With their final preseason tuneup under their belts and roster cuts due by 4 pm tomorrow, the Patriots are just about ready for the NFL season to commence. With that, I'm going to give my thoughts on a couple of things. Ideally, I will try to come up with my roster of 53 prior to Belichick sharing his.
Logan Mankins- Although I never in a million years thought of him being traded, I really can't find a logical problem with this trade. Yes, Mankins has been a Pro-Bowler and outright stud for the Patriots, but all good things must come to an end. Let's face it, he is 32 years old and has suffered from a torn ACL as well as calf, hip and ankle injuries. While the guy is tough as nails and has an extremely high pain tolerance, his body is due to give out. While we may not have a 2014 Pro-Bowl guard protecting Tom Brady this year, it looks like we have several players who will be more than adequate. Moreover, according to Spotrac the Patriots cleared $5.755 million in cap space by making this deal. In the end, it is better to get something we need for him than to pay him for his past accolades. I'll also be interested to see how many penalties Mankins gets this year with there being a greater focus on offensive linemen moving on the line of scrimmage regardless of whether or not they draw the defense.
Tim Wright- If you don't think he made a good first impression last night then you must be blind. 4 receptions for 43 yards without knowing any plays, I'll take it. If you didn't read my post about him the other day, check it out here.
Jimmy Garoppolo- Overall, he looked pretty good last night (22 for 42 for 284 yards 1 TD and 1 INT). In my opinion he makes good decisions and accurate passes. While he might not have the arm strength or velocity that Mallett has, does it really matter? I don't think so. Remember last year when Peyton Manning joked about throwing a lot of ducks? Well, he's done pretty well for himself. In all the times I've watched Mallett (preseason games and practices), I've never been impressed. If I had to compare him to a former NFL player, I can't help but go with JaMarcus Russell, one of the biggest busts.
Jimmy Garoppolo- Overall, he looked pretty good last night (22 for 42 for 284 yards 1 TD and 1 INT). In my opinion he makes good decisions and accurate passes. While he might not have the arm strength or velocity that Mallett has, does it really matter? I don't think so. Remember last year when Peyton Manning joked about throwing a lot of ducks? Well, he's done pretty well for himself. In all the times I've watched Mallett (preseason games and practices), I've never been impressed. If I had to compare him to a former NFL player, I can't help but go with JaMarcus Russell, one of the biggest busts.
Ryan Mallett- Yes, I just stated that Mallett does nothing for me. While I have no input on the Patriots' roster, if I did he wouldn't make it onto my roster of 53. Of course, I was ready to trade him in the offseason when we might have gotten something for him.
Josh Boyce- May have played his way off the team last night. At times he looked like a twelve year-old who just had a huge growth spurt.
Michael Buchanan- Unless he did tell someone he was hurt and they told him to suck it up, what was he thinking? He clearly tweaked something (it looked like his groin) at the end of a Giants possession and then went back out there a few minutes later. According to what I'm reading, it appears that he eventually left the game with an ankle injury. I don't know, I definitely saw a groin issue prior to any ankle injury.
Josh Boyce- May have played his way off the team last night. At times he looked like a twelve year-old who just had a huge growth spurt.
Michael Buchanan- Unless he did tell someone he was hurt and they told him to suck it up, what was he thinking? He clearly tweaked something (it looked like his groin) at the end of a Giants possession and then went back out there a few minutes later. According to what I'm reading, it appears that he eventually left the game with an ankle injury. I don't know, I definitely saw a groin issue prior to any ankle injury.
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