Ryan Wendell re-signed

[patfanken]

, there's a whole lot of centers that should be readily available who would do better.

Totally disagree, because if this were true they'd be here now. Why do people continually believe that every 3rd round draft pick or any C recently let go by their team, would be he that much better than Wendell. That's a ridiculous assumption.

Any available FA C was out there because there were serious flaws in their games, just like Wendell. Simply assuming that "anyone else" is better" should be put in the file labelled "be careful what you wish for"

1. The degree to which Mankins was relied on to cover for Wendell's mistakes
2. The times when Brady took hits or was hurried when throwing because Wendell did a poor job in pass protection

Mankins had his own problems last season. And stop making it seem like every time Brady was hit or hurried it was somehow Ryan Wendell's fault. Most of the time it wasn't

I can't quantify it, but I'm pretty sure that the Pats' offensive line has become significantly more susceptible to interior pressure, whether or not it results in a sack, in each of the last two seasons. They were excellent in 2011, When Connolly was playing center and Waters was at RG. They were adequate in 2012, and then by last season it was a clear weak point that opponents were attacking.

Of course you can't quantify it, because you're just guessing. We all are pretty much.

But there could be several reasons why you felt this way.

1. Teams game planned to attack the Pats middle more than in past years.

2. Teams aren't dumb. Mankins isn't who he once was. Wendell is an undersided technician. Connolly is just average. So it it would seem to make eminent sense to attack the Pats there, rather than an elite RT or one of the best young LT's in the game.

3, Also inside Pressure is what Brady hates most.

4. Another reason for an increase in sacks and hits is Brady's increasing immobility.

5. Also the increased use of play action passing in the Pats offense could have been a factor.

Didn't you notice that later in the year, teams were ignoring the run more often and simply staying after Brady. Play action passes take longer to develop, because the QB has to turn his back to the secondary. I recall several sacks, hits, and hurries that were caused because of this.

Even the above analysis isn't particularly meaningful to me unless it's compared against other C's around the league, and even after that comparison, there would still be a ton of other things that need to be accounted for, starting with Brady's quick release and pocket presence. He makes his pass blockers look better than they are; it's one of my favorite things about him.

This isn't 100% the case now days. Like I mentioned above, Brady comes with both the good and the bad. He is less mobile within the pocket and teams know where he'll be. And then we have the issue of rookie or new WR's who either don't get free on time, or who aren't where they are supposed to be. This was often the cause of hurries, hits and sacks.

That's why I think its so hard to simply blame one aspect of something that is so "unit" oriented. Lots of moving pieces in putting together a great passing offense.

Personally I think we will see a big improvement in our OL pass protection even if we wind up with the same guys starting for the following reasons

1. I expect the WR's to be better this year.

2. I expect the TE's to be better this year. (I would bet a lot that when Gronk was available our pass protection was much better than in those games he wasn't)

3. I expect Mankins to be better this year. (this is like a contract year for him)

And if in the end Cannon winds up to be the RG and Connolly, Wendell or a rookie wind up to be the C, then I think the OL will even be better.