Im already in the PFHOF first ballot.

Got my jacket from Ian and everything.

Nobody rational here puts Klemm on a pedestal yet, he’s got plenty to prove.

Oh no, people were not dancing on the roof over the hire.

Blessings from Dante Scar himself. The Pats OL troubles were supposedly over.

What I see so far is what I consider an overspend on Rieff (unlikely that was solely Klemm’s decision), some choices in the middle rounds of the draft that I wish had been different (also not clear how much Klemm is responsible for that), bad luck with Anderson’s illness and injuries to Strange and Onwenu (zero fault to Klemm on that) and so far at least two mid to late round picks who are locks for the roster (Sow and Mafi - some credit to Klemm on that if we are to blame him for what we currently think didn’t go well).

The endless list of excuses wont mean squat when the Pats cant pass the ball to keep up with the big dogs.

 

[mike_usagisan]

This complicates things: