So, what's with the oline now?

[Zeus]

Solder-Cannon-Kline-Wendell-Stork-Connolly-Kline-Vollmer

Keep Brady, Develin and Ridley in the backfield. Run the ball every play. Then when the defense really stacks the box take all the extra OL out and throw a bomb to Slater.

You gotta keep innovating, baby.

Why not pass it to Kline? Opposing D would have to guess which one.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Carolina OL breakdown, by Mike Reiss.

Looks like, Minus Mankins, we have 6 guys plus Vollmer in the mix for 5 starting spots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- A look at snaps played by members of the New England Patriots' offense in the team's 30-7 win over the Carolina Panthers on Friday night:

OFFENSIVE LINE:
contenders:
LT Nate Solder -- 49 of 72
(LG Logan Mankins -- 49 of 72)
C Ryan Wendell -- 38 of 72
C/RG Dan Connolly -- 36 of 72
RG/LT Jordan Devey -- 56 of 72
RG Josh Kline -- 34 of 72
RT Marcus Cannon -- 49 of 72
RT Vollmer: inactive

clear backups:
RT Cameron Fleming -- 24 of 72
G Chris Barker -- 23 of 72
C Braxston Cave -- 15 of 72
G Jon Halapio -- 2 of 72

Reiss Quick-hit thoughts: In recent weeks, there has been some concern with left tackle Nate Solder, but that has subsided. He looked solid in a tough matchup against Greg Hardy. If Halapio (6th round, Florida) makes the 53-man roster, it would be more from a redshirt perspective, as his low playing-time total reflects that he's not yet ready to contribute.


--------------------------------

my pick would be Cannon at a G spot if he can do it, Solder & Vollmer at tackles, Connolly at C, and Devey or Kline (probably Kline) at the other G spot.

reservations: Devey & Kline have been RGs, thus you'd think Cannon is LG, and I don't think he has lined up there, even at practice.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[BobDigital]

Right now I have 9 guys making the roster.

OT - Vollmer Solder Fleming Cannon
G - Kline Connolly Devey
C - Wendell Stork

I think Halapio and Baker/Cave make the PS.

I know he has not seen many snaps this preseason but I just think if you put Stork on the IR he is probably not going to improve and perhaps regress and would probably be done here. I forget who did it but a poster here made a point of no first year player put on IR has ever stuck on the roster. Also what has Halapio or anyone else done to really push him off? Not enough IMO. I will go with the guy with upside.

Also with keeping these guys you have technically 3 centers. Connolly/Wendell/Stork can all play it. It allows you to keep him on the roster and bring him along slowly and keep him practicing (something he can't do with the team on IR).

He may not even contribute this year at all but it will set him up for a good chance to take the job next year.

Also yes. I have Cannon as an OT. Everyone wants him at G including me but I won't do it until i see it. BB wants him at OT so he is there until BB decides otherwise.

 

[supafly]

reservations: Devey & Kline have been RGs, thus you'd think Cannon is LG, and I don't think he has lined up there, even at practice.

Correct me if I am wrong.

When Mankins switched over to LT last year in the game down at Baltimore, Josh Kline played quite effectively at LG (Mankins' normal spot). He's not exclusively a "RG only" guy at all.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Has no one considered that Belichick had conducted a Final exam for the O-Line contestants, without any First Stringers playing, against perhaps the leagues best D-Line (72 sacks in 2013!) of the Panthers?

Incidently they passed the test with zero sacks and at most 1 pressure. I'm sure that result reinforced Belichick's confidence in the Mankins trade.

Comments?

Yeahhhhh, um, that was pre-season.

I think the point you're making looks good (thus far) - Mankins was a beast run blocker and a better-than-average but not elite pass protector. Just as the value of a running back decreases with this seasons rules "emphasis" change, the value of a run blocker decreases in relative terms.

I think also we've lost a very, very good run blocker.

Meanwhile a guy whose value as a pass blocker, particularly against elite defenses, has often been "B" work or worse, won't change his deal. I wouldn't want that either were I him. Plenty of teams are happy to pick up a pro-bowl guard.

So farewell, Logan - thanks for the great stuff you did for the Pats, and we won't dwell on your impression of a turnstile in that first Gintz super bowl

 

[BradyFTW!]

I think I might be done speculating on the o-line. At this point it's a) nearly impossible to guess, and b) it'll all be revealed in a week and a half anyway.

I'll be watching very closely to see who gets the start week 1.

Scratch that, just a bit more speculation: in hindsight, i think we should've been reading into Devey playing so many preseason snaps. I expect that he'll feature prominently in the new interior line.

 

[Brady6]

Tomorrow night I would like to see them start:

LT- Solder
LG- Cannon
OC- Stork
RG- Fleming
RT- Vollmer

I just want to see how it looks with Garopollo back there.

 

[supafly]

Tomorrow night I would like to see them start:

LT- Solder
LG- Cannon
OC- Stork
RG- Fleming
RT- Vollmer

I just want to see how it looks with Garopollo back there.

You are projecting Fleming to be a guard as well, Brady6?

I thought that was Craig's baby.

 

[supafly]

My hope is solder, Kline, Connolly, cannon and vollmer. Would be a pretty good line on paper IMO

I agree, but we're not sure how Belichick really feels about Cannon playing the interior.

 

[Brady6]

You are projecting Fleming to be a guard as well, Brady6?

I thought that was Craig's baby.

Most scouting reports said he would be best suited to move inside. I think he could go either way much like Cannon. I just think that is the most talent 5 OL we have so I would like to see how they play and that is the only way to fit them out there.

 

[Ross12]

my pick would be Cannon at a G spot if he can do it, Solder & Vollmer at tackles, Connolly at C, and Devey or Kline (probably Kline) at the other G spot.

There's more than one??? Oh god, everything I knew about women was wrong...

 

[Mack Herron]

There are too many moving parts right now. Fleming looks like the closest thing they have to Mankins in road grader skills. Stork's draft position indicates to me they have eyes on a starter. We haven't seen enough of these guys or Devey and even Kline in game action. It certainly looks like they intend to get bigger and stronger, but they may not be there yet. I expect the rotations will continue for some time and the line that starts opening day is unlikely to be the line that takes us into December and beyond.

 

[Joker]

I don't want to see any starters...either offensive or defensive, out there tomorrow night.

It's amateur hour...let the scrubs and cuts fight it out.

 

[ausbacker]

If Wendell remains the Patriots starting Centre then I want James Develin in on every snap he takes. Brady will need the extra protection in obvious passing downs.

 

[strngplyr]

It might look something like this:


Just joking. Hope that doesn't happen.

Solder, Kline, Connolly, Cannon, Vollmer

Wouldn't be surprised if it's: Solder, Kline, Wendell, Connolly, Vollmer

The Solder - Kline - Connolly - Cannon - Vollmer lineup has been my guess since the minute news broke as well. Kline played well in pass blocking against the Ravens last season and we also had a very good rushing attack that night as well.

One game doesn't prove everything, but he'd be my pick right now.

 

[supafly]

The Solder - Kline - Connolly - Cannon - Vollmer lineup has been my guess since the minute news broke as well. Kline played well in pass blocking against the Ravens last season and we also had a very good rushing attack that night as well.

One game doesn't prove everything, but he'd be my pick right now.

I hope that you're right and this is the line we see, but I'm just so leery about whether or not Belichick likes Cannon at RG. Have we seen any evidence of this during the preseason? From what another poster was describing, it seems like Cannon saw extremely limited looks at RG very early in the process this offseason. If he's played in the preseason at RG, obviously I take back some of my concern--but I'm not sure how BB feels about Cannon's ability in the interior OL vs a tackle.

I do like your idea of the starting 5 though, for sure.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

You are projecting Fleming to be a guard as well, Brady6?

I thought that was Craig's baby.

I thought it was Hilapio at Center, but after that ugly baby, I didn't hang around to see if he had twins.

 

[dales804]

Reiss has an article on how the Pats could fill in for Mankins. Cannon has not played thus far at anything but tackle this preseason, though that could change tonight.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

I'd be interested in the thoughts of folks who know blocking schemes. There seem to be two lines of thought expressed by posters in our offensive line discussions: those who want more beef inside and those who want guys with a clean rap sheet in pass protection. Both desirable aspects, but I suspect the coaches are looking deeper (although I'm admittedly hung-up on Kline's lighter-than-Wendell list weight and fear what will happen to the top of the pocket by replacing Mankins with him).

Tonight, I intend to keep my amateur eye on how well the OLmen move when pulling. I suspect that Cannon's relegation to backup tackle has something to do with limitations in that department. From what little I've noticed, it seems that Kline does move much better than Devey, and Wendell and Connolly are clearly exemplary in that department. If the Giants play their starting DL, we'll likely get a look at how well the interior holds-up to inside pressure. Should be an interesting game. Glad they are working it out in front of Grappa.

 

[Urgent]

Many are suggesting Cannon at guard.

As Reiss noted Cannon has not taken a snap at guard through preseason.

If the Patriots were considering trading Mankins presumably they would want to see his potential backup. Even for potential injury replacement.

There have been two clear backup guards: Kline and Devey.

Tonight's game will be interesting to see what they do at offensive line. Obviously traditionally the starters rest. So what can be learned by either fans or coaches?

Would they play Cannon at guard after not taking a snap there are preseason?


The higher probability lines are Solder - Kline - Wendell - Connolly - Vollmer or Solder - Kline - Connolly - Devey - Vollmer.