Can the Line hold up?

[rkarp1]

Lowe was drafted in 2022 as the 184 th pick
Stueber was drafted in 2022 as the 245 th pick
Stueber has been with the team for 2 training camps and the team has worked with him for over 1 year.

 

[203Pat]

Lowe was drafted in 2022 as the 184 th pick
Stueber was drafted in 2022 as the 245 th pick
Stueber has been with the team for 2 training camps and the team has worked with him for over 1 year.

I just keep wondering how much worse can Steuber be?

 

[p8ryts]

I just keep wondering how much worse can Steuber be?

Steuber played LT in preseason and looked stationary with little movement. I don't think Lowe is as terrible as most of you think. He played Crosby and did a decent job. Lazar pointed out his footwork problem and maybe he can be coached out of that. I don't necessarily think he is the right tackle of the future but he is serviceable. I see Mafi as the weakest link right now. He gets pushed back too often.

 

[203Pat]

Steuber played LT in preseason and looked stationary with little movement. I don't think Lowe is as terrible as most of you think. He played Crosby and did a decent job. Lazar pointed out his footwork problem and maybe he can be coached out of that. I don't necessarily think he is the right tackle of the future but he is serviceable. I see Mafi as the weakest link right now. He gets pushed back too often.

Lowe is worse than people are giving him credit for. He struggles every week against any sort of pass rush not just Maxx Crosby. By any and every metric he is one of, if not the worst, "starting" tackles in the league.

 

[captain stone]

Lowe is worse than people are giving him credit for. He struggles every week against any sort of pass rush not just Maxx Crosby. By any and every metric he is one of, if not the worst, "starting" tackles in the league.

There are two names in particular I noticed in the upper middle-Right area: Zach Tom & Dawand Jones, both 4th-round picks ('22 & '23) and both available with 4th-rounders in Bill's possession.... Jawaan Taylor, Donovan Smith & Orlando Brown Jr were all available this past offseason as UFAs as well.

Edit: sorry I originally wrote "left" instead of "Right."

 

[State]

honestly, I do not feel Onwenu is back.

That’s interesting. It’s the case he was overweight and not in shape once he could come back from his off-season ankle surgery.

And he’s not playing well as he slowly gets back into shape.

I think his bad habits when in college came back to bite him. He was a very good player and three year starter but struggled with weight.

 

[State]

There are two names in particular I noticed in the upper middle-left area: Zach Tom & Dawand Jones, both 4th-round picks ('22 & '23) and both available with 4th-rounders in Bill's possession

Yes. I remember you correctly pointing out that Zach Tom had an identical athletic profile to Strange other than a handful fewer bench presses. He is the perfect Patriot that in years past Dante would have pushed for and done very well here.

Tom is doing well as Green Bay’s starting RT. And he has position flexibility. A notable missed opportunity.

And it highlights both the lack of identifying talent and developing it. Any one no longer agree that UT Chattanooga’s Cole Strange was a first round reach?

 

[slash83]

it’s dumbfounding how many times Lowe was left isolated 1 on 1 vs Crosby. I hardly seen any chipping by the backs or TEs

 

[rkarp1]

Yes. I remember you correctly pointing out that Zach Tom had an identical athletic profile to Strange other than a handful fewer bench presses. He is the perfect Patriot that in years past Dante would have pushed for and done very well here.

Tom is doing well as Green Bay’s starting RT. And he has position flexibility. A notable missed opportunity.

And it highlights both the lack of identifying talent and developing it. Any one no longer agree that UT Chattanooga’s Cole Strange was a first round reach?

I think QB's that extend plays with their legs also help OL men, and feel Mac has improved in that area this season
I also think WR's getting open quickly, as well as recognizing at the los what the defense is doing, also helps the OL men. I do not believe the Pats have improved in that regard.

too early to tell with Strange. his rookie season we saw a lot to like. durable. hard working. good technique. he needed to get stronger. this season he has been injured. I have to think the team could have got Strange's rookie season play from a day 3 pick, or a free agent in the $4-$5m range.
Strange is cheap. Strange could improve once healthy. It would also not surprise me if Mafi and Sow ended up the better players than Strange over time.

 

[Wozzy]

Mac has the 10th best sack percentage in the entire NFL... despite playing the toughest schedule in the league.

It's not the offensive line... the offensive line looks bad because of Mac, not the other way around.

 

[captain stone]

it’s dumbfounding how many times Lowe was left isolated 1 on 1 vs Crosby. I hardly seen any chipping by the backs or TEs

Yep; and that's a coaching issue, which I had ass-umed was improved from the previous season...

 

[jdlboot14]

Mac has the 10th best sack percentage in the entire NFL... despite playing the toughest schedule in the league.

It's not the offensive line... the offensive line looks bad because of Mac, not the other way around.

That's absolutely untrue. There's tons of stats on pressures by this OL, and time to release for Mac.
There's no way you can say our OL is fine, and all the issues is on Mac. Ridiculous.

 

[Wozzy]

That's absolutely untrue. There's tons of stats on pressures by this OL, and time to release for Mac.
There's no way you can say our OL is fine, and all the issues is on Mac. Ridiculous.

Mac has been sacked 12 times, six of those came in the first two games while they dealt with major injuries, with jags and rookie starters.

Since then he has been sacked 6 times in four games, most of them Mac stood and held the ball like a statue... like he did in the end zone to end the Raider's game with Rhamondre running wide open 7 yards away directly in front of him.

Analytics are dumb. Mac has been sacked 12 times, he has the 10th lowest sack percentage in the NFL.. for reference Sam Howell has been sacked 34 times, Daniel Jones 28 times.... give me a break.

Analytics is some nerd who's never played sports in his life seeing Mac run when he didn't have to or when he could have stepped up into the pocket and thrown to an open receiver... then marking down "pressure." These are the same analytic clowns who told us Stephon Gilmore was a bad player when they signed him in 2017.

Since week two ended the Patriots have been able to block and run the ball, this against some of the toughest defensive fronts in the NFL, and both of which hard to do when your QB sucks and spots the opposing team 3 TD's before halftime.

Mac sucks. He makes the offensive line look worse than it is, not the other way around.

 

[State]

Time for Klemm to earn his million dollar salary.

This is a winnable game vs Buffalo with their injuries and crap at LB. But the line has to finally jell.

Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. But I am hoping to be surprised.

If Trent Blob Brown can go, move him to RT. Calvin can play LT presumably.

 

[Wozzy]

Time for Klemm to earn his million dollar salary.

This is a winnable game vs Buffalo with their injuries and crap at LB. But the line has to finally jell.

Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. But I am hoping to be surprised.

If Trent Blob Brown can go, move him to RT. Calvin can play LT presumably.

You can’t win with the worst starting QB in the NFL.

 

[n1997y]

Time for Klemm to earn his million dollar salary.

This is a winnable game vs Buffalo with their injuries and crap at LB. But the line has to finally jell.

Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. But I am hoping to be surprised.

If Trent Blob Brown can go, move him to RT. Calvin can play LT presumably.

Anderson has yet to show he can play anything in 2024.

Brown is the only choice at LT, play McDermott at RT and pray the entire OL plays better than have yet this year.

 

[lancerman]

Mac has been sacked 12 times, six of those came in the first two games while they dealt with major injuries, with jags and rookie starters.

Since then he has been sacked 6 times in four games, most of them Mac stood and held the ball like a statue... like he did in the end zone to end the Raider's game with Rhamondre running wide open 7 yards away directly in front of him.

Analytics are dumb. Mac has been sacked 12 times, he has the 10th lowest sack percentage in the NFL.. for reference Sam Howell has been sacked 34 times, Daniel Jones 28 times.... give me a break.

Analytics is some nerd who's never played sports in his life seeing Mac run when he didn't have to or when he could have stepped up into the pocket and thrown to an open receiver... then marking down "pressure." These are the same analytic clowns who told us Stephon Gilmore was a bad player when they signed him in 2017.

Since week two ended the Patriots have been able to block and run the ball, this against some of the toughest defensive fronts in the NFL, and both of which hard to do when your QB sucks and spots the opposing team 3 TD's before halftime.

Mac sucks. He makes the offensive line look worse than it is, not the other way around.

Wozzy: "information is dumb".

 

[PatsFan2]

And as Ian reminds us it didn’t get better when Cunningham was in there.

Lowe is pornographically bad. Meaning my eyes balls pop out of my head like the first time I saw Playboy as a youngster.

Mafi is bad too. But maybe he will season and mature.

And we gave away our speedy back, Pierre Strong, for swinging door Lowe? Wow. The hits keep coming.

That's because our HC/GM father time thinks he's Coaching in 2003 and not 2023.

 

[Wozzy]

Wozzy: "information is dumb".

Analytics isn’t data, no matter how you wish it was.

Analytics is confirmation bias statistics by bookworms who don’t understand the sport they’re watching, no matter how much they may enjoy it.

Go to pro football reference, they have all the basic stats you need.

We’re not launching a space shuttle here, they’re moving an inflated pig’s bladder down a field.

 

[Thelonious]

Analytics isn’t data, no matter how you wish it was.

Analytics is confirmation bias statistics by bookworms who don’t understand the sport they’re watching, no matter how much they may enjoy it.

Go to pro football reference, they have all the basic stats you need.

We’re not launching a space shuttle here, they’re moving an inflated pig’s bladder down a field.

Bookworm here. Here's a photo of a fossilized 14th-century turd to show just how miffed I am: