Logan Mankins = Bad Pass Blocker?
August 28th, 2014
Not everyone believes the Bucs made a hell of a trade acquiring All-Pro left guard Logan Mankins for a fourth-round pick and Tim Wright on Tuesday.
Sports Illustrated senior NFL writer Greg Bedard paints a picture of Bill Belicheat fleecing the Bucs.
In the story linked above, not only does Bedard believe Tim Wright will be a top-5 pass catcher among tight ends, he’s confident Mankins is in a downward spiral.
Mankins’ play had slipped the past three years. While he was still one of the best run-blocking guards in the league (his pulling ability freed up many big runs down the stretch last season) his pass blocking had taken a hit, most likely because of assorted leg injuries. He no longer moves very well laterally in space; it was eye opening to watch him allow five sacks in back-to-back games against the Dolphins and Steelers last fall.
If Bedard is accurate, then why is there widespread outrage in Boston? Even Tom Brady having convulsions.
Of note in Bedard’s commentary is the reference of Mankins being “still one of the best run-blocking guards in the league.”
On its own, that means a hell of a lot, especially since he’ll be wedged between Anthony Collins and Evan Dietrich-Smith, a couple of offensive linemen known for their pass blocking.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
Sports Illustrated still exists?
THAT’S news to me.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
There you go, Joe.
We finally got someone on this team with pulling ability.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
Sorry, I forgot to say Harry is smarter than me.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Timing is everything. At this stage of the game it takes some creative effort to land a BIG need for your team. Give and take. You want something you have to give something. The deal worked out for both teams to fulfill a BIG need and at a reasonable GIVE for each side.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Mankins= better than Cousins. That’s good enough for me. We were going nowhere with what we had.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:07 pm
screw Greg Bedard. I hope Mankins will get motivated by all this cheap talk
August 28th, 2014 at 12:09 pm
You don’t need to pass block very well if you can run the ball……really brings in play-action… but I’ll take 1 out of 2 vs 0 out of 2…..
I’m sure McCown/Glennon are good with the addition.
@ Chef Paul…..Harry is not smarter than me, but you are,,, so….how can Harry be smarter than you?
August 28th, 2014 at 12:10 pm
LOL TBBF,
We made a Glennon, McCown bet, and I’m paying up. only 6 days to go!!
August 28th, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Has there been a Mankins sighting in Tampa yet?
August 28th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Not to Joe’s knowledge. Know he was still in New England all day Tueday.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Mankins will play a major role in making this offense go. His run blocking will change the dynamics in a huge way. Getting four to six yards on a carry is a huge difference than one or two. Third and two is far different look to the defense than third and seven.
Then there is his locker room and role model presence for the entire offensive line. He will make everyone better. While he may not be the pass blocker he once was, he is still serviceable and making those around him better will compensate.
Mankins both buys time to develop those younger players on the Bucs line, and makes the team far better immediately.
This is a good trade.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Cousins would get beat in an ass kicking contest by a one legged man.
I would have literally taken anyone worth half a sh!t over him, so Mankins will do just fine in my eyes.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:25 pm
Didn’t he move out to tackle last year for a little bit? Is that where maybe some of the sack total is coming from
August 28th, 2014 at 12:25 pm
Joe
I thought he was playing on an injured knee with an asprin on his knee brace? I believe his knee was repaired last year and so he could not expected to go laterally very well.
That was then and this is now sandwiched in between EDS and Collins with his knee either fixed or not, still a problem for the other side.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Richie !..Richie !…Richie !….
August 28th, 2014 at 12:27 pm
His lateral movement is definitely declining so yes his pass blocking has been lacking the last couple years. It is still above average in the NFL and better than anyone else’s on this team, although Dotson is closing that gap (in the passing game). His run blocking is still elite, he is still a top tier road grader. Even at 32 years of age he is a B+/A- Guard in the NFL and barring injury should be able to put a complete season together.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Mankins “hasn’t been sighted in Tampa”…what if Mankins is a man of principle….and retires…..
August 28th, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Were good…go bucs!!!!!
August 28th, 2014 at 12:32 pm
I been sayin it. only the local media is buying the kppl aid of this trade.
it’s a stop gap, and a very costly one. NE needed wright as much as we needed Mankins. and they needed cap help.
how the hell do you give away a 4th round pick with that scenario?
answer. should have signed ritchie for league min, then they would have given mankins too us just for the cap room and wright. licht is an amateur. any serious business person could have handled this WITHOUT signing ritchie. He let his past experience with the pats think they were being nice and giving him a deal all the while they were slappin that a$$
August 28th, 2014 at 12:37 pm
Peter King’s gonna get pretty jealous here–slobbering all over Bellichek is HIS gig!
August 28th, 2014 at 12:37 pm
I don’t think the right side is that big of an issue now. Having BOTH Guard spots blank was a huge issue because EDS would have to pick a side and hope to god the other can hold his own on a one on one. Well they couldn’t do that. Mankins is a whole other story, EDS’s protection can slide over to the RG and help him out a bit knowing Mankins can hold his man one on one. Demar Dotson is an up and coming RT and has put on a solid preseason so far so he isn’t an issue. Plus this allows 3 players (2 young with upside potential) to fight for the RG spot while not making the rest of the o-line suffer in the process.
Mankins to this o-line is kind of like Revis to the DB’s group. He just takes care of his area so well you can slide protections to the weaker area’s and know he’s got it under control.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:38 pm
“…If Bedard is accurate, then why is there widespread outrage in Boston?”
Even in article/commentaries from ppl who were made about giving up Mankins, they said he has deteriorated the past 3 years (since his knee injury) and gave up a number of sacks last year. So this is not new. He adds a lot with the run game.
But I do believe we gave up a lot. I think Wright is going to do very well under Belicheat. I love L&L but they put themselves in a hole with what the did to the Oline, especially at G. We gave up a LOT to get a 32 yo G. Mankins is a rental. No other way to look at it.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:41 pm
@robert9 Says:
“how the hell do you give away a 4th round pick with that scenario?
answer. should have signed ritchie for league min…”
totally agree. I’ve been saying that for 6 friggin months
August 28th, 2014 at 12:42 pm
So why the hell is Brady so pissed? Any quarterback would love to see a guy leave who can’t protect him.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:42 pm
He’s a great two year stopgap. That’s all. His run and pass blocking will be well above average for that period of time, so worrying is a waste of time. Guaranteed we will draft at least one o-lineman in the first three rounds next year.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:45 pm
He may not be able to pass block but that doesn’t seem to hurt the team or Brady.
NE ranked 10th last year & 4th in 2012 in passing yards…
Bucs ranked dead last in 2013…..and that was with “great” pass blockers…..
August 28th, 2014 at 12:49 pm
@robert9 that’s a nice thought at first, but then it’s obvious you misunderstand how Belichik works. There would NEVER be a player for player trade with NE unless it was some all pro in his prime (which never happens). the only way to get anything away from NE is with draft picks bottom line. This deal would never have happened if it was just Wright on the trading block. I am happy all we did give up was a 4th rounder, because i could easily see a 3rd rounder for someone of Mankins caliber. Trades like this at this time of the year are rare and in this case i think it was a fair trade all around. Let’s be honest here, how can you be upset about a future 4th rounder who (more than likely) will never be as good as Mankins is today? This is one of those potential versus proven success.
I’ll take Mankins over any fourth rounder in the 2015 draft any day of the week.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:49 pm
I’m sure they’ll bring in, a few more prospects
August 28th, 2014 at 12:51 pm
Have to believe that trades like this are all part of L&L’s plan for quickly improving the Bucs. Our offense was a laughing-stock last year and needed a major overhaul. No way L&L could do that through just free agency and the draft. These last 2 trades for guards (Johnson and Mankins) will improve our OL a bunch … after a few weeks. Wish it could’ve happened earlier but it didn’t. Such is life.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Bedard is a Patriot’s fan!!!! He is pissed.
By the way you can call Richie Mr. Flag Man. I can do without that experience. Remember Kenyatta Walker????
August 28th, 2014 at 12:52 pm
The trade is not complete until Logan Mankins passes a physical
August 28th, 2014 at 12:53 pm
This guy should be “Hands On” with the offensive line.
They get SOLID run blocking and pass protection-
Fixes a huge problem with the offense scheme and upgrades the entire offense playbook
PLUS
This years rookies and next years rookie linemen wont be rushed in unprepared and will learn from someone proven that he knows “whats Up”
This is a great move for now and later
August 28th, 2014 at 12:54 pm
2 questions:
Why haven’t we seen or heard from Mr. Mankin? Is that normal?
Should we be concern that Tedford is up and “alert” after his medical procedure? I mean god bless him, I pray it’s nothing serious but “alert” doesn’t sound too reassuring.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
This Richie over Mankins business is ridiculous. How in the world could you possibly want the (Locker room Cancer) who has just average guard talent in Richie over a guy who is (a locker room saint & leader) who is an all pro guard. Maybe not pro bowl caliber anymore but still head and shoulder above even Richie.
Richie has ALWAYS been a dirty player. I don’t even care what he did in Miamia far before all that none sense he had a horrible reputation around the league. The guy is simply off his rocker. He’s been labeled a dirty player, a bully, a locker room cancer, a bad role model, and a under performer at times. Even if he had godly talent i don’t want that piece of garbage with in 50 miles of the Bucs. That nonsense talk needs to stop. Richie is garbage.
August 28th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
Dude, why would Joe tolerate your bogus claims. –Joe
August 28th, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Well the same has been said with EDS and Anthony Collins. Good run blocking, poor pass D. If anything it’s a trend in our team, a bad trend. This does mean we will be using Doug Martin a lot and hopefully we get some clean lanes for him
August 28th, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Physical exams are routine on players traded in the NFL, and deals aren’t complete until ALL players involved are cleared by doctors.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:01 pm
@bucit941
the answer to your question is STOP trading with the PATS!!! there are 31 other teams. licht let his colored glasses blind him and he got worked.
brady is pissed because he knows he’s next in line for a pay cut or a trade.
how did that demps trade work out? this was a desperation move for a player who probably doesn’t even want to be here.
i’m happy we got a great gaurd (for how long or if he shows up we’ll see), but let’s not crown licht. this only happened due to piss poor planning……and let’s throw racism in their as well. there’s no reason ritchie should not have been brought in long ago.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
This is laughable. Coming off 5 straight pro bowls and an all pro season. Of course he’s not in his prime but he’s better than 95% of the left guards in the NFL. To try and find anything wrong with this move is a waste of time.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:07 pm
Couple things on this:
Even if he has his struggles in the passing game, he still will be better in that regard than anyone else we had on the roster.
He is still a dominant run blocker…what leads to more opportunities in the passing game? An effective run game. Dougie will reap the benefits of the this move big time…and the rest of the offense will have more opportunities as a result.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
I’m not crowning anyone. I said it was a fair trade all around. I agree also I would like see us trade with other teams but name anyone else out there we could have traded for? Alex Boone and give up a 3rd rounder and a butt load of cash ? take the HUGE HUGE risk of adding a character concern like Richie Ingocnito? How ever you slice it you can’t sit back and be mad at this trade.
NE didn’t have to even execute this trade period. They already have Mankins on the books for the year and was going into the season with him. So yes it was going to take something to sweeten the pie. And it’s not like we gave up the Earth either.
Maybe it’s just me and i’m sorry but I don’t understand how anyone can even be upset about this move. WE couldn’t have found a better individual to fix what this team needed to have a successful season. The entire character of Logan fits perfectly into what this Offense was missing from his attitude to his play on the field.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:12 pm
@joe
What did ASJ say about Incognito?
August 28th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
LOVE the people who still swear we should have signed Incognito instead…not only had none of you asshats ever heard of Richie Incognito before the scandal, but you also don’t seem to realize that in one of Mankins worst seasons last year, he still played better than Incognito in his prime. He could outplay him with a blown out knee…and oh yeah, he’s literally already done that.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:14 pm
And by the way…Mankins played way better than Alex Boone last season too.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:19 pm
@robert9 “the answer to your question is STOP trading with the PATS!!! there are 31 other teams. licht let his colored glasses blind him and he got worked.”
Got worked? Traded a 3rd string (yet talented) TE and a 4th rounder (if we have a winning season will be a low pick) for a 5 time pro bowler. Filled the BIGGEST need on the team with a more than serviceable player. Did it right before the end of preseason. Not only filled the need but also got a locker room guy everyone can look up to.
So by him “getting worked” you mean he got exactly what this team needed and fixed the biggest issue that could have crumbled our season. Then to only pay peanuts to do so? Man, I wish i could get worked like this all the time.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:26 pm
All this is, is a way for Bedard to justify belichicks questionable move. He can’t believe they’d do something so absurd, and therefore made this s(p)it up to make it more palatable. Am I right, Joe?
August 28th, 2014 at 1:27 pm
New #Bucs guard Logan Mankins has arrived in Tampa and will meet with the media before tonight’s game
Cheers!!!
August 28th, 2014 at 1:29 pm
Logan Mankins is just the 4th player to be traded after 5 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances in the last 20 years
-Tony Gonzalez (KC-ATL)
-Junior Seau (SD-MIA)
-Warren Moon (HOU-MIN)
August 28th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
per:BSPN
August 28th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
Nice try… Who stated anywhere that Mankins is a bad pass protector?
This post is total BS….
Umm, the author of the Sports Illustrated makes that case, citing his five sacks allowed in two games. –Joe
August 28th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
“it was eye opening to watch him allow five sacks in back-to-back games against the Dolphins and Steelers last fall”
To me this means Bill Belicheat made a great move in getting something for a player on his downside… Mankins is on the downward portion of his career arc.
Now on a positive note, hopefully this trade actually lights a fire under Mankins to prove Bill wrong and extend Mankins career by a year or two.
August 28th, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Hey Joe D.Penn allowed 12 sacks last year and you were still kissing his ass. ..
Come on man!
Joe can’t be responsible for your unwillingness to read or your reading comprehension. –Joe
August 28th, 2014 at 2:07 pm
Mankins is still better than anything we was gonna field with the starters!
August 28th, 2014 at 2:09 pm
Sour grapes, but Pat’s fans are not that disappointed. Many are still butthurt over Mankins giving up 9 sacks in the last half of the season, especially in the playoffs.
I agree with Rasta: “Richie! Richie! Richie!”
You can’t have too many Pro Bowl OL, especially if one comes cheap.
Again: I doubt RI gets signed by any team until after Week 1 so they won’t be liable for ALL his salary for the year as a “vested veteran.” That mitigates much risk.
Plus, teams will get a chance to actually see what their OG play is under live bullets, including the Bucs.
August 28th, 2014 at 2:24 pm
How do we know he will perform at the same level? He leaves a perennial contender for a laughing stock team(Morris/schiano time). His wife and kids are not moving down with him bc the kids are enrolled on school up there. He’s been there his whole career and loves that organization, fans, city etc.
How can we expect him to come down here with the same level of motivation? BB got rid of him bc he has always been a nightmare with his contract. Dude is making 10m a season and is giving the pats grief. Hello revis.
I like the deal bc he is significantly better than anything else we would have gotten even if he tanks every snap. But I think ots foolish to expect the same level of motivation and productivity from him. I hope he is professional enough to prove me wrong. But it can’t be easy for him to leave everything behind
August 28th, 2014 at 2:27 pm
I just got done re-watching the first half of the Patriots-Panthers game from last week and I was very impressed with Mankins. He was more than adequate on the running plays and exceptional on the pass plays. He looks strong and fast out of his stance. He showed good lateral movement. He can still get out and pull on runs and screens. He just seems to “absorb” the Panthers big D-linemen and smother them on passing plays. He played very well….I’m excited about seeing him in action for the Bucs in 10 days!
August 28th, 2014 at 3:17 pm
ask all 31 NFL GMs outside of new england whether they would take mankins and his salary for a 4th round pick and a #3 TE that might miss the final 53, and i think you would get 31 emphatic “yes” votes. i am pretty confident wright will be very productive as a patriot, but it doesn’t appear he had the skill set to be a contributor under lovie and tedford
August 28th, 2014 at 3:46 pm
Pick 6… forget the not make the team argument.
Even if he did make the 53, with Evans, Jackson, ASJ, Heron, HB passes, there is no way Wright, at #3 on the TE depth chart will even get 25 catches this season.
So, yeah, he would have been too buried on the depth chart to make much of an impact anyway… surely he wouldn’t have made 30-50 catches. There are not enough snaps in a season for this to happen to a 3rd TE.
So, in essence, L & L got great return for a #3 TE before his stats inevitably drop off this Fall.
That says a lot.
Good move on both sides.
Which is why I am a big fan of pre-season trades… like the Rays do so often with their late season trades. Strike when the iron is hot.
August 28th, 2014 at 4:04 pm
I am not trying to make excuses for the guy, but could giving up the amount of sacks he did last year be a direct result of Brady working with a whole new receiving corps, which included 3 rookies? Brady is not fleet a foot and the quickest route to the QB from the D-Line is from the tackle position. Just saying…
August 28th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
My bet is Mankins retires:}
August 28th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
@ maleko
Don’t you dare say that!!!!
August 28th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
How can he be a good pulling run blocker and bad moving laterally at the same time? I am not saying he is a good pass blocker, but that confused me.
August 28th, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Mankins does not want too play for anyone but new england..as much as it hurts for me sat it, he’s not gonna play for us..
August 28th, 2014 at 6:35 pm
I lied
August 28th, 2014 at 7:42 pm
That article was written by ghostwriter Bill B to calm the nerves that are currently rattled in NE. Mankins is a huge upgrade over what we had in camp.
I still believe the Bucs will sign Incognito week 1 so they don’t have to guarantee the $$$.
August 29th, 2014 at 3:46 pm
I ‘like’ the trade but I don’t love it. Here’s why:
1) We traded Zuttah because of his cap # right?
2) We cut Joseph because of…
3) We gave up a 4th rounder
We bring in Mankins who’s older and more $$$. I think we pulled the trigger too quickly on Zuttah and Joseph. Both are starting and Joseph took a pay cut. I know it’s history now but I bet they regret those moves.