Player Signing Patriots sign Center Garrett Bradbury

[WhatJustHappened]

He's ONE PLAYER, AT SH!T $.
NOONE here at PatsFans is ever happy unless the guy has AllPro Next to his name.
SORRY you cannot afford "All-Pros" at every spot.
He hasn't even won the job.

 

[PlainOldEd]

Look at the video NE_Zealot links above at the 1 minute mark. You might consider whether you want to go on with that assumption.

He started 88 games. That is 5+ seasons worth. You can find clips of all but the most elite players (and no one is calling him that) getting blown up at some point. We need linemen. He is a 5 year starter. It is really as simple as that

 

[WhatJustHappened]

I'm flabbergasted, this guy hasn't even won the job, he's camp fodder AFAIC.
Let's see, if he wins the job, that says we failed in the draft , and will try again..
He's nothing.

 

[Mike the Brit]

He started 88 games. That is 5+ seasons worth. You can find clips of all but the most elite players (and no one is calling him that) getting blown up at some point. We need linemen. He is a 5 year starter. It is really as simple as that

Of course. I've watched James Ferentz sliding backwards like he was on rails, but not even he was run over like that.

The long and the short is that the GM who screwed up the O-line so badly last season is swapping out David Andrews for this guy. I think they should swap out the GM.

 

[maust]

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Sure you can, I'm livin' proof of it.
OFC it's not always pretty to watch while the ol' mutt is learning

 

[Joey007]

Maybe two years ago he wasn’t. But last year he was 100% a liability to the Vikings.

He’s young enough to still rebound.

 

[Ring 6]

Of course. I've watched James Ferentz sliding backwards like he was on rails, but not even he was run over like that.

The long and the short is that the GM who screwed up the O-line so badly last season is swapping out David Andrews for this guy. I think they should swap out the GM.

It’s one play

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

running behind him , onwenu, and moses should be fun. We need to add one a downhill runner into the mix

 

[patfanken]

I like it. No more yapping about Strange at C.

I don't know. I kinda liked the idea of not getting exactly what you wanted in Strange the Guard but instead getting the absolute perfect guy to be exactly like you want to be the perfect athlete, size, speed quickness combo to be a perfect Center. So instead of having an OK LG we get more on our investment by getting an all pro value at C. I guess now we'll never know how that experiment would have gone.

Now I guess we get a good quality Center, just not a great one and hope the sum will be better than the individual parts.

Remember IF we are luckier this year. If we hopefully have most of the starters in place by early August, we might have a good idea of how good this OL will end up being by early October.

IIRC, last year between, injuries and illnesses I don't think we ever had the same 2 OLs play 2 games in a row until we got into December. Just think about that compared to that one OL on one of the first Superbowl teams where we had very non descript OL of just JAGS, but who didn't miss a single PRACTICE together let alone a game. Talk about "insynch" Anyone know what I'm talking about?

So much of OL success comes from playing as a group and understanding team dynamics more than individual skills playing as individuals. We should start to realize just how LITTLE we had of that last year... or two. And what kind of advantage it was for us for so long when we had that coaching continuity back in the day ...and how we miss it so much now.. and need to get it back

 

[UGAPatsfan]

From everything I've read, a good run blocking center but gets physically overmatched by big interior defensive lineman, so pass pro can be a problem.

Can we be honest and not re-write history by saying that doesn’t sound EXACTLY like David Andrews? He regularly got “son’ed “ by big DT’s.

 

[Mike the Brit]

It’s one play

Indeed it is.

But

1. It's a spectacularly terrible play.

2. It's singled out by a Vikings fan as typical of his play.

3. The guy was cut by his team.

4. He was signed by the GM who put together far and away the worst offensive line in football last season but has kept his job when Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and Defensive Coordinator were let go.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Agree! If he can not pass block why sign him

Because before this signing we’d be set to start a center who can’t pass block but also can’t run block, which this guy seemingly can. And at this stage of the offseason, there aren’t any players left who are great starting centers. So you do the best you can with what’s available and make the marginal improvement. And you keep doing that at every position you can every year. Sometimes that means going from a 1/10 starter to 2/10. And then hopefully you can eventually find someone else even better to replace the replacement. Sometimes it’s 6/10 to 7/10. You just keep getting better and better off of who’s available.

 

[Urgent]

Awesome.
An inexpensive option at a huge position of need.
Team got better without spending a ton. They obtained an option. That's value.
By any metric, he was better than Ben Brown and more dependable than Cole Strange.
A year ago the team was looking for released UDFA's and benched players to start.
I'll take underperforming first round picks.

The major complaint seems to be that he was only graded slightly better than Brown in pass blocking, but a lot better in run blocking.
If you can get to third down with fewer than 12 to go, that might also help the passing game. All season the running backs were hit twice before getting to the line of scrimmage. Not sure Vrabel was going to accept that.

 

[Ring 6]

Indeed it is.

But

1. It's a spectacularly terrible play.

2. It's singled out by a Vikings fan as typical of his play.

3. The guy was cut by his team.

4. He was signed by the GM who put together far and away the worst offensive line in football last season but has kept his job when Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and Defensive Coordinator were let go.

He is also a first round pick who has started 88 games.
I disagree with 2, he mentioned one and only one play and the guy is clearly a kook.
This is the opposite of what that GM did last year.

 

[Taxed in Maine]

We can address the O-line in rounds 2-3 of the nfl draft. Plenty of good options for the long term

You come from the Matt Millen school of team building. How did that work out.

 

[Brick27]

The guy started 88 games. The Vikings won 14 games with Sam Darnold at qb. Last time I checked Sam wasn't exactly cool hand Luke under pressure. So I'm going to go ahead and assume that he isn't THAT terrible and that he can be coached up.
The **** people ***** about in here never ceases to amaze me...

Unless there are 9-10 starting caliber OL on this roster, there will somehow be discontent.

Reality is very few OLs have a full 5 that all are considered good, and even top collective units might have a weaker link. As for bench, **** can hit the fan quick for a lot of teams. Past a decent swing tackle and reliable 4th IOL, most can fall off a cliff.

It’s a tough to fill a good OL and find good OL, and all 32 teams are trying to.

 

[Tunescribe]

We seriously have 2x as many centers on the team as any other NFL team

Bradbury
Strange
Jake Andrews
Ben Brown
Lecitus Smith

We really dont need any more centers

Was Ben Brown really that bad at center? Apparently they don't think too highly of him.

 

[TommyD4207]

Sow is a decent LG.

 

[palialka]

Now 3 of the 5 positions on the line have been solidified with proven veterans.

Two more to go.

Honestly, it’s probably 4 out of 5

??? Strange Brad

Now 3 of the 5 positions on the line have been solidified with proven veterans.

Two more to go.

Honestly, it’s probably 4 out of 5

??? Strange Bradbury Onwenu Moses

I’m not saying it’s an all star lineup but it’s miles ahead of last year.

We’re gonna draft a LT in the 1st rd

 

[Ross12]

Was Ben Brown really that bad at center? Apparently they don't think too highly of him.

He is a solid backup. He got a lot of starting experience last year. He can do the fundamentals of the job competently, but isn’t one of the 32 best centers in the league. That said, he’s not gonna have a bunch of snafus or critical errors. You can do worse for your second C, although most teams would prefer to have a backup G who can flex to C. Problem is sometimes those guys can’t actually flex as well as you thought they could until you’re forced to find out. A good fix is to just have a C who never gets hurt and you never have to find out.