Dan Connolly injury overreaction?

[Bostonian1962]

Many of us think Koppen is the weakest link on the OL. The frightening thing was that vs Detroit, it was Vollmer.

Interesting, because over the last two weeks, I've seen arguments on who is the weakest link, Koppen or Connelly. Vollmer looked horrible this week. Ohrenburger usually looks like arse. Light is coming off a not minor injury. Of course, Solder is a rookie.

That all leads to my question: Don't the Patriots have to bust some kind of move for a talented offensive lineman before the season starts, or is this in fact overreaction?

 

[Deus Irae]

Must be a yawning chasm to Ohrnberger then. Have you ever actually scored any of the OL?

Koppen and Connolly were both starters on an good offensive line last year. Koppen is an adequate center. Connolly is a good pulling guard who made numerous key blocks in the running game last year. Both lack functional strength and can be overpowered at times.

Ohrnberger sucks. How is this news?


You were wrong on Connolly last season. You're still wrong on him.

 

[TheSolderKing]

OK, so at RG we have a marginal starter at best (weakest link on the OL) and then not one half-decent to back him up. Awesome!

I hope Cannon can play this year.

I disagree. When Mankins held out. I thought he did pretty well @ the LG position. Huge shoes to fill in Logan, but the dude played well


I want Cannon to play as well. 3 of you on here make it out to be that DC is awful. Shortterm memories do not notice how well he played in Mankins absence when Logan held out.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

This is obviously good news. But, we still need to add an interior lineman. Or are you all set with Ohrnberger and the injured Wendell as our backups?

I'm not all set with Connolly as the starting RG. I've heard talk of playing Solder there, but I wish Light would move to RG and Solder stays at LT.

Ohrnberger was a reach as a former 4th rounder, and IMO, I'm hoping he doesn't make the 53.

What's Cannon's status?

 

[TheComeback]

Well, guys, I know Connolly isn't a fan favorite, but he's the best we've got or are going to get at this point. We can win a Super Bowl with him at RG. Heck, look at the Steelers/Packers oline. We're way better off than they both were last year, though I'll admit our QB isn't as mobile as theirs.

As for Cannon, don't get your hopes about him starting this year. Knowing Belichick, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him open on on the PUP and then be placed on IR after six weeks. BB has always been cautious with rookies like that. I think it's overly optimistic to expect that he'll be ready this year after never practicing with the team.

OTOH, Cannon seems like a special guy. Maybe he can pull this one out and contribute to the team. He would be a huge boost to our running game, and should be able to handle big DTs as well.

 

[TheComeback]

Ohrnberger sucks. How is this news?


You were wrong on Connolly last season. You're still wrong on him.

Care to enlighten us, Deus? What about his assessment of Connolly was wrong? My eyes don't lie. The guy can definitely pull and he did a good job filling in for Mankins last year. That's a fact.

We finished the year with one of the best lines in the league--without Mankins.

 

[lurker1965]

worst post 09

Um, I must be misreading something, but isn't this '11. Would not worst post 09 be how they should trade Brady and keep Cassel?

 

[Deus Irae]

Care to enlighten us, Deus? What about his assessment of Connolly was wrong? My eyes don't lie. The guy can definitely pull and he did a good job filling in for Mankins last year. That's a fact.

We finished the year with one of the best lines in the league--without Mankins.

1.) Mankins was on the line at the end of the year. He was first team All Pro.

2.) There's more to being a guard than just pulling.

3.) Connolly was so good last year that he was pulled from a game.

4.) Bruschi just talked about the Tampa game and McCoy taking Connolly on a play as the impetous for how the Lions attacked this past week.

5.) The Connolly stuff from last year has been done to death. If you want to believe he's good enough to get the job done, you're welcome to that belief.

 

[BaltimorePatsFan]

1.) Mankins was on the line at the end of the year. He was first team All Pro.

2.) There's more to being a guard than just pulling.

3.) Connolly was so good last year that he was pulled from a game.

4.) Bruschi just talked about the Tampa game and McCoy taking Connolly on a play as the impetous for how the Lions attacked this past week.

5.) The Connolly stuff from last year has been done to death. If you want to believe he's good enough to get the job done, you're welcome to that belief.

All Pro means nothing. Darren Sharper made the All Pro Team and he started 1 game. Logan Mankins made All Pro only because of his reputation, and despite his reputation he's been getting mauled in the playoffs since 2008.

Connolly is the worst starter on the o-line but Mankins is no demigod either.

 

[Deus Irae]

All Pro means nothing. Darren Sharper made the All Pro Team and he started 1 game. Logan Mankins made All Pro only because of his reputation, and despite his reputation he's been getting mauled in the playoffs since 2008.

Connolly is the worst starter on the o-line but Mankins is no demigod either.

Mankins made All Pro because he was the best guard in football last season. That doesn't make him a demigod. It just makes him the best at what he does.

 

[TheComeback]

1.) Mankins was on the line at the end of the year. He was first team All Pro.

2.) There's more to being a guard than just pulling.

3.) Connolly was so good last year that he was pulled from a game.

4.) Bruschi just talked about the Tampa game and McCoy taking Connolly on a play as the impetous for how the Lions attacked this past week.

5.) The Connolly stuff from last year has been done to death. If you want to believe he's good enough to get the job done, you're welcome to that belief.

1) Mankins played in six games. If you honestly think someone truly deserves to be all-pro after six games, that's your opinion.

2) You're right, and Connolly is solid in most of those areas as well. But pulling is his strength.

3) What game? If you're talking about the Packers, he left with a head injury. He started in the playoffs.

4) He got owned by McCoy on a few plays. So do most guards in the NFL.

5) You're right, I am welcome to that belief. Evidently, so are the Patriots.

 

[mgteich]

news at 11

Ohrnberger sucks.

 

[Deus Irae]

1) Mankins played in six games. If you honestly think someone truly deserves to be all-pro after six games, that's your opinion.

2) You're right, and Connolly is solid in most of those areas as well. But pulling is his strength.

3) What game? If you're talking about the Packers, he left with a head injury. He started in the playoffs.

4) He got owned by McCoy on a few plays. So do most guards in the NFL.

5) You're right, I am welcome to that belief. Evidently, so are the Patriots.

First you said the team finished the season without him. Now you're claiming it was a 6 game season for Mankins. You're wrong again, as he played in 9 games.

You're either trolling or just clueless on the subject. Neither is worth my time. And if the Patriots were truly confident in Connolly, they wouldn't have Solder taking snaps at right guard.

 

[Deus Irae]

news at 11

Well, in my defense of that post, there are people here who are pimping Connolly. It's not too big a stretch to think that some here will still be pimping Ohrnberger.

 

[DaBruinz]

Vollmer looked like a turnstyle in that game.

After Connolly went down, Vollmer was too worried about helping Ohrnberger that he was out of position on his own man. Same with Koppen.

Least you could do is actually stick to reality.

 

[DaBruinz]

Many of us think Koppen is the weakest link on the OL. The frightening thing was that vs Detroit, it was Vollmer.

No, it wasn't. It was Ohrnberger. After the 1st snap that Ohrnberger was on the field and got run over, Vollmer tried to shade to that side. And it cost him.

 

[DaBruinz]

Care to enlighten us, Deus? What about his assessment of Connolly was wrong? My eyes don't lie. The guy can definitely pull and he did a good job filling in for Mankins last year. That's a fact.

We finished the year with one of the best lines in the league--without Mankins.

If you call allowing 5 sacks and forcing Light and Koppen to have to shade towards you and, in turn, force the Pats to line up a blocking TE to Light's outside to ensure a DE doesn't come in unblocked, then sure Connolly was good.

The reality is that Connolly is actually a step down from Russ Hochstein. If you believe otherwise, then you are kidding yourself.

 

[BradyFTW!]

No, it wasn't. It was Ohrnberger. After the 1st snap that Ohrnberger was on the field and got run over, Vollmer tried to shade to that side. And it cost him.

This is exactly the sort of reason why I don't buy the "Connolly is good enough" talk. You can get by against most teams with a weak spot on your OL, because you can scheme around it and most lines lack the personnel to punish you for it.

But against teams with good DTs, we get exposed because we can't scheme around the sheer mismatch of talent. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I believe that the Pats will have to beat multiple teams with good DTs if they want to win the Super Bowl. I dunno if you're getting that done with Connolly (a serviceable backup) starting and Ohrnberger (not sure how he's still in the NFL) as your top backup.

 

[DaBruinz]

All Pro means nothing. Darren Sharper made the All Pro Team and he started 1 game. Logan Mankins made All Pro only because of his reputation, and despite his reputation he's been getting mauled in the playoffs since 2008.

Connolly is the worst starter on the o-line but Mankins is no demigod either.

Darren Sharper was not an All-Pro last year. He was an ALL-PRO in 2009. When he played in 14 games, had 9 interceptions (led the league for safeties) and took 3 of those 9 back for TDs.

Logan Mankins made All-Pro because, since you missed it, the Pats O-line went from decent to dominant when he returned last year.

As for the play-offs last year, you need to go back and look more at Koppen. Same as the year before. Koppen is the one who blew protection calls and missed ILB blitzes..

 

[Ring 6]

First you said the team finished the season without him. Now you're claiming it was a 6 game season for Mankins. You're wrong again, as he played in 9 games.

You're either trolling or just clueless on the subject. Neither is worth my time. And if the Patriots were truly confident in Connolly, they wouldn't have Solder taking snaps at right guard.

It is entirely possible, and in fact likely, that the reason Solder is taking snaps at RG is because he will be a game day active and needs to be able to backup there as well.