Starting Our Best Five Offensive Lineman

[State]

Scary thought....a guy couldn't a backup spot becomes the Pats starter.

its going to be a long season.

Or we could reevaluate our scheme. Revert back to gap and inside zone. Put Onwenu at RT. Robinson looks good. Put him at RG, the easiest position on the OL to master.

Try the Russian approach at LT: throw bodies at it.

Anderson, Lowe, Okorafor, and Wallace.

Hope that a guy emerges.

 

[State]

Lowe seems to be the forerunner early on. But give Anderson and Wallace time. That Western Michigan Steeler castoff? Maybe you too. Even if you’re a malcontent.

Better yet, bring in another veteran like Dalton Risner whom the Vikings will likely cut as he’s been injured. A lot of good tackles in Minnesota.

 

[VrabelJr]

I am the poster that after week 3 last season created the thread that called to move Onwenu to RT and get our 5 best out there. I'm not aware of anyone else that proposed that before that point. The difference this season is that Strange is on IR, we don't have Trent Brown at LT who was still trying at that point, and we have a whole new blocking scheme based around athleticism.

The best we can do is continue to develop Sow and figure out what we we have in Wallace and Robinson ASAP. We're ****ed.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Unfortunately, his being our best LT doesn't mean that he belongs on an NFL roster.

The good news is that we have 4 backups all worse than him.

 

[Clonamery]

The good news is that we have 4 backups all worse than him.

Stop trying to look at the bright side.

 

[PowerRunRevival]

I want to know what Wallace has done that made the coaches think Lowe or even Calvin Anderson is a better option as a starter.

We have to have the worst tackles in the league. The idea that Lowe is the solution seems crazy to me. To me the solution has to be one of the following

1. Give Wallace a shot to start and try to live with the growing pains while he develops.
2. Move Onwenu to right tackle (which means actually giving him practice and pre season reps there) and having Chuks play left.
3. Signing a street free agent like Donovan Smith.

Continuity is more important on the oline than any other position, but continuity doesn’t matter if you are starting a back up level player at LT.

 

[Water Boy]

or start Sow at LG and Robinson at RG.

according to some reports, Robinson has looked very good and Sow has back slid a little.

 

[Water Boy]

I want to know what Wallace has done that made the coaches think Lowe or even Calvin Anderson is a better option as a starter.

We have to have the worst tackles in the league. The idea that Lowe is the solution seems crazy to me. To me the solution has to be one of the following

1. Give Wallace a shot to start and try to live with the growing pains while he develops.
2. Move Onwenu to right tackle (which means actually giving him practice and pre season reps there) and having Chuks play left.
3. Signing a street free agent like Donovan Smith.

Continuity is more important on the oline than any other position, but continuity doesn’t matter if you are starting a back up level player at LT.

Barth and Lazar thought the line looked the best with Wallace at LT and Chucks at RT. They have no idea why the coaching staff pivoted to Vedarian Lowe.

 

[captain stone]

Or we could reevaluate our scheme. Revert back to gap and inside zone. Put Onwenu at RT. Robinson looks good. Put him at RG, the easiest position on the OL to master.

Try the Russian approach at LT: throw bodies at it.

Anderson, Lowe, Okorafor, and Wallace.

Hope that a guy emerges.

Perry & Callahan on BST last night suggested the very same thing:
Chucky (for now) - Sow - Andrews - Robinson - Onwenu.

 

[Scotty]

I am sure that I read several posts that Wallace had a few days at LT and seemed to do well and then for some reason he was moved to RT and the second string. Is my memory that bad I got it wrong There just seems to be so much swopping around and we are running out of time in having the best 5 ready to go.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

It was great for years to have BB be able to mold his schemes around whatever personnel he had, but that's part of what makes him a once in a lifetime coach. I don't need a rookie head coach and an offensive coordinator calling plays for the first time running a scheme that isn't their natural choice and trying to develop players in it. That's not even a shot at Mayo/AVP, as almost every coach other than BB needs to run their own scheme without such drastic shifts.

I don't think I'd change the OL scheme to accommodate Onwenu at RT. Not as a rebuilding team that hasn't put any other pieces in place to compete this year. If you change the scheme to be a bit better this year, then next yeah you're going to have everyone learning a new scheme and to some extent you're starting everything over again. Maybe RT will be a disaster in the current scheme but there's long-term value in Sow learning the scheme they actually want to run at LG and Wallace/Robinson being developed in that scheme as well rather than a 1 year placeholder scheme.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Shades of 1990 when they kept the TE in for blocking only....

 

[PatsFan2]

For months, we have been discussing starting out top 5 offensive linemen. As of now, who are they?
=========
Sow, Andrews, Onwenu and Okorafor are four.
============
Is Wallace ready to start?
Is Robinson ready to start?
Leverett?
=====
Should any of the rest really even be on the team if we could find upgrades after the final cuts? Lowe? Anderson? Mafi? Jordan?

With the for I have listed, we either need a starting RG or a starting RT. If Onwenu is the RG, we also need a backup #3 OT.
===========
It isn't terrible to have seven OL's that we can hope to count on as starters or backups.

The solution revolves around RT and backup LT. I would argue that if we have FOUR starters, we could TRY to fill other starting position as well as backup OT and backup OG/OC with players that we think should be playing in the NFL.

The REAL key is backup LT. Do we have one? I'm OK if it is Wallace. We need someone better than Anderson and Lowe.

Lowe - Sow - Andrews - Onwenu - Anderson.

That lineup points to keeping Four QB's Zappe ain't going anywhere happy times... happy times.

 

[PatsFan2]

Shades of 1990 when they kept the TE in for blocking only....

Shades of Tommy Hudson and Hugh Millen boy do I remember those days and it's not by choice.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Shades of Tommy Hudson and Hugh Millen boy do I remember those days and it's not by choice.

That was last season. MJ and BZ to a tee.
Hoping for improved QB play this year to make it less painful.

 

[dliverey44]

I went back and watched the preseason games and Wallace is pretty good. He has looked very good at RT in the pass and run game. He has not looked out of place at LT, albeit against lesser competition. I find myself wondering if he is crap in practice and that is why he didn't get more time with the ones.

I feel like they need to allow Lowe, Jacobs and Wallace to compete for the LT role or Leave Wallace at RT move Big Mike back inside since we are hoping to get Campbell next year. I don't think Chuks is bad, but I don't see him in our long-term plans. I can also see Hudson being moved to the 53 at some point and Leverett being let go.

 

[mgteich]

I went back and watched the preseason games and Wallace is pretty good. He has looked very good at RT in the pass and run game. He has not looked out of place at LT, albeit against lesser competition. I find myself wondering if he is crap in practice and that is why he didn't get more time with the ones.

I feel like they need to allow Lowe, Jacobs and Wallace to compete for the LT role or Leave Wallace at RT move Big Mike back inside since we are hoping to get Campbell next year. I don't think Chuks is bad, but I don't see him in our long-term plans. I can also see Hudson being moved to the 53 at some point and Leverett being let go.

I agree with your analysis. As usual, my take is slightly different.

WALLACE
I would put Wallace at RT. He is a fine RT. This year, let him learn to be a starting NFL RT. Perhaps he can compete for LT or swing next year, but for now, I really like him at RT, hopefully as a starter.

ONWENU
With the addition of Jacobs, and the confidence the team has in Love, we should have a LT for now. If Okorafor must be the LT starter, then we can't move Onwenu. Otherwise, Onwenu should move to RG. I want Okorafor as a RT or as our swing OT if Wallace starts.

LEFT TACKLE
We have Love as a starter for now, hopefully with Jacobs as the backup. Okorafor should be Plan C.

BACKUP CENTER AND GUARD
We now have Leverett (C/OG) and Thomas (OG/LT) as backups.
My hope is also that Hudson is put on the 53 as our backup center.
It is not clear whether Leverett or Thomas would then stay as our backup LG. Thomas seems a better choice.
==================
BOTTOM LINE
We have the following competing and signed through 2025, a good start at an OL
Jacobs, Lowe
Sow, Thomas, (Strange)
Andrews
Onwenu, Robinson
Wallace
This doesn't count Jake, or Hudson.
=======

yes, we still have one-year stopgaps Okorafor and Leverett

 

[Zuma]

==================
BOTTOM LINE
We have the following competing and signed through 2025, a good start at an OL
Jacobs, Lowe
Sow, Thomas, (Strange)
Andrews
Onwenu, Robinson
Wallace

I agree. However Lowe has improved a bit the past month-ish with keeping his arms up and using his hands more and whatnots.

This is the best top 5 and IMO about league average as a whole...or just below. Numbering for 2024 projection players at their position scale 1-10 (10 highest) league-wide...

LT: Lowe - 3
LG: Sow - 6
C: Andrews - 6
RG: Onwenu - 8
RT: Wallace - 4

 

[dliverey44]

I agree. However Lowe has improved a bit the past month-ish with keeping his arms up and using his hands more and whatnots.

This is the best top 5 and IMO about league average as a whole...or just below. Numbering for 2024 projection players at their position scale 1-10 (10 highest) league-wide...

LT: Lowe - 3
LG: Sow - 6
C: Andrews - 6
RG: Onwenu - 8
RT: Wallace - 4

Lowe has improved, but his feet still look heavy at times. He has become much better with his hand usage. I still don't think he will be able to hold up against good pass rushers.

 

[Zuma]

Lowe has improved, but his feet still look heavy at times. He has become much better with his hand usage. I still don't think he will be able to hold up against good pass rushers.

Lowe will need an additional T on his side to help out or a TE. I’d probably prefer Henry then another T at this point.