I'm spending 50 days ranking the top 50 players of the Bill Belichick Era, from No. 50 down to No. 1. (Click here for a criteria on how I made my selections.)
Enjoy.
Today we reach . . . .
NUMBER 14: LOGAN MANKINS
Years With Patriots: 2005-2013
Games: 130
Playoff Games: 17
Honors: All-Pro (First team: 2010; Second team: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013), Pro Bowler (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
One of the bittersweet aspects of the Patriots Super Bowl win last February was that Logan Mankins wasn’t around to experience it. He came to New England in 2005, the season after after the third Lombardi was earned, and he was traded away at the end of camp in 2014, just before the Pats won their fourth.
It was a shocking move that the team weathered. Mankins was one of the best offensive linemen in football during his nine years in New England, with annual Pro Bowl honors to show for it. He brought a quiet meanness to the offensive-line group, imbuing it with an identity that said to defensive fronts, “We are smarter than you, we can withstand more punishment and -- in the end -- we will beat you.” Almost always, they did.
Three major exceptions came in the biggest games, though. Super Bowls 42 and 46 against the Giants were both pockmarked with offensive-line breakdowns when the Patriots front just got overrun. And the 2013 AFC Championship Game at Denver was another tough one to watch. A Patriots offense that was already outgunned at the skill positions in that game needed a big day from Mankins and his group. They didn’t get it.
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But Mankins is here because of his annual excellence and the way he went about his business. He played the entire 2011 season on a torn ACL. Other franchises would have head coaches and teammates appealing to Congress for the guy to be given a Purple Heart while the season was ongoing. Mankins never shared the extent of his injury while he dealt with it.
On the day Mankins was dealt to Tampa Bay, Bill Belichick stated: "Logan Mankins is everything we would ever want in a football player. It is hard to imagine a better player at his position, a tougher competitor or a person to represent our program. He is one of the all-time great Patriots and the best guard I ever coached. Logan brought a quiet but unmistakable presence and leadership that will be impossible to duplicate. Unfortunately, this is the time of year when difficult decisions have to be made -- and this is one of the most difficult we will ever make -- but like every other decision it was made for what we feel is in the best interests of the team."
Of all the hard business moves the Patriots have made over the years, the Mankins deal is the least defensible. That everything worked out in the end with a championship doesn’t totally whitewash the fact that trading Mankins wasn’t really necessary in terms of the salary cap, the team didn’t make great use of the guy they got in return (Tim Wright), and the offensive line was a panic for four weeks after he left. It didn’t have to happen.
Mankins was the middle link in the offensive-line leadership chain that went from Matt Light and Joe Andruzzi and now is on to Sebastian Vollmer, Nate Solder and Bryan Stork. Even though Mankins won’t get a ring on his finger from 2014, he still had a hand in it.