Have the Pats already addressed the O-line issues??

[AvocadoIceCream]

Gosh I forgot about Kline too

We've got the pieces to have a good line. Just need health and continuity IMO

 

[varjao]

Mason will be the LG.....book it

I like the pick and I see the upside, but I'm not against bringing an experienced and capable left guard, Mason was originally a right guard in college and didn't play in a pass heavy offense. Let the kid improve in his own time, meanwhile there's still a need to upgrade the interior O-line. I don't think we will a change in the center position, they will take their chances with Stork again and rightfully so, right guard we kind of have several options, Mason, Jackson, Kline, Wendell...I keep seeing LG as the top priority.

 

[Nunchucks]

They signed this Waddle guy to be a backup tackle, they should be fine. They should also draft a LT in the 2nd or 3rd round.

 

[IllegalContact]

I like the pick and I see the upside, but I'm not against bringing an experienced and capable left guard, Mason was originally a right guard in college and didn't play in a pass heavy offense. Let the kid improve in his own time, meanwhile there's still a need to upgrade the interior O-line. I don't think we will a change in the center position, they will take their chances with Stork again and rightfully so, right guard we kind of have several options, Mason, Jackson, Kline, Wendell...I keep seeing LG as the top priority.

I don't .... I think Mason was fine before the rest of the line fell apart .... he will be better this year

RG is the bigger question

 

[A man named Brady]

I think everyone is ok with bringing back the tackle combo of Solder and Vollmer for One more year. I also think we can all agree that the 2017 1st round pick has to be on a Future OT. What I'm not ok with is bringing back the same exact interior line with the idea of "well they're young so they should magically become good right?"

 

[Ring 6]

It was his rookie year in his first year ever in a passing offense.

Looks like impatientitis is an epidemic

And he was awful. Next year we will be saying it was only his second year in a passing offense?
What about his run blocking, that was poor also.

 

[RobertWeathers]

And he was awful. Next year we will be saying it was only his second year in a passing offense?
What about his run blocking, that was poor also.

He was inconsistent. Like most rookies, he had bad moments and good moments.

If you want to call him a bust after 1 year that is your prerogative. I am ready to go there.

 

[Ring 6]

He was inconsistent. Like most rookies, he had bad moments and good moments.

If you want to call him a bust after 1 year that is your prerogative. I am ready to go there.

Did I call him a bust?
I said he played poorly. I said I am not confident that he will improve, and very concerned if we do nothing but hope for that.
He can get better, but lets be honest, a late draft pick, who walked in the door with awful pass blocking technique and played badly his first year is not the greatest hope to become a good player in year 2.

 

[IllegalContact]

He was inconsistent. Like most rookies, he had bad moments and good moments.

If you want to call him a bust after 1 year that is your prerogative. I am ready to go there.

he's not calling him a bust directly, but indirectly, it's exactly what he's calling him.......pouting in a way that only AJ can pout

Mason played fairly well until Solder went down......then the entire line became a combination of keystone kops and chinese fire drill

 

[RobertWeathers]

Did I call him a bust?
I said he played poorly. I said I am not confident that he will improve, and very concerned if we do nothing but hope for that.
He can get better, but lets be honest, a late draft pick, who walked in the door with awful pass blocking technique and played badly his first year is not the greatest hope to become a good player in year 2.

You basically said he sucked and offer no optimism of him improving.

I took it that you are implying that he is a bust. If you didn't mean it that is fine.

 

[50-yard-line]

A couple of thoughts on the line: obviously they were pretty good at the beginning of the year, then got decimated.

I thought Jackson was starting to play pretty well, then he got hurt too.

but that line played well against KC in the playoffs, at home. In Denver, against a DL that was playing out of its mind, it was reported that Stork was tipping. If the DL knows when the snap is coming, the OL is at a huge disadvantage, of course. Also, they didn't change anything up - they didn't even hold in Williams to help against Miller.

Glad Scar is back. That performance was bad, right up to the coaching.

And yeah, I still want a vet LG who can help settle everything down. Go get Evan Mathis. Give the kids a breather!

 

[Ring 6]

You basically said he sucked and offer no optimism of him improving.

I took it that you are implying that he is a bust. If you didn't mean it that is fine.

He did suck, and I would be scared to bet the season on him improving.
His first year is a step toward bust, but the story isn't over yet.
Its too soon to call him a bust, but with what we have to go on so far, I'm not optimistic he won't be, although as the 131st pick, being a 3 year backup on the roster would not be a bust.

 

[JayNM]

Sorry, don't agree at all. Even in the beginning of the year, we could never open running lanes for our players. And injuries are not capable of explaining how bad they were. Brady was basically murdered every game, even when passing in just over 2 seconds.

Having faith is good, but to trust a bunch of sophomores who were mediocre at best to protect a 39 year old Qb is a very bad idea. Brady can't take another year like that, and nor do i

 

[Ring 6]

Sorry, don't agree at all. Even in the beginning of the year, we could never open running lanes for our players. And injuries are not capable of explaining how bad they were. Brady was basically murdered every game, even when passing in just over 2 seconds.

Having faith is good, but to trust a bunch of sophomores who were mediocre at best to protect a 39 year old Qb is a very bad idea. Brady can't take another year like that, and nor do i

The only guy who was injured at the end of the season (other than Jackson who was benched anyway) was Solder. You can't blame the debacle of the AFCCG OL on injuries.

Solder also happens to be the only OL we have the roster who is above average, and Vollmer is the only other one that is not below average or bad.

Sure we can hope young players improve, but if they don't/aren't capable, we cannot win a SB with this group on the OL, IMO.

 

[aluminum seats]

The only guy who was injured at the end of the season (other than Jackson who was benched anyway) was Solder. You can't blame the debacle of the AFCCG OL on injuries.

Solder also happens to be the only OL we have the roster who is above average, and Vollmer is the only other one that is not below average or bad.

Sure we can hope young players improve, but if they don't/aren't capable, we cannot win a SB with this group on the OL, IMO.

I think you might be underplaying the trainwreck that was the OL coaching last year.

 

[DaBruinz]

Sorry, don't agree at all. Even in the beginning of the year, we could never open running lanes for our players. And injuries are not capable of explaining how bad they were. Brady was basically murdered every game, even when passing in just over 2 seconds.

Having faith is good, but to trust a bunch of sophomores who were mediocre at best to protect a 39 year old Qb is a very bad idea. Brady can't take another year like that, and nor do i

You are overlooking one very HUGE factor. DeGuglielmo. He's gone.
I also think that you are severely under-rating the lack of experience has on the communication and blocking assignments.

As for "not opening holes" in the running game. In the first 6 games, two of the game plans called for primarily passing. The Bills and Jets games. What happened in the others?
Steelers - Lewis - 15 carries -69 yards - 4.6 YPC
Jax - Blount - 18 carries - 78 yards - 4.33 YPC Lewis - 8 carries - 37 yards - 4.625 YPC
DAL - Blount - 13 carries - 73 yards - 5.69 YPC Lewis - 6 carries - 34 Yards - 5.67 YPC
Ind - Blount - 16 carries - 93 Yards - 5.81 YPC Lewis 4 carries- 21 Yards - 5.25 YPC

Totals - Blount - 47 carries - 244 yards - 5.1915 YPC
Lewis - 33 carries - 161 yards - 4.8787 YPC

So, this idea that they couldn't open running lanes early on just doesn't hold water. Clearly, they were able to.

Please remember that Stork was out the 1st 7 games. Solder went down in the Dallas game. Cannon went down in the Indy game.

So, while injuries can't explain everything, they can and do explain a lot.
So do the coaching issues with DeGuglielmo and taking into consideration the lack of experience of the 3 rookies who were starting.

 

[RobertWeathers]

He did suck, and I would be scared to bet the season on him improving.
His first year is a step toward bust, but the story isn't over yet.
Its too soon to call him a bust, but with what we have to go on so far, I'm not optimistic he won't be, although as the 131st pick, being a 3 year backup on the roster would not be a bust.

I think we agree that we need a solid swing guard as it is absolutely a question still that Mason and Jackson will improve and Kline is a JAG

 

[Ring 6]

I think you might be underplaying the trainwreck that was the OL coaching last year.

You mean the coaching that was celebrated the year before when we won the SB?

 

[Ring 6]

I think we agree that we need a solid swing guard as it is absolutely a question still that Mason and Jackson will improve and Kline is a JAG

I think we need a STARTER AND a JAG to compete with those 3 for the other spot.

 

[aluminum seats]

You mean the coaching that was celebrated the year before when we won the SB?

Yes.