Remember, its in our DNA to be skeptical; our team had 14 straight losing seasons. Our team had 26 straight losses at its birth. Our team has not been to the playoffs in 6 seasons, and hasn’t won a playoff game in 11 years.
So the typical reaction is “Patriots are giving away Logan Mankins because he’s done, too old to play”. If that’s so, it’s not the opinion of Boston Globe’s Chad Finn, who says “I did not see that one coming”.
Finn recalls Mankins as an all pro just last year, and puts Mankins as the Patriots all time 2nd best guard ever, right behind John Hannah, brother of Bucs O lineman in the 80s Charlie Hannah.
No one wants to second guess Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. He was the one who drafted Mankins who was expected to last till later rounds, in the bottom of the 1st round of the 2005 draft. So crazy a pick, Chris Berman and Mel Kiper were speechless. But in the end, it turned out a winner, as Mankins has been to 6 pro bowls including last season.
True he gave up 11 sacks last season, but Patriot QBs were dropped 40 times in the regular season, so thats not all on Mankins. The Pats had the 10th ranked passing attack, and he was not only a pro bowler, but an All Pro for the last 3 years…an award not linked to popularity.
In one step, the Bucs may have increased their win total by 2-3 games, because even if the 2014 and 2015 Mankins are only 85% of his former self, the Bucs seriously upgraded the line to where they hoped Carl Nicks would have been.
The alternative would have been going into the regular season with two back up guards starting.
It’s unlikely the Bucs will remain with the line as is, with the last roster cuts sure to release some credible Guards after the final preseason games this coming weekend.
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