It'll be very interesting to see who they trot out here tomorrow on the OL now. Do they stand pat and just replace Brown with Turner? Or do they do a bigger switch up and move Becton to LT and AVT to RT? I would prefer the latter tbh. Best case scenario: Becton Tomlinson McGovern Tippman AVT More probable: Turner Tomlinson McGovern AVT Becton
Agreed, Becton has not been terrible. A few times I saw he was actually covering for AVT who got beat, but Becton partially mitigated avoiding a sack. Becton must move to LT NOW to cover Zach's blind side. He is clearly our best pass pro lineman. And not next week, not a few weeks from now, but tomorrow. And Brown needs to stay on IR for the rest of the year. This injury may be a blessing in disguise because for some reason Saleh's and JD's brains are up their assholes when it comes to Duane because he played hurt last year, but Duane was done a year ago, and we need to move on. If this happened two weeks ago, who knows Rodgers may not have been out for the year. But better late than never. Becton must be the LT starting with Pats.
I don't think this is the best case scenario. AVT has not been good at pass pro this year at guard. You are thinking he did decent at RT last year, but he also looked like all Pro guard at that time. He does not look it now. He is playing below average at guard now, and will be worse at RT. And I don't want him to get hurt again trying to defend guys on the bend like he did last year with his short arms. He needs to work himself into all Pro form at guard. I would not change his position. Also, Tipp played Guard in preseason and didn't look very good. He did look much better at C. He had some issues with snaps, but I think this is easier to work on than to change your entire position. Finally, McGovern didn't look much better than Brown this season. He might get another game or half game, but Tipp is right there as a possible upgrade, ready to go. So, for me, I would move Becton to LT, and give Turnstile a shot at RT, because he seemed to have improved in preseason. He will probably suck, but this may be the least of all evils. So I would do this: Becton Tomlinson Tippman AVT Turnstile
While it wouldn't be the first time Saleh has been less than honest about the severity of a player's injury. I have to think Saleh is playing the Gus Fring card in an effort to take down his arch nemesis and hated rival Belicheat. Brown is benched because he stinks and has probably been injured since game one. AVT at right guard, Becton kicked out to to left, Tippman at Center plus Tomlinson and McGovern. Turner is not part of this equation. Call it gamesmanship, the old switcheroo. Let the chips fall where they may. Anything less is waving the white flag. Go Jets.
Not in pass pro. Becton is MUCH higher. They have Becton rated low in the run game, and lack of opportunities there is contributing to that. Their formula is not perfect. But with more sample size he will be higher overall, and already it is not even close with him being significantly better at pass pro than old Duane, which passes the eye test too.
I'd flip the whole thing: LT - Becton LG - Tucker C - Tippman or McGovern RG - McGovern or Tippman RT - Turner or Mitchell
Lol. Tomorrow will be my 4th Patriots game in a row. 2 years ago I went to the game with my wife. A group of 4 Pats fans were sitting in front of us. Late twenties well behaving fellas. They were pretty civil. So I took it easy on them. Last year, I was gifted a ticket at Coaches Club. It was free food and soft drinks. Almost no Pats fans around. So it was pretty great. Tomorrow I will watch the game under the rain. Not sure what is in my cards.
Am I to infer that Saleh (or I should just say "the Jets" ) expect Duane Brown to come back healthy and effective in 4 weeks and be their LT of choice so THAT is what makes it a bad idea to move Becton to LT now because they "know" Brown is coming back to take the job over in a few weeks and they want Becton to continue getting used to/better at RT which is where they want him now, later, and forever? Because no other option would seem to make any sense at all to me. I hope Brown can do it but the last few weeks haven't exactly instilled a whole lot of confidence.
Offensive Line prospects for 2024 are considered to be very strong with a wide array of top tier starters even better than last year's crop. According to Walter Football and Pro Football Network these are the top 5 prospects 1.) Olumuyiwa Fashanu OT - Penn State "Dominant player against top competition. Incredibly composed and controlled pass protector. 6’6″, 321 pounds, has exceptional length, strength, and power capacity, with the flexibility to absorb power rushes within his frame. Fashanu is a blue-chip tackle prospect who’ll be extremely coveted in April." 2.) JC Latham OT - Alabama: "Latham explodes off the line as a run blocker and is surprisingly balanced and disciplined as a pass protector, showing patience, foot speed, and well-timed hands when matching rushers to the apex." 3.) Joe Alt OT - Notre Dame: "Alt’s an explosive, light-footed athlete — far from a surprise given his past as a former TE. But beyond that, he’s absurdly flexible, both in recovery and when flexing to increase his blocking range and wall-off rushers. His malleability is a stifling failsafe for defenders." 4.) Kingsley Suamataia OT - BYU - "At 6’6″, 315 pounds, Suamataia has a wide and dense frame. He’s a stellar athlete with superlative explosiveness off the line. Breakout season in 2022 where didn't allow a sack. Exceptional speed and athleticism for a run blocker his size." 5.) Amarius Mims OT - Georgia "Mims has 11.2-inch hands and 36-inch arms, as well as quickness. They call his physical body similar to Tyron Smith’s. Evaluators say they want to see Mims get more physical and nasty in 2023 because he plays like the big kid on the playground who doesn’t want to hurt anybody. Mims has a great skill set could be a star and fast riser for the 2024 NFL Draft."
At this point, given Saleh's stubbornness around veterans, I don't see a major rearrangement of the line until the bye week.
Yes because in all his glory Hackett thinks running to the left behind Brown and Tomlinson was the better game plan.
