Patriots' Offensive Line Carousel a Rare Situation for New England

Five fingers, one fist. That is how the offensive line operated for the New England Patriots under former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia.  Scar took the best five players, plugged them into their spots and kept them there until there was an injury.

Under his successor—Dave DeGuglielmo—however, fingers are being hacked off and reattached with the casualness of my nine-year-old son switching around his latest Lego creation for the umpteenth time. Perhaps there is a method to DeGuglielmo and my son's madness.

Through six games in 2014, nine offensive linemen have already played more than 80 snaps for New England. To put that in perspective, seven total offensive linemen played in 2013.

Injuries have played an issue. Bryan Stork, Dan Connolly and Ryan Wendell have all missed time due to physical maladies. Health can't be the sole reason for the constant shake-ups, however.

Looking at the Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills showed DeGuglielmo and Bill Belichick's proclivities for switching things up this year.

This is how the game started.

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Nate Solder	Dan Connolly	Ryan Wendell	Josh Kline	Sebastian Vollmer

Jordan Devey ended up seeing the majority of time at left guard after Connolly went out with a head injury.

Marcus Cannon, however, would switch in for Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder in what looked like a planned rotation. He did the same against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5. The interior line has had similar rotations earlier in the year.

What can the Patriots gain by rotating players in this fashion?

I think that the New England coaching staff understands that they can't win the Super Bowl in September and October. Even with mixing around the offensive line, they know that Tom Brady and the defense will keep them in the hunt for a first-round bye in the playoffs. A 4-2 record and a place atop the AFC East standings may vindicate that decision.

By experimenting now, the coaches get to evaluate regular-season film of multiple combinations along the offensive line. They can see the effects of losing certain players and can have plans in place should a key contributor go down at an inopportune time. With Connolly and Stork anything but locks to play against the New York Jets on Thursday, they'll get to test some of those plans earlier than anticipated.

They have seen that Cannon is formidable as a tackle and a liability as a guard. Josh Kline and Jordan Devey can hold their own at left guard, but the more difficult right guard position has given them fits. Connolly and Wendell—after subpar seasons in 2013—have shown that they can thrive at any interior line position. Stork gave the offense a boost at center, mainly by allowing Connolly and Wendell to play guard. 

Very little of that information would be known if the Patriots had stuck with a more stodgy approach to their line. Dividends might not be paid out this week or next, but look for the Patriots offense to survive some bumpy roads in the future with the information they've gained in the first half of the season.