Weighing the Pros and Cons of New England Patriots’ Offensive Line Shuffling

October 3, 2015   ·   Erik Frenz   ·   Jump to comments

In his book, The Essential Smart Football, author Chris B. Brown wrote, "New ideas in football tend to arise as potential solutions to specific problems." 
The New England Patriots began the 2014 season with a lot of uncertainty on their offensive line. As a result, there were a lot of moving pieces until Week 5, when center Bryan Stork, left guard Dan Connolly and right guard Ryan Wendell were the galvanizing trio of the line. 
The 2015 season is off to a similar start in the Patriots' approach, but the reasoning behind it is in question. Obviously, the Patriots offense is in midseason form (39.6 points per game ranks second in the NFL), so whatever uncertainty they have on the offensive line hasn't bogged them down quite as badly as it did last year at this time.
So, last year's desperation tactic might be this year's innovative strategy.
Every snap, the offensive line must identify the defenders, where they are lined up and assign the protecti...

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