Dan Stevenson, 6th round, to be signed

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I don't think he makes it to practice squad, it's a mystery injury, or the roster. I know that he was drafted late, but teams that traditionally rob the Pats practive squad will do so immediately if they think they can take a flyer on a former 6th round pick of the Pats. The endorsement by Weis, and then the drafting by the Pats, is a sort of double endorsement in the league these days because lots of teams have their eye on us.

As far as Gorin, if he makes the roster than that means we don't have anybody BETTER than him, and I would not find this to be remotely good news. I would find it to be a very sad disappointment and a bad reflection on the other players. Fact is that Gorin gets manhandled by LBs like Terrell Suggs.

 

[AzPatsFan]

The offensive lien is getting crowded. The way I see it is that most of the low round guys need to spend a year or two at the Dante finishing school, aka PS. Ashworth, Gorin, Neal, Hochstein, Mruuczkowski and Britt have served their time and graduated. This years matriculees are Callaghan and Stephenson.

I expect the starting line to be Light, Mankins, Koppens/Hochstein, Neal and Kaycur. Britt and Gorin are the swing tackles. Hochstein and Tucker are the swing Guards and Center. Mruczkowski may make it if Koppen is PUPPed as a backup to Russ.

The real battle is at Right tackle. Gorin, the insecure incumbent starter, faces Kaycur the young soph who held his own filling in for Light for 11 games. Britt, IMO, is the unknown. He could come in an grab the job outright, end up as Light's caddy, if Kaycur wins at RT; or end up as fourth tackle. I suspect he is a better backup candidate at LOT than Gorin. Based on experience that is where he is... fourth; but potentially he is also a starter quality guy.

I think you guys way overate a low round rookie offensive lineman. They have a lot to learn; and usually need a year of supervised weight training under a Pro trainer.

 

[shakadave]

Kaczur is the mystery man, will he be the starting RT, the swing backup Tackle or a backup G/T ?

I think we're all hoping for : Light, Mankins, Koppen, Neal, Kaczur

with Hochstein and Stevenson as the backups inside and Gorin/Britt/O'Callaghan as the backup OT.

I see no way Kaczur is not a starter, when he was our STARTING LEFT TACKLE last year. I know, Light was injured, but instead of swinging Mankins to LT and Kaczur doing the "easier" job of guard, or swinging Ashworth to LT so Kaczur could play the "easier" RT, look what Belichick & Co. came up with to be their best available lineup under the circumstances.

Alas, I worry we'll not see Koppen for awhile --- read December --- and that we all need to be talking about Hochstein as the starting center, with Stevenson hopefully a nice backup at C/G.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Shakadave: Bingo!

 

[TNPatsFan]

I'm not sure how many OL's they carry on the 53 man roster, but I doubt it's more than 8. Gorin is going to have a fight to make the team unless there are injuries. I think Kaczur will start at RT with O'Cal backing him up. If they put O'Cal on the practice squad some other team will steal him away fast. Hochstein and Stevenson as backups on the interior will be good, but as has been said, Koppen's situation could make Hochstein the starter.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Seeing people list Gorin as a "swing tackle" sends chills down my spine. The man is a decent journeyman RT and I suspect would make an okay G, using him at LT means we're in the middle of another Steelers' slaughterhouse game with OL going down on every play and Tommy heaving the rock to the DBs. Not good folks.

I also get much the same reaction when Britt is mentioned as a swing tackle. The kid is an unknown with some nice college history and one good anecdote from the Pats' Practice Squad. I have hopes he will be a solid addition to the line, but until he does a Kaczur and plays both sides well in a game or two, I'm reluctant to view him as anything more then a promising prospect to make the game day inactives.

Back to Stevenson: Practice Squad or IR are his best options to remain near The Razor. He's competing for a roster spot that has some pretty decent depth - Mankins, Neal, Hochstein are pretty much locks barring injury; Tucker has had a full offseason to learn the system, I'd be surprised if he doesn't show well; Mruczkowski and Yates are Dante-trained bubbas who have a little game time and lots of experience working against some halfway decent DL in practice. Stevenson also has to compete with his fellows rookies and NFLE veterans - Weis or no Weis, the kid has a huge challenge before him and expecting him to make the roster is pie in the sky optimism.

 

[mgteich]

Please list all patriot players who have not passed waivers to Practice Squad in the last five years. Are they any?

That's one of the big irritations I have with the PS is that you have to make it through waivers so Stevenson probably doesn't have it as an option. I really wish a team could put a rookie on the PS without passing through waivers - even if, in that case, he was stuck there all year like IR. It would make teams be able to toss a rookie on the PS and actually work on his game instead of being tossed on IR with a made up injury.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Please list all patriot players who have not passed waivers to Practice Squad in the last five years. Are they any?

Kyle Eckel. I'll leave you to look up the rest.

 

[patchick]

Please list all patriot players who have not passed waivers to Practice Squad in the last five years. Are they any?

Wasn't there the classic Eckel debacle? (Debackel?)

 

[patchick]

Please list all patriot players who have not passed waivers to Practice Squad in the last five years. Are they any?

I should add, though, that I do agree with you in principle. A 6th-round guard with limited athleticism is very unlikely to be scooped up onto an active roster. A competing PS offer is a possibility, though; if you're Stevenson, you might look for a team without 2 young starting guards signed to long-term contracts.

But in the end, either he plays his way onto the roster or you take your chances with waivers. This isn't likely to be a Matt Cassel situation, where the rookie is a huge surprise whom the league pays attention to in camp -- and whom you're not willing to take risks with.

 

[pats1]

It's official now:

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/

July 13, 2006
Stevenson signed

The Patriots signed offensive lineman Dan Stevenson, a sixth round pick out of Notre Dame, to a contract today.

The team agreed to financial terms earlier in the week and was in the process of hammering out the final language on a four-year deal.

Stevenson is the second of 10 Patriots draft picks to sign a contract, following seventh rounder Willie Andrews. Former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, now the head coach at Notre Dame, previously compared Stevenson to former Patriot Joe Andruzzi.

Stevenson (6-5, 300) worked primarily at guard in minicamps, and could potentially add depth at center.

Posted By: mreiss | Time: 03:50:44 PM