Relaoding The Musket, Part 5 - Embarrassment Of Riches Adorn Patriots' Offensive Line. Really.

Mason (69) should have a roster spot all sewn up, but the same can not be said for Cannon (61)

It's called having too much of a good thing, and the New England Patriots have that all over their roster.

Think about it: On defense, they have what has to be the best safety depth in the league, a pair of linebackers that are sure to be in the top 30 of the NFL's 100 best players, and a defensive line that has too few spots for a plethora of outstanding run-stuffers, edge setters and pass rushers...

...while on offense they have the greatest quarterback who ever lived, backed up by the most game-ready sophomore in the league, a set of tight ends that are so good that they dictate what receivers are kept on the roster to complement them (not to mention , and a collection of running backs that fit the philosophy perfectly - and an offensive line absolutely stocked to the brim with talent.

That is a far cry from what we witnessed during the second half of last season, and that we heard from the media and other casual fans, but last season was an aberration in that injury - to the line and to many skill position players - dictated what the line was: a collection of matadors who simply stepped aside and let quarterback Tom Brady deal with the onslaught of pass rushers.

Which is bullshit, of course, but fans can be excused for seeking a scapegoat after the huge egg the Patriots' offense laid in the final two months of last season, misguided as it is.

Because it's not like the Patriots' offensive linemen suddenly sucked after years of stout protection - and truth be told, they really weren't that bad, given the circumstances.  There is no hiding the fact that the struggles of the offense were directly attributed to the struggles along the line, but the aforementioned circumstances put the injury-decimated line in the no-win position of being no more than a levee attempting to hold back a tsunami.

Six playoff teams gave up more sacks and quarterback hits than New England's offensive line did in the regular season, including two conference championship game participants and the eventual Super Bowl champions - and in the post season, all three of the Patriots' fellow conference championship participants gave up more sacks, but none of them allowed their quarterback to be hit more than Brady was.

Perhaps that was because no one threw the ball more than Brady, as he dropped back an insane 49 times per game in the playoffs, a full 19 more than both Super Bowl participants.  When put in that context, the Patriots offensive line was actually the best team at protecting their quarterback.

Where they fell short is in the running game, running the ball just 31 times in their two playoff games while calling 98 passing plays, a balance disparity of 76% to 24% in favor of the passing game - and if one were to eliminate Brady's rushing attempts, they would discover that the running backs to handoffs from Brady just 22 times.

Arizona was in the same boat, so to speak, losing in the NFC Championship to Carolina and abandoning their running game when they fell behind by 17 points in the first quarter while Carolina enjoyed balance on a epic scale, and the Broncos were almost perfectly balanced in their narrow win over New England, who simply had run out of players for Brady to hand off to.

What does this have to do with the offensive line?

When the Patriots lost LeGarrette Blount to a season-ending hip injury in week 14 against Houston, they lost much more than just a player - they lost the ability to create balance, and when a team becomes one-dimensional in the manner that New England did, it affects the offensive line more than any other unit on the offense.

Think about it.  When a team doesn't have a very good passing game and are forced to run the football, the defense can load up the box against the run and leave their corners one-on-one with the receivers, rendering the running game inert.  By contrast, if a team doesn't have a running game to speak of and are forced to the air, the defense can pin their ears back and come after the quarterback, overwhelming the offensive line with sheer numbers.

That is exactly what happened to the Patriots' offensive line last season.

Their troubles began in the preseason when starting center Bryan Stork suffered a concussion which eventually landed him on the team's injured reserve list, with a designation to return, leaving the job to Ryan Wendell - but when undrafted rookie David Andrews beat out Wendell for the job, New England found themselves starting the season with all three interior line positions manned with rookies.

Career backup Josh Kline was added to the mix, spelling left guard Shaq Mason and right guard Tre Jackson and for the first three games, things seemed to be on the up-and-up for New England, as Andrews was drawing raves for his technique, Mason for his athleticism and Jackson for his sheer size and toughness - and when combined with veteran bookends in identically-sized tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer, the Patriots looked to have one of the more intriguing young lines in the NFL...

...but that all changed in a week 5 matchup with the Cowboys in Dallas, as New England lost blindside mauler Solder and his backup, young LaAdrian Waddle, in consecutive series - Waddle suffered a shoulder injury and would return in a few weeks, but Solder was shelved for the season with a torn bicep.

Vollmer moved from the strong side to take over on the left and swing tackle Marcus Cannon filled in on the right, but the following week in Indianapolis started a turnstile of revolving linemen - Cannon started at left tackle against the Colts and Vollmer went back to his accustomed right tackle, but Cannon lasted only one quarter, forcing the Patriots to bring in their third line grinder in Cam Fleming...

And so it went, as New England ended up starting 13 different offensive line combinations and never finding that cohesive bond due to minor injuries among the interior linemen, Solder's injury and Stork's absence until he could come off the IR in November.

The issue, of course, was with the swing tackle depth, as neither Cannon nor Fleming were consistently effective.  In fact, things got so bad that upon Stork's return, the team started him at right tackle against the Giants in Week 10, rather than go with what they knew wasn't going to work against New York's elite pass rush.

Now, according to my math, New England did exactly nothing to rectify the issue with tackle depth, leaving the team's fate in the hands of Cannon, Fleming and Waddle - but while that will cause shivers down every Patriots' fan's spine, it has to be remembered that all of them suffered from the imbalance in the play calling which by the time the season ended was being dictated solely by however many pseudo-healthy bodies they could put on the field.

Waddle has untapped potential as a blindside protector, having played on the left at pass happy Texas Tech, and holding his own against the best the Big 12 had to offer as far as pass rushers are concerned, including future All Pro Von Miller - the same Von Miller who shamelessly abused Cannon and Fleming in the AFC Title game and who did the same to Carolina in the Super Bowl to garner MVP honors.

But that doesn't mean there isn't hope for the edges in the event of injury, as the aforementioned elite tight end tandem of Rob Gronkowski and former Chicago Bear Martellus Bennett will rarely - if ever - come off the field because of their skill not only as pass catchers, but also as devastating run blockers.

Gronkowski has always been a factor in the running game, but so was Michael Hoomanawanui, who was dealt to New Orleans at the end of September, upgrading the Saints' edge blocking by a significant margin while leaving New England with a gimpy Williams and little else opposite Gronkowski.

In return, New England shored up the interior of their defensive line with three-tech Akiem Hicks and, in truth, he was a main cog that allowed the Patriots' defense to carry the team through the difficult last two months - but maybe they wouldn't have had to rely on the defense as much had they kept Hoomanawanui...

...but that is a double-edged sword, and pointless to even argue, especially since the position is now well-stocked with H-back types and monstrously complete tight ends, so the tackle depth isn't as critical since there are so many folks able and willing to lend a hand if the onus falls to one of the depth options already on the roster.

One of those options was thought to be third-round pick North Carolina State rookie Joe Thuney, but on second glance Thuney is sort of an enigma.  He has the length to play on the outside, but has short arms and panics a bit with speed rushers and has a tendency to latch on if he thinks he's going to be beaten on the corner, and tends to lean on them if they try inside technique.

So, many are expecting Thuney to compete for a spot on the interior, where he can slide-step to mirror three techs and his short arms and tendency to lean won't cause as much of a balance issue.  In that respect, Thuney is a project, but with upside and a great teacher in line coach Dante Scarnecchia, he should be a depth fixture all over the line, particularly on the inside

Besides, on the inside is where the embarrassment of riches lie as well as the resultant too much of a good thing.

Andrews proved that he could handle the pivot while Stork recovered on the IR, and offered a technically sound pass anchor, though he is undersized with a light lower body.  He doesn't offer and position flexibility, however, which limits his roster potential as Stork and newcomers Jonathan Cooper and Joe Thuney all excel at multiple positions, including center.

Of course, Stork's health is a concern, so the center position is volatile spot.  If Stork can stay healthy, he's the best option at the pivot, but will head ball coach Bill Belichick keep a pure center on the roster to back up Stork, or will Andrews find himself on the waiver wire come September?  One thing is for sure, with his body of work as a rookie, he won't clear waivers.

Both guard spots are wide open for camp competition, and Belichick has to hope that newcomer Jonathan Cooper rises above his incumbents and realizes his enormous potential.

Drafted seventh overall by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013, the oft-injured Cooper came into the league lauded as an excellent pass blocker and works better from the left guard spot, which enables him to use his elite foot quickness and outstanding power to pull to the strong side and to stonewall bull rushing tackles...

...which is primarily what incumbent left guard Shaq Mason excels at as the class of 2015's best drive blocker, edging out the huge right guard Tre Jackson for that title.  Both struggled as rookies in pass protection, however, which lends credence to Belichick's insistence that Cooper be part of the compensation package in the deal that sent defensive end Chandler Jones to Arizona.

Kline is serviceable, if undersized, as a rotational guard, but his time in New England may be about to expire as Cooper, Mason and Jackson are the top three guards on the roster and Thuney is a virtual roster lock as a third-round draft pick.

Traditionally, Belichick has kept ten offensive linemen on his 53-man roster, and when you consider those four, plus four tackles and two centers, it leave nothing but the waiver wire for everyone else - that is, unless sixth-round pick Ted Karras puts his impressive lineage on display and steals one of the guard spots....

...but Karras seems destined for the practice squad, while Kline, either Marcus Cannon or Cam Fleming, Chris Barker and Keavon Milton attempt to latch on elsewhere.

That's what happens when you have too much of a good thing...

Balance, Health Key For Patriots' Offensive Line; Thuney's Versatility Boon For Unit

Thuney is a five-position mercenary, which makes him very valuable to Scarnecchia's offensive line.

Jonathan Cooper is a young, tough guard - which makes him fit right in with the interior of the New England Patriots' offensive line.

He missed his entire rookie season after fracturing his fibula in a preseason game, suffered a knee issue in his sophomore preseason that required weekly draining of fluid, along with a painful turf toe injury which combined forced him to miss almost all of the 2014 season, making his first career start in week 14...

...which lasted all of two games until he fractured a bone in his wrist, carrying over into the 2015 season, but was able to play the first nine games of the year before the knee problem arose again and ruined the rest of the season.

So when New England pulled off the trade to get rid of defensive end Chandler Jones and his enormous cap hit, the Cardinals sweetened the deal when they packaged Cooper in with a second round draft pick, essentially giving up on the former number seven overall draft pick in 2012 after just an eleven game body of work, Arizona coach Bruce Ariens stating that Cooper was "tough and athletic, just continuing to grow" but qualifying his actions by adding, "We don't have time for growth."

Perhaps that's the reason why, in a nutshell, the Patriots find themselves perennial favorites and in championship game after championship game while other teams' fortunes have them perpetually climbing the ladder - they take other people's projects that they have no time to develop and figures out ways for them to contribute while training them to be football players.

Many players are drafted out of college who are great athletes, but weren't afforded the luxury of perfecting their craft, instead are plugged into a system, are trained to perform in that system, and find that when they arrive in the NFL, their learning curve is protracted because they were essentially pawns that lined the coffers of their respective school's athletic department, with really no regard to their future other than, of course, the college degree they earn out of it.

Many NFL teams behave in that manner as well, especially the ones whose owners put tremendous amount of pressure on their coaching staffs to win now, so they draft the kids like Cooper who fit a particular style in college but struggled in the pros and were given up on because teams don't have the time to develop an imperfect being.

That trail of thought ends at the lighthouse.

This is what separates the Patriots from all other teams and Bill Belichick from all other general managers, the philosophy that begs for ambiguity, the one that seeks to accentuate a player's strength. All teams and coaches and general managers do this to some extent, but there has not ever been a football person who has taken other teams' cast-offs and improved his team by integrating their talent into his collective...

...kind of like a Borg approach - for those who dig Star Trek, you know that the alien species known as the Borg are a bunch of assimilated members of many different species, and who have prosthetic, mechanical limbs and other various body parts implanted in place of their severed original members, making them part of a collective "hive", each assimilated being adding his or her unique distinctiveness as a way of improving the whole.

It's whacked for sure, but it makes sense in a communal degree.  But not even Belichick has balls big enough go full cyborg on the NFL, so what he does is pay those players and promise them that if they just trust the coaches and do their job, then they will win a lot more than they lose, and if everyone does their job, the team has as good a chance as anyone to kiss a trophy.

Could that also explain Belichick seemingly thumbing his nose at the status quo in the draft?

Yes, it could, but that is a topic for another time but right now it is important for us to understand that
Cooper has a legitimate shot at jump starting his career in New England, but first he will have to earn a roster spot on an interior offensive line that is chock-full of young talent.

Cooper's first-round draft status carried little weight in New England, so no roster spot is guaranteed, especially given that Belichick surrendered top-three draft capital to select North Carolina State behemoth Joe Thuney, adding him to an interior mix with Shaq Mason, Tre Jackson, David Andrews, Josh Kline and Bryan Stork.

Mason appears to have a death-grip on the left guard spot, displaying rare athleticism in the running game to pull and drive defenders out of the hole, but the right guard and center positions are anything but settled heading into OTA's.

The Cardinals were toying with the idea of shifting Cooper - who had previously played at right guard - over to center before they dealt him to Foxborough, and Thuney practiced extensively at center as a Senior at NC State, both of whom add intrigue to the pivot position, which was manned by Andrews as a rookie for the fist half of last season, then taken over by the incumbent Stork after he returned from the IR.

The thing is, Stork also has position flexibility, having played guard in college and even has an emergency start at right tackle on his professional resume - in fact, the only player on the interior that really doesn't have documented positional versatility is Andrews, who is purely a pivot though he received reps at guard in last summer's training camp.

That could be a disadvantage for him, but Andrews has already made it tough to cut him, given his performance during the Patriots' 10-game winning streak to start the season.

So what the Patriots have on the interior are a bunch of guys who can play either guard or center, with the only players close to be a roster lock being Mason at left guard and Stork at center with a log jam at right guard between Cooper, Jackson and Kline - while the roster locks on the ends being Nate Solder on Brady's blindside and Sebatian Vollmer on the strong side.

And unless Thuney completely bombs in camp, he could very well become the unit's default lineman - because the value to the team is in his versatility, and perhaps his rare singular talent would have saved the offensive line last season when the injuries started to mount, or at least given them more of a fighting chance.

Regardless, Thuney's selection in the third round was a boon to Belichick. Most see him as a guard in the pros but with his overall athleticism and tremendous footwork, placing him solely on the interior would be limiting what the North Carolina State product brings to the field and not receiving full value out of their high draft capital investment.

Thuney's best destiny would be as five-position mercenary of sorts, as he could ably fill in at any position on the line - and not just fill in, but do so ably, as he has shown the dexterity and intelligence to show proper technique at every position.  These types of players are rare, with a young Logan Mankins being the last player that the Patriots had with such impactful versatility.

Needless to say, offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia will love the kid's versatility and toughness - he played through injury most of his senior season and has that Mankins-like approach to the game.

Many feel that Scarnecchia coming out of retirement to pick up an offensive line that was seen to underachieve under Dave DeGuglielmo will be a windfall to the unit, but not even the amazing Scarnecchia can change what these guys are, which is a drive blocking, power-running unit.  In the two seasons that "Scar" was dipping his toes in the sand, Belichick brought in three of the most powerful drive blockers in the last two draft classes...

...center Bryan Stork in 2014 and guards Shaq Mason and Tre Jackson last season.  Together with Solder, Vollmer and the heft of the tight ends on the roster, the Patriots should have been a top 10 rushing team in 2015, but due to injury and ambivalence toward the running game by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, the running game scared no one, mired in the bottom three units in the entire NFL.

With a running game being a quarterback's best friend, the combination of injury and McDaniels' neglect of balance in the offense left Brady and his offensive line no friends to lean on in tough times, instead, the line was outnumbered and overwhelmed and Brady took an epic beating.

DeGuglielmo took the fall as a convenient scapegoat, the Patriots opting not to renew his contract, but the simple fact of the matter is that he had very few options in his coaching style other than trying to figure out a way to stem the onrushing tide of pressure from opposing defenses, which proved to be futile.

Scarnecchia is a team player, but is also very vocal and won't hesitate to let Belichick and McDaniels know where he and his charges stand.  He has earned that right, much like Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel did when they acted as sounding boards for Belichick at the start of his dynastic run.

They are what they are, and what the Patriots' offensive line is built for is to make the opposition respect their running game, which has a trickle-down effect of Brady's masterful play action fakes becoming a legitimate weapon again and giving the linemen a chance to anchor in their stances and to throw the first punch, both things keeping the pass rushers off of Brady in the pocket.

It really is that simple.  We already know that the Patriots have one of the most progressive offenses in football - what with the best quarterback to ever play the game playing pitch and catch with a monstrous collection of tight ends and some of the toughest covers in the league - but that means very little without balance between the running and passing.

A couple of different factors can affect how many and which offensive linemen make the roster.  First is Scarnecchia's presence and his preference for solidifying his offensive line early in the team-building process, then letting the depth players left over fight it out for a spot on the roster. Scarnecchia will have his starters set before the first preseason game and ride them through rough patches to build cohesion.

Secondly is the fact that Belichick signed Martellus Bennett and Clay Harbor to team with Rob Gronkowski to give New England the best set of tight ends in the game.  Bennett and Gronkowski may be the two most complete tight ends in the league, and having them in the game running out of 12 personnel means that the need for a swing tackle is not as critical as it has been in the past...

...solely because there is not a scenario in the play book that the team benefits from having either of those guys out of the game, so neither will be replaced by a swing tackle on short yardage as both are among the best blockers at the position.

Last, is the development of Thuney.  If he is what Belichick envisions him to be - sort of a swiss army knife - then that should open up a roster spot somewhere else.

So in Belichick's perfect world, He would have Solder and Vollmer, healthy, as his starting tackles with mid-2015 pickup LaAdrian Waddle and Thuney as swing tackles, Mason and Jackson as guards with Cooper and Thuney as reliable depth, and Stork at center backed up by Andrews - eight linemen with a possible ninth being tight end Michael Williams, who is a dual threat as drive-blocking tackle in the running game.

It's a different look for sure, and perhaps a bit early to make such a forecast - especially considering that super-sized tackle Marcus Cannon has always been a favorite of Scarnecchia's, and it's common knowledge that he loves undersized scrappers like Josh Kline and David Andrews fighting on the interior...

...but whatever happens in the team-building process, one can be reasonably certain that balance is on it's way to Foxborough. and with balance, an effective offensive line, a clean Brady lots and lots of points.

It really is that simple.

Free Agency Vs. The Draft - Possibilities For The Patriots On The Offensive Line

The New England Patriots offensive line is built to run the ball.

Unfortunately, given the difficulties the offense had last season with injuries and suspect play calling, not many in the media or in the fan base are willing to concede this fact, nor are they willing give the big uglies a free pass for what was viewed as very erratic pass protection.

And why should they? After all, quarterback Tom Brady found himself on his back more than an escort during Mardi Gras, as speed rushers pummeled him from the edges and bull rushers pounded him up the gut.

But here's the thing, and there's really no getting around it: the offense became so one dimensional in the second half of the season with a myriad of injuries among the "skill" positions that most times, the opposing defenses simply loaded the box, overwhelming the line and daring Brady to beat them over the top with single coverage on his pass catchers.

Mason blocking for Dion Lewis

Sheer numbers dictates that the line would have issues - given that it was normally the starting five trying to hold back a wave of seven or eight rushers on every play - and injuries among the line itself made that task all the more daunting, as left tackle Nate Solder missed the majority of the season with a torn biceps muscle...

...and injuries to every single starter at one point or another contributed to the fact that the Patriots used an unimaginable 37 different line combinations trying to find one that could protect the franchise signal caller. Altogether, the Patriots used five left tackles, five left guards, two centers, seven right guards and five right tackles.

Their thirteen different starting lineups in 16 games was an NFL high for the season and the most the Patriots have ever incurred since statistics for that kind of thing were begun, so it is generally accepted and understood among those who pay attention to such things that New England's offensive line was in flux all season long.

Curiously, the Patriots play calling countered all of the skill position injuries and flux along the line by asking the linemen to pass protect on two out of every three plays instead of seeking balance to counter the aggression of the pass rush.

Yes, it is understood that the hip injury to lead back LeGarrette Blount left the team without a true, experienced power back for the last three games of the season, but with Brandon Bolden, Joey Iosefa and James White on the roster - not to mention late-season pick up Steven Jackson - there should have been enough in the backfield to at least try to maintain so semblance of balance.

But in the post-season, the Patriots almost completely abandoned their running game, handing the ball to their backs just seven times against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round, and 14 times in the AFC Championship game.

That is not enough.

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The New England Patriots have been to the AFC Championship game for five consecutive seasons, resulting in two trips to the Super Bowl and one World Championship which, for statistical purposes places them on the Mendoza line, at .200 success rate.

Now, fans of many teams would take that any day of the week and twice on Sundays, but the Patriots have built a culture that thrives on winning - to the point that anything less than hoisting the Lombardi Trophy is grounds for a CIA-style grilling and the abject calling out of assorted scapegoats.

There were no such issues at the beginning of the Patriots' dynastic magic, as they went three for three in conference title games and in Super Bowls, winning three world championships in four seasons. Those teams were not flashy and the only thing remotely stylish about them were the glitter of the three trophies.

Those teams valued substance over style, balance over brazenness and fundamentals over flamboyance - in short, they were all old school tough,something that has been lost on the Patriots' offense since former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis left after the 2004 championship season.

For example, back in the 2003 AFC Championship game, the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts by countering their high-style, big play offense by punching them in the mouth, leading the media and fans everywhere to label the Colts "soft"and that they ran a "finesse" scheme - and those things were not said in a positive manner.

Contrarily, the Patriots offense was smashmouth, physical. They ranked 17th in the NFL in total offense and featured a nice balance between pass (52%) and run (48%), with big bruising back Antowain Smith and tough as nails change-of-pace back Kevin Faulk accounting for nearly 1400 yards between them, while averaging a meager 3.4 yards per carry...

...but Weis, being old school, kept feeding them the rock. What's the old saying, "Three yards and a cloud of dust"? Weis kept the offense balanced because he knew that the running game, no matter the success rate, offset the aggressiveness of any defense and kept the element of surprise viable throughout any given game.

And the greatest beneficiary of balance? Right, the big uglies.

Matt Light was the only big name on an otherwise anonymous unit that started names like Hochstein, Koppen, Andruzzi and Ashworth. Quarterback Tom Brady was merely average, with only 3600 yards passing, throwing for 23 touchdowns and getting picked off 12 times - yes, Brady was merely average because he didn't need to be the Brady that we've seen carry the offense for the past decade.

Brady was only marginally better in 2004, throwing for 3700 yards, 28 td's and 14 picks. This time, however, Andruzzi and Ashworth were replaced on the right side by the even more obscure Steven Neal and Brandon Gorin - and the percentages between run and pass actually switched places from the previous season and newly signed Corey Dillon stomped through opposing defenses for 1600 yards at a clip of 4.7 yards per carry.

In these seasons, the Patriots won back-to-back championships by being more physical than the other guys, something that has been lost through time and attrition.

Since, New England has been to seven conference championship games, but winning just three and taking home one lonely Lombardi Trophy, being pushed around in the process as the Patriots offense became that finesse squad that the teams' fans used to insult the Colts for being. Sure, the Patriots were an elite offense, finishing each season since 2005 in the top ten and tops in the league three times, but what difference does any of that make if there isn't a trophy accompanying them?

Since Dillon retired, the Patriots have gone through backs that were just good enough, as the power running game ceased to be anything more than a curious afterthought in an offense that featured elite pass catchers such as Moss, Welker, Brown, Hernandez, Edelman and Gronkowski.

In fairness, Belichick has tried to improve the personnel in the backfield by drafting power back Stevan Ridley and passing back Shane Vereen in 2011 to bring some relevance back to the ground game, and even brought in 250 pound LeGarrette Blount to lead the team in carries the past couple of seasons, but it's time to bump that notion up to an even higher level...

...and Belichick has by investing heavily in the offensive line in the past two drafts, bringing in the best two drive blockers in each draft, three of whom are with the team in a starting capacity as center Bryan Stork is flanked by his former Florida State teammate Tre Jackson at right guard and athletic Shaq Mason at left guard forming the nucleus of a ferocious wall blocking interior, joining behemoth book end tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer.

Solder is a former college tight end who is a better pass blocker than run blocker - which is to be expected for the man in charge of protecting Brady's back side - but the rest of those fellas are purely nasty drive blockers who were forced into pass pro-heavy game plans, ignoring the ghosts of championships past that saw Weis, Smith and Dillon maintain balance on offense, regardless of rate of success for the run.

That is what the Patriots' version of the Erhardt-Perkins offensive philosophy begs for and maybe, just maybe, this is the season where we will see the Patriots' turn back the clock and allow their drive-blocking linemen to do what they do best, which is jack the opposing run defense right in the teeth.

Especially with the addition of former Cardinals' guard Jonathan Cooper and Bears' tight end Martellus Bennett to the roster on successive days earlier this week, which signals an end to the finesse football that the Patriots have been playing since their dynasty days and ushers in a smashmouth style of ball that serves the talent along the line of scrimmage very well.

In that respect, there isn't much that needs tweaking among the starting five, but with Vollmer and Solder coming up on the expiration of their contracts, the thought with the offensive line looks to the future - to projects coming out of college on the second and third days who will be ready to assume larger roles next year rather than now.

Depth is what the line needs, though the current depth encountered the same long odds of holding back the tidal wave of pass rushers as the starters last season, and are not nearly as bad as they looked at times - but that doesn't mean there aren't better prospects coming out of college in 2016.

Offensive linemen are generally considered the safest selections in the early stages of any draft, but there are exceptions, though they are few and far between - and the Patriots happen to have a living, breathing example of how things can go sideways with a top draft pick, as they acquired guard Jonathan Cooper along with a second round draft pick from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for defensive end Chandler Jones on Tuesday.

Cooper is an enigma, selected seventh overall in the 2013 draft by the Cardinals - and after a myriad of injuries derailed his debut, he has been just a guy, being benched a couple of times last season. It remains to be seen if a change of scenery can inspire Cooper, as in college he was an elite drive blocker with some pass protection issues, but this was a really inexpensive way to find out if Cooper can contribute as a swing guard.

At least it's inexpensive until the first week in May, when Belichick has to decide whether or not to pick up an insane $11 million team option for 2017. That's not going to happen, given Cooper's long-standing "bust" status, though a restructure could ensure that he at least gets a chance to compete in camp.

At worst, Cooper is an upgrade over incumbent swing guard Josh Kline, and at best will unseat Tre' Jackson at right guard, but the real issue with the line - the one-dimensional offense itself - has already been addressed resoundingly by the Patriots' free agency blitz,

The Patriots followed up the Cooper deal on Wednesday by trading a fourth round draft choice to Chicago in exchange for tight end Martellus Bennett, a move that not only upgrades the weapons stock in the passing game, but also positively impacts the offensive line.

Bennett is an accomplished run blocker, as is All-World tight end team mate Rob Gronkowski. giving the Patriots the option to go exclusively with two-tight end sets as part of five wide formations (02 Personnel where the Patriots are concerned), one back (12 Personnel) or 2 back (22 Personnel) sets, regardless of down and distance...

...without sacrificing a "skill" position on a swing tackle, which Belichick has employed for the past few seasons as a sixth offensive lineman to hopefully find the solution to their run blocking woes, and the results have been mixed. But with Bennett aboard to team with Gronkowski, the opposition will have to tough time determining what kind of play is coming at them when the Patriots don't have to substitute to open up another chapter of the playbook.

All of a sudden, the offensive line isn't five matadors any longer in pass protection - not to mention that running lanes will be more readily available to whomever they choose to be their Bell-cow. The line is suddenly doing what they were built to do.

So, is there is still a need for the Patriots along the line? Backing up the starting five are the aforementioned Cooper, who can play both guard positions, Kline, who is undersized but scrappy, and perhaps the line's best kept secrets, swing tackle LaAdrian Waddle and center David Andrews. Waddle is a pure left tackle who has the talent to eventually take over on Brady's blind side if Solder departs after this season. Vollmer is in his contract season as well, so there probably is a need to at least look at the tackle in the draft.

But even the need there is overblown, as Marcus Cannon and Cam Fleming has done spot duty on both sides, with varying degrees of success.

Andrews is interesting. He has virtually no position versatility and will live or die on the pivot, but he did such an excellent job filling in for Stork, who started the season on the IR with a return designation, that there are some that feel that Stork would be better used as a guard or even as a tackle, as he played both in college in addition to center.

Last season, Belichick even started Stork as an emergency right tackle, and he held his own despite the relative inexperience.

What all of this adds up to is that Belichick will probably draft a developmental tackle in the mid or late rounds and bring a few more linemen in as rookie free agents, but with the log jam on the interior, the incumbent depth at tackle and a switch in philosophy on the offense to a heavy-base set to promote the all-important balance, there is no need to spend early draft capital when there is such an abundance of both heft and skill.

Prelude To A Championship, Part V - Patriots' Offensive Line As Good As It's Going To Get

LaAdrian Waddle is a left tackle, in case you didn't know.

It kind of goes with the territory when you stand 6' 6" tall, weigh 335 pounds and have hands the size of a catcher's glove, playing at Texas Tech for Mike Leach and his "Air Raid Offense" where he was asked to protect his quarterback from the pass rushing demons that tend to populate the Big 12 Conference.

Waddle started every game of his Sophomore, Junior and Senior seasons at Texas Tech, earning first-team All Conference honors and being named a finalist for the Outland Trophy, presented annually to the best lineman in college football - so all of that said, how in the world did Waddle slip all the way through the 2013 draft without being selected?

The answer is that about 75-80% of the time, Waddle was in pass protection in the pass crazy Tech offense, meaning that his run blocking technique saw very little practical application - Still, he made the Detroit Lions as a fourth tackle after being signed as an undrafted free agent despite being raw a run blocking, eventually taking over the right tackle spot midway through his rookie season...

...a position he held all the way through the 2014 season until a torn ACL ended his season. He has surgery in January, was held out of training camp and all preseason games before being pressed into service in Week three, though he was clearly not ready to return.

Struggling mightily, the Lions waived the third-year mountain rather than retain him on the IR - piquing the interest of New England Patriots' head ball coach Bill Belichick, who put in a waiver claim on Waddle, and was awarded his services the day after he was waived.

What does Belichick see in Waddle?

"You know who, at times, we've played at tackle this season - we ended up playing Bryan Stork at tackle." Belichick told reporters during a conference call in mid-December, adding, "so this is an experienced tackle who is still young and has a lot of good football ahead of him."

Waddle was pressed into service in his first game with the team, the overtime loss to the New York Jets, when starting left tackle Sebastian Vollmer went down with a lower-body injury - then Waddle himself hit the trainer's table after injuring his shoulder later in the game.

And that, in a nutshell, is how the year has gone for the Patriots' offensive line.

Starting center Bryan Stork missed the first seven games of the season while on the IR-Designated to return list with a concussion. Starting left tackle Nate Solder went on the season ending IR after tearing a biceps muscle against the Cowboys in week 5 and greybeard guard Ryan Wendell hit the skids after injuring a knee in early November...

...and all of this occurring while the Patriots started three rookies on the interior of their line, while flipping Vollmer from his natural right tackle position to take over for Solder, the right tackle spot becoming a turnstile of mediocrity with first Marcus Cannon and then Cameron Fleming pressed into service , Stork manning the spot upon his return from the IR as the line slowly deteriorated into a macabre demolition derby the last six games of the season.

It was bad, folks. So bad that the Patriots offensive line graded out as the second-worst offensive line in terms of protecting their quarterback in the entire NFL, giving up 36 sacks, and allowing Tom Brady to get nailed an additional 48 times and hurried into his throws an astounding 147 times.

Add that up, and Brady was under duress over a third of the time that he dropped back to pass, not the kind of thing Belichick wants his 38 year old quarterback to have to deal with.

That said, there is hope on the horizon, and not a second too soon.

Waddle and Vollmer are expected back for this Saturday's divisional round matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs and their violent sack masters, Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, speedy outside linebackers in coach Andy Reid's 7th ranked 3-4 defense.

It will be Hali sprinting in from Brady's blindside and Houston from the strong side, along with the likes of Jaye Howard and Allen Bailey forcing things from the interior - which is bad enough, but if the Patriots were coming into this game the same bruised and bloodied team that finished the regular season losers in four of their last six, they would have little chance of winning...

...but not only does New England get back their two best tackles, they also get back some playmakers at the so-called "Skill" positions, the injuries for whom have been the real issue with the offensive line in protecting Brady.

You see, not even the best offensive line can protect their quarterback when they are outmanned, and with the Patriots missing wide receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola and running backs Dion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount, teams have been able to load up the box against New England, overwhelming their offensive line with sheer numbers, hammering Brady and reducing the Patriots running game to the equivalent of a couple of pedestrians waiting for the light to turn.

Which is curious, since the line was originally built to run the football, with drive blockers Shaq Mason and Tre Jackson added to a line that already featured maulers in Stork and Vollmer, trading some measure of pass protection for the ability to run the football and win games with their four-minute offense - but what they gave up in pass protection could be countered with Brady's ability to get the ball out of his hand quickly.

Or at least he could with a full arsenal of weapons, but once his pass catchers and backs started dropping like flies, he lost that ability. Compounding the situation for the line is that the pass catchers that Brady had left really didn't scare anyone, so teams went man coverage - doubling and sometimes tripling tight end Rob Gronkowski - while stacking the box to stop the run...

...essentially daring Brady to beat them while sending extra rushers that overwhelmed the line - and as his linemen started to go down...well, you see the issue. It was a vicious cycle that came to a head the last couple of games of the regular season, which the Patriots ended up using as more of a live scrimmage than anything else, just to keep the players that were healthy sharp.

But now, the Patriots are back to being as healthy as they are going to get. Edelman and Amendola are back, which means that the opposition actually has to start going nickle and dime and can't load the box, which is great news for the New England running game, which has replaced Lewis and Blount with James White and Steven Jackson, respectively.

But the unit that is helped the most by health is the offensive line.

With Vollmer and Waddle practicing and scheduled to return, and with Stork, Mason and Tre Jackson having time to get their assorted bumps and bruises treated - and bolstered by the return to health of the aforementioned skill position players - the offensive line is going to be going into the Divisional playoff game as good as they are going to get.

Whether or not that's good enough remains to be seen, but just having the the pass catchers back to full strength makes everything on the offense run better.

"For instance, in the nine games that Edelman has played in this season, the Patriots offense averaged 33.6 points per game and 418 total offense on 92 rushing yards and 326 passing yards per contest with six 300 yard passing games - but in the seven games he has missed, the points per game have dipped a full ten points to 23 and total offense has fallen off by over 100 yards per game, and Brady has had just one 300 yard game.
Even more telling is on third down. Where Edelman is a first down machine and helped the Patriots to a robust 54% conversion rate on third down, without him they are an abysmal 33%, meaning that the punt team is always on alert and the defense is on the field way too often." - Foxborough Free Press, 6 January, 2016

The quick-twitch passing game that only Edelman and Amendola can do properly relieves a lot of pressure off of the line as not only can Brady get the ball out of his hand faster, but also because the opposition has to respect those two in the pattern, they can't stack the box and throw ridiculous numbers at the big uglies.

That has a two-fold effect in that there are more and bigger running lanes for Jackson, assuming he has anything left in his 32 year old legs, and even White and Brandon Bolden will get some carries - and with just the threat of the running game, the defenders will have to respect the play action, delaying their rush just a split-second, but it's an additional split second that Brady has to get the ball out of his hand.

Not to mention that the linemen will be more able to get anchored in their stance against the bull rushes that has been the bane of their existence for the past six weeks.

In the end, however, the line remains what it is, and no magical potions are available to turn them into a cohesive unit. They still don't have a true left tackle outside of the newcomer Waddle and they still have rookies lining up at both guard positions flanking a second year pivot in Stork.

But that was good enough for the first ten games of the season, so there shouldn't be any reason why it wouldn't be good enough to win a title now.

Musket Reloaded - Part 2: Patriots' Running Game Built On Youth, Heft

Legarrette Blount is the only returning Patriot running back with any tangible experience

They called him "Sweet Feet" in college.

James White even has the moniker as his twitter handle, but had little opportunity to live up to the nickname in the 2014 season, as he essentially redshirted on the active roster, but in the opportunities he did receive, the results were mixed.

Inexperience and lack of quality game reps was one reason why, but the biggest obstacle for White's success in the Patriots running game was the zone blocking scheme that the team employed, which plays to the strengths of someone like, say, LeGarrette Blount, who is exceptional at identifying where the cutback lanes are going to open up.

He did it at the University of Oregon, and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then again with the Patriots the past two seasons, strange as that journey has been.  But White came from a system in Wisconsin where he followed a one-cut Wall Blocking scheme performed by nasty and overly large human beings.

Wall blocking is something like a zone blocking scheme in that any uncovered linemen, meaning that they are not being mirrored by a defensive player, will either double to the inside to drive defensive linemen out of the running lanes or will quickly reach the second level to deal with the Mike 'backer. What makes this scheme different from a zone is that all of the covered linemen initiate drive blocks.

So when White got the ball at Wisconsin, all he had to do was identify which lineman was uncovered and cut into that hole with a full head of steam.  When the play went to the left, it was usually off-tackle for the smallish (5' 10", 205) White, gliding through the hole - but when the play went right, White planted and exploded upfield utilizing a "Hop cut", initiating a hop step, and when his right foot hit the turf, the amount of torque generated had White on the second level often before his linemen could get there.

When that happened, he simply displayed a variety of open-field moves that helped him average over six yards per carry in college, including the meanest stutter step this side of Barry Sanders, and when the ball comes to him over the top, in the flat or on the wheel, he has excellent hands and, obviously, the elusiveness to pick up good yards after the catch.

But there is a reason why running backs from Wisconsin have traditionally had a tough time following up their college careers with productive pro careers, and much of it has to do with the Badgers' program being a grind-it-out, power running entity, based almost solely on the size and nastiness of the offensive linemen, and not so much who is in the backfield at any given time.

White shared duties in with Melvin Gordon in college, together racking up well over 3,000 yards - and before that he was splitting carries in high school with Cincinnati Bengals' running back Giovanni Bernard.  In fact, White has never been the guy anywhere he's played, so it's wise to not look at him as anything but a passing back...

...which is not to discount either his talent, nor what the passing back means to the New England offense, as it plays a significant role in the concept driven scheme.  White has shown that he has the intestinal fortitude to carry the ball in the tall timber, but given how defenses in the AFC East have some of the best run-stopping units in the NFL, the inside pounding will fall to a different cast of characters.

With a philosophical shift to the hybrid Wall Blocking scheme prompted by both the improvement of the defenses of the other divisional foes, and by the availability of Belichick's drive blockers in the draft, new life has been breathed into the running game - as has the Dark Master's decision to let the former tandem of power back Stevan Ridley and passing back Shane Vereen kick rocks to other destination.

What remains is a mixture of power and potential, but with only one running back having any sort of protracted experience in the offense.

Patriots' fans have already experienced Blount, who is a different cat than most, his syrup-on-waffles style through the hole more suited for the zone blocking scheme, of which the Wall scheme incorporates some key attributes - flowing along the line in search of his cutback lane, which he somehow manages to squeeze through more often than not.

What happens after that is a defensive back's worst nightmare, Blount in the open field and building up to top speed while looking for someone to run over - in effect, a 250 pound "Bumble", corners and safeties and trailing linebackers bouncing off of him.  People tend to discount Blount as a one trick pony, but that one trick makes him one of the most effective four minute offense backs in the league.

Third-year man Jonas Gray could be a comparable talent, but last season he was like a UFO on a radar screen - blasting onto the scene like a bat out of hell for a brief glimpse and then suddenly disappearing just as quickly.  Granted, much of that had to do with the Patriots re-acquiring Blount off of waivers from the Steelers, which probably means that his status on the Patriots' roster is far from decided...

...particularly if redshirt sophomore Tyler Gaffney performs in camp that way he did in his senior year at Stanford.  Of all Patriots' running backs, Gaffney is the one player who has the combination of size, speed, pass protection skills and solid hands to become a lead back, eventually, if not this season.

Gaffney is an unknown quantity, as he spent all of last season on the Patriots' injured list after being plucked off waivers by Belichick.  Projected to be a third round selection in last season's draft, he fell all the way to Carolina in the sixth round, as questions about his commitment to football and his relative inexperience of being a lead back in college came into play.

Both questions arising from him leaving school after his junior year to play baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system, then returning for his senior year when he flat went off on the Pac-12, rushing for 1700 yards and 21 touchdowns in his only season as a starter.  At 6' 0" and 220 pounds, the duck-footed Gaffney looks a lot like Seattle Seahawks' runner Marshawn Lynch in the open field and at times in college looked just as difficult to bring down.

Needless to say, the competition at running back in training camp will be interesting, what with Gaffney trying to carve out a spot to split time with Blount, while Gray and free agent signee Tavaris Cadet - late of New Orleans - try to do enough to latch onto what should be a fourth and final spot on the depth chart, fifth if one stops to consider that Brandon Bolden should stick on the roster as a running back in spirit only, as it is his special teams' play that makes his spot valuable.

As touched upon in the first part of this series, New England managed a pedestrian 3.9 yards per carry as the offensive line was forced to rely upon try-hard types in guards Dan Connolly and Ryan Wendell to flank rookie pivot Bryan Stork.  Both Connolly and Wendell are under-sized scrappers, neither of whom should still be on the Patriots roster when the season starts.

Connolly, who is still floating around in free agency limbo, likely won't be re-signed as rookie Shaq Mason is the favorite to assume the right guard spot while Wendell may have to endure being cut in camp with fourth round pick Tre' Jackson penciled in at left guard - and all together with Stork, suddenly the Patriot's interior line looks physical and nasty tempered...

...and the fact that Jackson played alongside Stork at Florida State for a couple of years probably means that there is already chemistry between the two, which also means that the only real spot on the line with an unknown quantity is Connolly's old right guard position, but if Mason's reputation of being a violent run blocker manifests, this could be the best offensive line that the Patriots have had in years.

Particularly with twin towers Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer bookending, and swing tackles Marcus Cannon and Cam Fleming providing extra bulk in New England's six lineman sets, these behemoths should be able to mask any struggles from the rookies while they ply their trade the Patriot way.

Given all of this, it's not difficult to see both what Belichick has envisioned and that the running game is headed into uncharted territory with an almost complete youth movement, but with potential and the resultant excitement that change can bring.

This is the second installment in a multi-part series focused around the philosophies of the offense and defense as it pertains to the building process.  Part three will focus on the offensive line, and how the Patriots have the making os some epic camp battles on the interior...

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