Good News for Tim Bowens and Larry Chester

[ckparrothead]

Starting RG for the Patriots Brendan Stai has retired...unexpectedly.

He's had an 8 year career starting with a big stint at Pittsburgh where he was kind of like their version of Mark Dixon. Called by the local media possibly Pittsburgh's "best offensive lineman" during his tenure there.

I remember him becoming a free agent and prior to the 2000 season we were searching for a Guard so I was all for pickin the guy up...cuz he was known for being a good trap type of blocker, athletic and whatnot. But he was always workmanlike and underrated...therefore underpaid. After Pitt he was tossed around between teams for one year stints, teams who ended up either wanting to develop a youngster they thought could be real good, or teams who wanted a big name pancake guy.

This is three years in a row though that the Patriots have signed a Guard in the offseason and he has retired within a matter of weeks (or days) of making it to Belichick's training camp. In 2001, they signed Joe Panos to play RG. He retired after like a day. Joe Andruzzi and Mike Compton took over. In 2002, the Patriots signed Rich Tylski. He retired after three days. Joe Andruzzi took over. Now, they sign Brendan Stai and he secures a starting job...and 2 weeks after starting camp, he retires.

The good news for Bowens and Chester is that it looks like Andruzzi will once again have to man the position. Andruzzi looks healthy (for once) which is a plus for the Pats, but unfortunately for the Patriots Andruzzi just doesn't get the job done against TimBo and Chester together.

In 2002, Antowain Smith merely rushed for a total of 28 times for 69 yards with 1 TD.

Its always good to hear when a possible upgrade to the Patriots and threat to the Dolphins is disposed of.

If we could only find a consistent answer for Brady...

Yes this thread is about the Dolphins and the outcome of the games against the Pats, I don't think it should be moved.

 

[M-REAL]

This is good news for the Fins. Well Brady still has to worry about Taylor and O-Gun. They seemed to not have missed a beat from last year.

 

[ckparrothead]

Right, I mean basically this just means that the offensive line we faced last year should be about the same this year. No upgrades on the interior really...so we can worry about Brady instead of worrying about some revival of Antowain Smith with the help of some new blocking.

Antowain did have a damn good rushing game against us in 2001, but that was when we still had Daryl Gardener, who was injured at the time, with a banged up Jermaine Haley starting...and banged up linebackers behind TimBo and Jermaine because they weren't gettin the help at the front DT position that they needed. That was back when our rush D at the end of the year kept taking bigtime turns for the worst. Larry Chester seems to have helped put a stop to that.

 

[Prime Time]

That is good news. I was like oh crap when I heard they signed him. Relieved to here he retired.

 

[infiltrateib]

Larry Chester doesn't get the fame but he is a silent and yet very, very important cog in our run defense. He should be better now that he has healed... I expect great (not stat-wise, but play-wise) things.

 

[inFINSible]

Originally posted by ckparrothead

Yes this thread is about the Dolphins and the outcome of the games against the Pats, I don't think it should be moved.

Thanks for making my job so easy ck.......maybe you should become a mod here?...I think you would be great at it.

 

[RUDEbyallMEANS]

I'm not real big on Chester.. I did like Gardener alot better because Gardener can clog the run and get after the QB.. Chester just takes up space.. I'm growing very concerned about Miami's pass rush.. JT will get 2-3 guys on him consistently, Ogun is not very consistent in his pass rush and all an opposing QB has to do is step right up when JT is running around the LT because TIMBO and Chester cannot get past their opponent.. I'm not very fond of Chester but he's better than whats out there now..

 

[VanDolPhan]

Zgonina is going to be mixed in with Bowens & Chester. Think of all 3 of them as starters because they will all take the same number of snaps. Zgonina can get after the QB a bit.

 

[Baz]

If Timbo is allowed too, he is an adequate pass rusher. His problem, or should I say the problem, is that he is asked NOT to rush the passer, but to make sure the center/guard stays off Zach. You can't hold a block and rush the passer at the same time. Thats why he doesn't get many sacks, he isn't asked to. However, on obvious pass-rushing downs, we could see Zgonina and Timbo in there sometimes, to complement last year's DL of 4 DEs on passing downs......

 

[Al13]

Originally posted by RUDEbyallMEANS
I'm not real big on Chester.. I did like Gardener alot better because Gardener can clog the run and get after the QB.. Chester just takes up space.. I'm growing very concerned about Miami's pass rush.. JT will get 2-3 guys on him consistently, Ogun is not very consistent in his pass rush and all an opposing QB has to do is step right up when JT is running around the LT because TIMBO and Chester cannot get past their opponent.. I'm not very fond of Chester but he's better than whats out there now..

well, u have to admit our running d, through the middle was tough last year and that was with #64 still recovering from that broken leg, so i think he is ready to step to the spotlight this year, if u are looking for a DT that pressures the qb, look out for zgonina