OL Concerns

[Brewskies]

As we approach the training session I am concerned about the OL and Mr. Trent Brown. We knew that the OL wasn't giving protection for Mac Jones and they also were not opening the holes for Rhamondre Stevenson. When I say OL I am really saying Offensive Tackle. Brown was outstanding a couple of years back but the last two season his play was not what it should have been to have the starting OT job. The other offensive tackle positition is wide open because the Pats don't have a good starter. Knowing this why didn't Bill go and get some help for these positions? I will say having a OL coach will help this season but Brown showing up out of shape and signing weak starters doesn't give me much confidence that we are improving the OL tackle job. Too much depends on Trent Brown and I have little faith in him. We still have a problem with the other tackle position. Net Net Mac Jones protection and holes for our RBs is in the hands of Brown and bunch of has been OTs that looked poor earlier this season at the OTA. I am not comfortable with the OL and therefore the team offense and performance of Mac Jones. Stevenson will accomplish something on his own as he has in the past in the past two years.

Your thoughts?

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm not concerned about C and the guard spots.

I'm concerned about the LT and RT slots.

Lets see if TC and preseason give us a bit more confidence.

 

[PatsFan2]

As we approach the training session I am concerned about the OL and Mr. Trent Brown. We knew that the OL wasn't giving protection for Mac Jones and they also were not opening the holes for Rhamondre Stevenson. When I say OL I am really saying Offensive Tackle. Brown was outstanding a couple of years back but the last two season his play was not what it should have been to have the starting OT job. The other offensive tackle positition is wide open because the Pats don't have a good starter. Knowing this why didn't Bill go and get some help for these positions? I will say having a OL coach will help this season but Brown showing up out of shape and signing weak starters doesn't give me much confidence that we are improving the OL tackle job. Too much depends on Trent Brown and I have little faith in him. We still have a problem with the other tackle position. Net Net Mac Jones protection and holes for our RBs is in the hands of Brown and bunch of has been OTs that looked poor earlier this season at the OTA. I am not comfortable with the OL and therefore the team offense and performance of Mac Jones. Stevenson will accomplish something on his own as he has in the past in the past two years.

Your thoughts?

There's no perfect OL though this current Philly O-line comes close because they are good at both opening holes and protecting the QB. I'm ok with good pass protection and average Run Blocking from our 2023 OL. I remember the Bledsoe years with RB Curtis Martin who created his own holes most of the times that OL group was very good at Pass Protection and average at Run Blocking still we made it to the SB and lost.

 

[PatsFan2]

I'm not concerned about C and the guard spots.

I'm concerned about the LT and RT slots.

Lets see if TC and preseason give us a bit more confidence.

I think the Need have been addressed in the Draft this year and last. I would love the see how Hines - Steuber and Sow perform in TC. We have better or real OL Coaching this time around.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think the Need have been addressed in the Draft this year and last. I would love the see how Hines - Steuber and Sow perform in TC. We have better or real OL Coaching this time around.

I hope you are right. Right now it's a question. Hopefully from Sept-Feb it isn't

 

[Brewskies]

There's no perfect OL though this current Philly O-line comes close because they are good at both opening holes and protecting the QB. I'm ok with good pass protection and average Run Blocking from our 2023 OL. I remember the Bledsoe years with RB Curtis Martin who created his own holes most of the times that OL group was very good at Pass Protection and average at Run Blocking still we made it to the SB and lost.

What makes you think they will have good pass blocking and average Run Blocking with what we have now? The new line coach? What if Trent Brown is still out of shape?

 

[PatsFan2]

What makes you think they will have good pass blocking and average Run Blocking with what we have now? The new line coach? What if Trent Brown is still out of shape?

I said I'm ok with good pass protection and average Run Blocking from our 2023 OL. My point is not many OL's do both well unless you're stacked with First Rounders who excel in those areas.

 

[Sicilian]

It's the position group with the most questions to answer, but the time to be concerned is in training camp when the pads come on. Until then, nothing they could have done in a padless mini-camp would have told us much anyway.

 

[WinstonSmith]

What if Trent Brown is still out of shape?

I've seen this mentioned a few times here, but for a guy that has pushed 400 pounds in the past he looks to be in relatively decent shape. He'll be a bit more focused during his contract year and having a real OL coach won't hurt either.

 

[Zuma]

 

[TheRainMaker]

OL is my biggest concern going into the season. If we see Mac doing the Riverdance, it's going to be a long season.

 

[tasmlab]

OL is my biggest concern going into the season. If we see Mac doing the Riverdance, it's going to be a long season.

Me too. Mac doesn't seem to have any tricks to mitigate a bad or so-so line, like running. And they don't seem to want to get him a James White and a Wes Welker (or pick your favorite third-down-back and dedicated slot receiver) to dump stuff off quick to mitigate a good pass rush. This could be its own thread.

 

[Sciz]

All I want to see in a thread like this is names. To me, this looked like an offseason full of flawed tackles, with the one relatively “safe” option going sixth overall and every other free agent and draft pick having some major question to be answered. There’s been a lot of generic talk about upgrades and very little talk of pros and cons of any of those potential upgrades. At this position this offseason (more so than most positions most offseasons), it felt like it came down to which red flags you’re willing to accept, and nobody is willing to say which players they were willing to take a risk on in search of an upgrade.

Here, I’ll start. I liked the idea of adding Orlando Brown, with his durability being the big upgrade over Trent and overall skill set and style of play being similar. The red flags are that he got historically out of shape during the pre-draft process and then held out on the franchise tag last offseason and was awful upon his return. (I don’t think he was even necessarily out of shape, but definitely out of practice.) I think $16M per year was a reasonable price point, but I would have been scared away by the structure that pays $33M in year one. For a player who has a history of playing hardball even to his own detriment (Chiefs offered $18M per year a year ago), I’ll believe he’s truly playing for $64M over four years when I see it.

 

[Zuma]

All I want to see in a thread like this is names. To me, this looked like an offseason full of flawed tackles, with the one relatively “safe” option going sixth overall and every other free agent and draft pick having some major question to be answered. There’s been a lot of generic talk about upgrades and very little talk of pros and cons of any of those potential upgrades. At this position this offseason (more so than most positions most offseasons), it felt like it came down to which red flags you’re willing to accept, and nobody is willing to say which players they were willing to take a risk on in search of an upgrade.

Here, I’ll start. I liked the idea of adding Orlando Brown, with his durability being the big upgrade over Trent and overall skill set and style of play being similar. The red flags are that he got historically out of shape during the pre-draft process and then held out on the franchise tag last offseason and was awful upon his return. (I don’t think he was even necessarily out of shape, but definitely out of practice.) I think $16M per year was a reasonable price point, but I would have been scared away by the structure that pays $33M in year one. For a player who has a history of playing hardball even to his own detriment (Chiefs offered $18M per year a year ago), I’ll believe he’s truly playing for $64M over four years when I see it.

“I’m only talking about players on the team”…Bill Belichick

I feel like Orlando Brown has been on the radar for the past decade. I don’t think it’s happening.

 

[n6249c]

All I want to see in a thread like this is names. To me, this looked like an offseason full of flawed tackles, with the one relatively “safe” option going sixth overall and every other free agent and draft pick having some major question to be answered. There’s been a lot of generic talk about upgrades and very little talk of pros and cons of any of those potential upgrades. At this position this offseason (more so than most positions most offseasons), it felt like it came down to which red flags you’re willing to accept, and nobody is willing to say which players they were willing to take a risk on in search of an upgrade.

Here, I’ll start. I liked the idea of adding Orlando Brown, with his durability being the big upgrade over Trent and overall skill set and style of play being similar. The red flags are that he got historically out of shape during the pre-draft process and then held out on the franchise tag last offseason and was awful upon his return. (I don’t think he was even necessarily out of shape, but definitely out of practice.) I think $16M per year was a reasonable price point, but I would have been scared away by the structure that pays $33M in year one. For a player who has a history of playing hardball even to his own detriment (Chiefs offered $18M per year a year ago), I’ll believe he’s truly playing for $64M over four years when I see it.

Trent Brown is in the second year of a two year $13M contract, and you’re advocating dumping him for a guy who wants big bucks, like >18M big bucks, and in your words “was awful upon his return” after holding out last year. Sorry, I just don’t see the logic there.

 

[Jlaff]

Hold up. Either Brown only owns one outfit or these pictures were all taken the same day.

 

[n6249c]

Hold up. Either Brown only owns one outfit or these pictures were all taken the same day.

So you’re saying he was only svelte and fit for that one day?

 

[Ring 6]

I think we have 5+ capable OL
Brown, Strange, Andrews, Onwenu are legit starters. Reiff has been but may be near the end and if so between Anderson, McDermott or one of the rookies we should have an acceptable “worst starter”.
One thing that is not often spoken about on our offensive system (and with BOB returning it wholly applies) is that we run our scheme based upon the OL first. If the OL is shaky we protect them with more quick passes and when we feel it is fine we open up the slower developing down the field routes.
OL will be fine.

 

[Brewskies]

I've seen this mentioned a few times here, but for a guy that has pushed 400 pounds in the past he looks to be in relatively decent shape. He'll be a bit more focused during his contract year and having a real OL coach won't hurt either.

Isn't this his final year in football? He has an attitude problem that's why he showed up out of shape for the OTA and a day late, regardless, and was put into a getting into shape program by BB and he didn't play at the OTA. I hope you are correct .

 

[Ring 6]

Isn't this his final year in football? He has an attitude problem that's why he showed up out of shape for the OTA and a day late, regardless, and was put into a getting into shape program by BB and he didn't play at the OTA. I hope you are correct .

He has never had an attitude problem. Doesn’t look out if shape to me. Why throw out unfounded speculation like that?