Any news on the offensive line?

[captain stone]

Alexander was a special teamer.
Are you implying that BB felt there were better football players that could help the team more but instead decided to keep Alexander who sucked so he didn't have to coach up new players?
Thats the point I was disagreeing with.

Then why did he keep a stiff like Alexander around as long as he did, if not for his "system knowledge"?

 

[PatFanCraig]

I 100% disagree with you so I will only make one comment.

Saying that BB prefers poor players who know his system is the most ignorant take I've seen around here in years. There is absolutely nothing to support that. How did Kaczur start as a rookie if that was the case? Light? Koppen? Etc etc.

Lmao, Well of course no coach prefers poor talent who knows his complex system/schemes. Really though I don't have time to point out nor do I really care if anybody believes or not that talent on many occasions has been compromised for players who mastered his schemes or play "intelligently" but lack talent. I'm not trying to be a smartA$$ here. I just don't care to go pointing all that out and debating. This board is all about many different opinions and I respect yours. There is just to much evidence to detail and debate. Because there are many fans who worship everything Bellichick does and will defend every last bad move.

I will say this, Kaczur sucked! Nobody would pay him the vet minimum much less what he considers respectable. Kaczur had at more help than Mankins did blocking his guy. Kaczur shouldn't have needed any help blocking Strahan. No respected RT should have at that point. Mankins had his probs and deserved as much blame. But Tuck in his breakout season was a little different from a semi retired Strahan,dont you think. Still more is expected from Mankins, he is a very good guard but I always thought a little overrated. A ravens fan way before that game told me to pay attention to Mankins play as he was overrated. He said he has a rep as tough/feared/ and a real mauler but gets that rep by burying and over mauling chumps who are average and below average. Told me watch him when he plays the more talented DLineman how he gets abused and beaten. I wrote him off at the time.

 

[woolster22]

Lmao, Well of course no coach prefers poor talent who knows his complex system/schemes. Really though I don't have time to point out nor do I really care if anybody believes or not that talent on many occasions has been compromised for players who mastered his schemes or play "intelligently" but lack talent. I'm not trying to be a smartA$$ here. I just don't care to go pointing all that out and debating. This board is all about many different opinions and I respect yours. There is just to much evidence to detail and debate. Because there are many fans who worship everything Bellichick does and will defend every last bad move.

I will say this, Kaczur sucked! Nobody would pay him the vet minimum much less what he considers respectable. Kaczur had at more help than Mankins did blocking his guy. Kaczur shouldn't have needed any help blocking Strahan. No respected RT should have at that point. Mankins had his probs and deserved as much blame. But Tuck in his breakout season was a little different from a semi retired Strahan,dont you think. Still more is expected from Mankins, he is a very good guard but I always thought a little overrated. A ravens fan way before that game told me to pay attention to Mankins play as he was overrated. He said he has a rep as tough/feared/ and a real mauler but gets that rep by burying and over mauling chumps who are average and below average. Told me watch him when he plays the more talented DLineman how he gets abused and beaten. I wrote him off at the time.

You're long winded and make me want to drown kittens from time to time, but I do tend to agree with you to a point as far as the trenches are concerned...however painful that may be to admit.

With respect to Mank, he tends to play through some serious stuff, which often impacts his play. When healthy, he is one of the best around. When playing through injuries it is generally notable. There is no doubt he was playing hurt at the end of that year.

Kaczur...never was a fan myself, then he got bagged a-la Irsay and flipped. All while PED's started getting serious media attention through baseball...can't imagine why he didn't get an offer...

 

[Ring 6]

Lmao, Well of course no coach prefers poor talent who knows his complex system/schemes. Really though I don't have time to point out nor do I really care if anybody believes or not that talent on many occasions has been compromised for players who mastered his schemes or play "intelligently" but lack talent. I'm not trying to be a smartA$$ here. I just don't care to go pointing all that out and debating. This board is all about many different opinions and I respect yours. There is just to much evidence to detail and debate. Because there are many fans who worship everything Bellichick does and will defend every last bad move.

I will say this, Kaczur sucked! Nobody would pay him the vet minimum much less what he considers respectable. Kaczur had at more help than Mankins did blocking his guy. Kaczur shouldn't have needed any help blocking Strahan. No respected RT should have at that point. Mankins had his probs and deserved as much blame. But Tuck in his breakout season was a little different from a semi retired Strahan,dont you think. Still more is expected from Mankins, he is a very good guard but I always thought a little overrated. A ravens fan way before that game told me to pay attention to Mankins play as he was overrated. He said he has a rep as tough/feared/ and a real mauler but gets that rep by burying and over mauling chumps who are average and below average. Told me watch him when he plays the more talented DLineman how he gets abused and beaten. I wrote him off at the time.

Now that you have totally changed what you are saying you are in the vicinity of correct.

Valuing intelligence and skills that fit the system is not the same as refusing to get a better player because he wants to keep one who knows the system but sucks, which is what you said earlier.

We will disagree on Kaczur. He was an average starting RT, regardless of whether you want to blame him for 18-1.

 

[juny]

So this line from the latest Reiss' blog entry is what caught my attention.
"Patriots offensive linemen mostly had a tough time, perhaps with footing an issue."

Not the first time the OL performance this preseason has been criticized. Just something to keep watching

 

[captain stone]

So this line from the latest Reiss' blog entry is what caught my attention.
"Patriots offensive linemen mostly had a tough time, perhaps with footing an issue."

Not the first time the OL performance this preseason has been criticized...

It won't be the last time either.

 

[supafly]

It won't be the last time either.

You seem really down on the OL tonight, Captain.

In a perfect yet realistic world, what would you like to see happen to solidify the OL? Is it one player that you don't care for, or someone you'd like to see added? I'm not being sarcastic, I am just curious as to what concerns you the most. Is it the poor(er) showing from Solder last week, the duo of Wendell/Connelly on the middle/right side interior?

I think we have seen a lot of recent August posts in '11, '12, '13 where we've been worried about the OL, but when the real games start they seem to do a better job pulling it together. Hopefully that will continue this year.

 

[mrbean]

Supafly makes a valid point; I honestly can't remember a preseason when I wasn't worried about the O-line. They always look better as a full unit rather than one or two starters mixed in with second and third stringers. Scar being gone is a huge loss, but my understanding is that they are still employing the same blocking scheme, so while I'm admittedly still very concerned, I'm not quite yet in panic mode. Judging by BB's O-line picks, he's willing to sacrifice a bit of athleticism for a beefier interior, so we'll see how it works out.

This also holds true for our special teams; we usually field a top 5 unit, but you'd never know it during preseason. They were straight-up terrible last year before the regular season.

 

[captain stone]

You seem really down on the OL tonight, Captain.

In a perfect yet realistic world, what would you like to see happen to solidify the OL? Is it one player that you don't care for, or someone you'd like to see added? I'm not being sarcastic, I am just curious as to what concerns you the most. Is it the poor(er) showing from Solder last week, the duo of Wendell/Connelly on the middle/right side interior?

I think we have seen a lot of recent August posts in '11, '12, '13 where we've been worried about the OL, but when the real games start they seem to do a better job pulling it together. Hopefully that will continue this year.

I'm worried about the regression of Solder, due in part perhaps to multiple concussions. I would wait until the end of this season before entertaining a long-term extension. Drafting a Left/Swing OT in 2015 should be high on Bill's to-do list.
I'm not as worried about a healthy Mankins; I just hope he remains healthy come PO time.
Connolly absolutely must be the starting Center; I hope he plays there as well as he did in 2011, when he was 3 years younger & 3 years healthier.
Cannon should be the starting RG, although he has never played there often enough to feel 100% confident that he can actually do the job.
Vollmer has played in only 29 regular-season games over the last 3 years. He's simply unreliable.
And I don't like any of the backups, except for maybe a healthy Stork, though I never would've spent
an early 4th-rounder on him.

Otherwise, what's there to worry about?

 

[supafly]

I'm worried about the regression of Solder, due in part perhaps to multiple concussions. I would wait until the end of this season before entertaining a long-term extension. Drafting a Left/Swing OT in 2015 should be high on Bill's to-do list.
I'm not as worried about a healthy Mankins; I just hope he remains healthy come PO time.
Connolly absolutely must be the starting Center; I hope he plays there as well as he did in 2011, when he was 3 years younger & 3 years healthier.
Cannon should be the starting RG, although he has never played there often enough to feel 100% confident that he can actually do the job.
Vollmer has played in only 29 regular-season games over the last 3 years. He's simply unreliable.
And I don't like any of the backups, except for maybe a healthy Stork, though I never would've spent
an early 4th-rounder on him.

Otherwise, what's there to worry about?

LOL, yeah that pretty much covers everything.

I'm guessing that the improvement in receiving options from last year should cut down on 20-25% of the sacks from last year alone. We'll have to see. Obviously, we'd like to take another 10 away from that as well to get into "Peyton Manning" territory, but I just don't see that being too realistic.

I think when all is said and done, it shouldn't be nearly as bad as last year, but we'll have to see.