Why has it been so hard to find elite o-linemen?

[Tony2046]

WTH are you blathering about? Yes Mason missed on one play but Brady put up record numbers behind that line in the SB. I don't know what team you really root for (guessing lolphins) but if you think losing that game can be laid at the feet of the o-line you don't even deserve to watch whatever miserable excuse for a team you have. Maybe try some middle school ball and learn your way up. As or the SB against Atlanta just sit down and shut up with that practice squad BS.

To be fair to the OP he doesn't exactly know what he's talking about.

 

[IcyPatriot]

To be fair to the OP he doesn't exactly know what he's talking about.

He's been a troll since joining here.

 

[maust]

To be fair to the OP he doesn't exactly know what he's talking about.

Never seems to stop him/her though. I'll never understand the whole faux fan thing...

 

[Jackson 2]

2007-8 Super Bowl was the most disappointing performance. I seriously thought they were either drunk or had massive hangovers. It totally reminded me of the movie "Varsity Blues" when the star players got drunk at a strip club and their team got their a** kicked the following night.

The whole team got its ass kicked all weekend by wall-to-wall Spygate talk. Taping the Rams walk-through, etc. etc.

 

[maust]

He's been a troll since joining here.

I thought he/she had been banished to the practice squad at one point. Tunnelled out maybe?

 

[Tony2046]

Most of the Pats' problems in pass protection, when they've had them, have been the direct result of injuries. Basically, Karras and Waddle are not good players. When they're forced into duty, they look like crap and Brady gets hit. If we can get a bit of injury luck on the OL and keep Brown-Thuney-Andrews-Mason-Cannon healthy the rest of the way, then OL will not be a worry for me.

The lack of depth is a bit alarming, but they're managing as well as can be reasonably expected given what happened to Wynn, IMO.

Waddle is a good backup to have and I consider him a good player as far as his role goes. He seems to perform better at right tackle than left but has done a decent job at both at times. Last weekend wasn't his best day obviously but the whole line was limping along so tough to know how much was on him.

I like having Karras as depth or backup for center and he does ok as guard when the rest of the line is healthy.

 

[fnordcircle]

How many elite lineman are there in the game? Not asking rhetorically it just feels like the days of Bruce Armstrong, Mangold, Dawson et al are behind us. Or it could just be that the sports 'press' isn't giving them as much limelight these days.

 

[slam]

This could be the dumbest take of all time. Brady’s currently the 4th least sacked passer in the league. Brady set the Super Bowl record for passing yards last year, breaking the record he set the year before against Atlanta.

 

[Tony2046]

How many elite lineman are there in the game? Not asking rhetorically it just feels like the days of Bruce Armstrong, Mangold, Dawson et al are behind us. Or it could just be that the sports 'press' isn't giving them as much limelight these days.

Just my opinion but Brown, Thuney, Andrews, Mason, and Cannon plus Gronk and Allen is about as good as it gets.

Easily a top ten line in the league when considering both run and pass protection.

 

[Tony2046]

This could be the dumbest take of all time. Brady’s currently the 4th least sacked passer in the league. Brady set the Super Bowl record for passing yards last year, breaking the record he set the year before against Atlanta.

" But Brady was sacked.... in the Super Bowl.... actually in 3 Super Bowls... including the 2 Super Bowls they won ... beating the 2nd best team in the league.... "

Haha

 

[RobertWeathers]

And what about in the biggest moments, like the Super Bowl? Where were the o-line, then? If I recall, Shaq Mason was the one who had a heart attack and allowed the strip sack

Nate Solder thought it was a grenade (see Cam Newton, SB50 refernce). He watched as the chEagles d-lineman recovered the ball.

And let's not forget SB 51, how Brady was sacked a record number of times. I think it was either 5 or 8 sacks by Atlanta?

You do realize they have won 5 Super Bowls, right?

 

[Kdo5]

And what about in the biggest moments, like the Super Bowl? Where were the o-line, then? If I recall, Shaq Mason was the one who had a heart attack and allowed the strip sack

Nate Solder thought it was a grenade (see Cam Newton, SB50 refernce). He watched as the chEagles d-lineman recovered the ball.

And let's not forget SB 51, how Brady was sacked a record number of times. I think it was either 5 or 8 sacks by Atlanta?

Brady also threw for 500 yards and had an all time performance. I'm going to say the OL protected pretty damn well for that to happen.

 

[RayClay]

And what about in the biggest moments, like the Super Bowl? Where were the o-line, then? If I recall, Shaq Mason was the one who had a heart attack and allowed the strip sack

Nate Solder thought it was a grenade (see Cam Newton, SB50 refernce). He watched as the chEagles d-lineman recovered the ball.

And let's not forget SB 51, how Brady was sacked a record number of times. I think it was either 5 or 8 sacks by Atlanta?

Sacked the same number of times as Ryan.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

The proliferation of the spread offense in college makes it extremely difficult to scout offensive linemen.

For us this year, health has been a huge issue.

When healthy our offensive line has been adequate.

The problem is whenever our offensive line struggles people start writing off Brady as washed up. But when the offensive line is solid, Brady looks like an all pro.

Over the final six games, how our offensive line plays will determine how successful Brady is at putting points in the board.

 

[RayClay]

You do realize they have won 5 Super Bowls, right?

They won most of them with far less talent than this team too. A good number of our OL on those teams were never drafted.

 

[maust]

This could be the dumbest take of all time. Brady’s currently the 4th least sacked passer in the league. Brady set the Super Bowl record for passing yards last year, breaking the record he set the year before against Atlanta.

As a take it would be incredibly stupid but it's a troll and as such it's just lame.

 

[captain stone]

I wouldn't call any of these guys Elite, but players such as Kelechi Osemele, Joel Bitonio, Dr Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, La'el Collins & Ryan Ramczyk were all available when the Pats made their first pick - and later - in their respective drafts.
There are good OLmen available every year throughout the draft; the trick is to properly identify them, and then know when to grab them...just like most positions.

 

[mosslost]

The o-line have failed to protect Brady even against inept pass rush defense.

They constantly struggle and have heart attacks at the biggest moments. We haven't had a decent o-line since the 2014 season.

Meanwhile teams like the Saints, Rams, Titans, Bears all have elite o-linemen... that can actually block.

They’re big.

 

[RobertWeathers]

They won most of them with far less talent than this team too. A good number of our OL on those teams were never drafted.

Sure but a very small minority

 

[BradyFTW!]

Waddle is a good backup to have and I consider him a good player as far as his role goes. He seems to perform better at right tackle than left but has done a decent job at both at times. Last weekend wasn't his best day obviously but the whole line was limping along so tough to know how much was on him.

I like having Karras as depth or backup for center and he does ok as guard when the rest of the line is healthy.

I want to agree, I really do. I even would have agreed before this season, probably. But I can't get past how bad they've both been, IMO at least, when pressed into duty this season. Like, I'm no expert on OL play, I generally only notice a lineman when he's done something really well (see: all my posts about Shaq Mason) or really poorly. And Karras and Waddle have both jumped off the screen way too many times lately for me to be at all comfortable with them being on the field.

Again, though, I really don't Belichick really. Wynn was intended to play at least one of their roles, and tackles are at such a premium in the NFL that it's borderline implausible to hope for any team to have four of them. Waddle was supposed to be our fourth tackle in a league where half the teams don't have two tackles worth a damn, and... that's exactly what he plays like. Karras probably isn't a whole lot worse than the guy most other teams have backing up three positions. I also suspect based on his preseason play that he may be a better center than guard. But even with all that context, he's been alarmingly bad over the past two games.