Reminds me of when we picked Curtis Martin in the 3rd round too after he broke his ankle in Pitt's opener the year prior. Not 2 ACL's but same type of high risk, high reward selection.radsoxfan said:
RD1/#29: Makin' it look Easley!
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I think the question is not whether you'd pass up Gronk in isolation, but if you'd pass up Gronk if it also meant not getting the Ras-I Dowlings of this world. I still would, but obviously getting one necessitates the other happening occasionally.ragnarok725 said:
Personally I'm in the same camp as you, because ultimately to be consistently successful you need periodic infusions of elite talent, and they've proven they can coach UDFAs up to just do the job which mitigates some of the loss of the 'safe' player they're passing on to take these risks.
From the Sports On Earth article linked upthread:
Just wondering if DRS or anyone else in the know can shed some light on what sorts of tests get done, and what the reliability/pitfalls are, especially when gauging the extreme conditions of use and stress the joint will see in an NFL lineman as compared to an everyday Joe. What tells a surgeon/evaluator whether a patient is ahead of or behind schedule in his rehab, and to what extent?
Just wondering if DRS or anyone else in the know can shed some light on what sorts of tests get done, and what the reliability/pitfalls are, especially when gauging the extreme conditions of use and stress the joint will see in an NFL lineman as compared to an everyday Joe. What tells a surgeon/evaluator whether a patient is ahead of or behind schedule in his rehab, and to what extent?
A pretty good five minute video with some Easley clips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSyI7JIXsvk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSyI7JIXsvk
Drafting Easley signals to me that the Pats are sticking with the 4-3 as a primary defense. Easley's done some work outside at Florida (and we'd expect him to still do so from time-to-time in the Pats' hybrid fronts), but he's really built like a 3-technique. I thought they might go with a guy like Tuitt or Hageman that has the length they like outside, letting them go back to a 3-4, but selecting Easley suggests to me that four-man fronts are going to be the standard for the foreseeable future.
Easley was on my binkie list in the draft forum, so obviously I'm thrilled. All they hype Donald received would have gone to Easley had he been healthy this year - he's that disruptive. Someone above made the Geno Atkins comp, which isn't bad. He doesn't have Atkins' functional strength (but really, who does?), but he has better movement skills. Atkins is strictly a 3-technique but as Belichick pointed out, Florida rushed Easley all over the line. 6'2", 290lb dudes aren't supposed to beat SEC OTs with quickness, but Easley could. Tennessee had the best OL in college football last year, and Easley was a beast on the field.
They've never had this sort of D-lineman under Belichick. Jarvis Green was probably the closest, but Easley is WAY more talented than Green ever was. An inside passrush is going to help Chandler Jones off the edge and secondary so much.
They've never had this sort of D-lineman under Belichick. Jarvis Green was probably the closest, but Easley is WAY more talented than Green ever was. An inside passrush is going to help Chandler Jones off the edge and secondary so much.
EL Jeffe said:
My question is, with Jones and Nink does Easley really ever need to line up as a 5-tech? We've seen Chris Jones have some success inside, and wouldn't Easley be a logical step up from the former rookie?
Wilfork, Kelly, Easley, Jones, and Nink lining up with Collins, Mayo, and Hightower makes it a pretty solid front-seven.
The comps that I've read online for Easley suggest that he has John Randle type potential IF he can stay healthy. He's that disruptive in terms of quickness off the line. If you put that kind of player next to Chandler Jones, that's some serious firepower against any LT/LG combo in the league.
I LOVE this pick, reading Belichick comments give me full wood. The Mallet and B's comments at end are great too.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4762605/belichick-easley-an-all-in-prospect?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4762605/belichick-easley-an-all-in-prospect?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Super Nomario said:
Since they were in sub-packages 67 percent of the time, isn't sub the primary? I haven't been able to find the split on the sub packages between 3-man and 4-man lines, but Easley could play inside on 4-man and outside on 3-man. I'm assuming in a sub package, lineman are less concerned with the run, so they can key in on the pass rush, but they were in subs so much that offenses probably ran a healthy amount just from the quantity of plays in sub.
I'm also terrified of the injury concerns, but I understand that guys like Nix and Hageman aren't as athletic and versatile as Easley. We have injury histories all along the line.
IIRC, their sub packages were almost exclusively lined up in 4 man lines, although sometimes a guy like Nink would drop back into coverage to throw something different at the QB.
https://twitter.com/NEPD_Loyko/status/464613060502888448"]4ssoxhop411 said:
mabrowndog is a dingus[/url]
Just got it confirmed to me "Seattle got their guy stolen from them" "They packed up shop after that."
Thats why SEA traded their pick
When Seattle traded out this was my first thought. The patriots must have thought this too. If they thought he would last even 11 more picks they would have made the trade with Minnesota, but they probably didn't see him lasting past Seattle or SF.
I was under the misconception that repaired ACL's were as good as new as long as there was no cartilage damage, so DRS' correction is very helpful.
It makes BB rolling the dice in the first round strange, as much as I love Easely--a great value pick in the second round. Maybe it is just for the Brady window, as suggested.
And BB loves to be a contrarian.
It makes BB rolling the dice in the first round strange, as much as I love Easely--a great value pick in the second round. Maybe it is just for the Brady window, as suggested.
And BB loves to be a contrarian.
Super Nomario said:
I think it's kind of the opposite. Drafting him gives them the flexibility to really do anything. I don't think it means they are switching to a 3-4, but with Jones, Wilfork, Easley, Kelly, Nink and even Collins & Hightower I think you have a ton of options on how you want to line up those 7 (with obviously Mayo in the middle of everything).
To me this pick is saying they won't be sticking to one specific base defense (which is true of a lot of teams in the NFL these days).
I love the potential of this pick. The injury concerns are obviously scary but the Pats don't add top 10 talents very often in the draft.
A Nink-Eas-VW-Jones Line looks tough.
As and Off Coord...
Do you double VW and let Eas and Jones go 1-1?
Do you double one of Jones and Eas and let VW cause butt fumbles?
Then the 2 times a game BB allows us to blitz a LB its not even fair.
As and Off Coord...
Do you double VW and let Eas and Jones go 1-1?
Do you double one of Jones and Eas and let VW cause butt fumbles?
Then the 2 times a game BB allows us to blitz a LB its not even fair.
This is all said with the caveat that I don't watch college football so am just going on a few highlights and others' opinions that he would have been a top 5 pick if his knees were together:
Given the Patriots have a solid roster overall and very rarely will have a top ten pick (hopefully), I would much rather pick a guy who has a chance to be one of the top players in the game but a good chance to be nothing than a guy whose ceiling is maybe just an All-Star but whose floor is lower, especially when that player is a key position like DL.
We have seen defensive lines essentially win Super Bowls and playoff games pretty frequently, and sometimes individual linemen (Justin Tuck). Having someone who can consistently win their matchups makes the rest of the line better and frees linebackers to make plays, etc. And obviously with the passing-oriented NFL, if the player leans towards pass-rushing, that's even better.
Wilfork hadn't had a major injury until last year either -- it happens all the time. Sure the chance is greater with this guy but how much? And again, when would the Patriots have the chance to acquire someone with top-5 talent (without paying market value or close in free agency) before Brady leaves? Like the pick.
Given the Patriots have a solid roster overall and very rarely will have a top ten pick (hopefully), I would much rather pick a guy who has a chance to be one of the top players in the game but a good chance to be nothing than a guy whose ceiling is maybe just an All-Star but whose floor is lower, especially when that player is a key position like DL.
We have seen defensive lines essentially win Super Bowls and playoff games pretty frequently, and sometimes individual linemen (Justin Tuck). Having someone who can consistently win their matchups makes the rest of the line better and frees linebackers to make plays, etc. And obviously with the passing-oriented NFL, if the player leans towards pass-rushing, that's even better.
Wilfork hadn't had a major injury until last year either -- it happens all the time. Sure the chance is greater with this guy but how much? And again, when would the Patriots have the chance to acquire someone with top-5 talent (without paying market value or close in free agency) before Brady leaves? Like the pick.
Has anyone gotten any sense as to when he's expected to be ready to play? This "80%" healthy number doesn't tell me if that means training camp, or week 9.
Wasn't thrilled with the pick last night and can't say I really like it now, but I've moved more towards neutral. The injuries are really concerning. The fact that he went to Florida is something else that I find troubling. The history with Florida players here and Florida defensive players in general is disconcerting to say the least. Joe Haden is the only one recently that sticks out as someone who's lived up to the hype.
I love what BB had to say about him which is why I'm on the fence. I guess we'll see.
I love what BB had to say about him which is why I'm on the fence. I guess we'll see.
Supposedly he will be ready for camp. If so, I'd be surprised if he gets on PUP or miss the first few games.bowiac said:
McShay sounding uninformed just a minute ago, citing that teams had Easley as a 3rd/4th round grade due to the knee injuries. Failed to mention that Seattle was chomping at the bit as well. Which if he didn't know that last night, he should be now.
So according to McShay, you should draft a guy where he's the lowest on some boards, which isn't a great strategy if you actually want to draft a guy.
So according to McShay, you should draft a guy where he's the lowest on some boards, which isn't a great strategy if you actually want to draft a guy.
How does that work when the offense calls the plays?RoDaddy said:
The Will Smith signing now looks good regarding risk in comparison. That said, this guy was awesome in college, very disruptive.
Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4762605/belichick-easley-an-all-in-prospect
Also...
Somewhat confirms the Seahawks rumor
Infield Infidel said:
Good point on sub. Easley could play outside in a 3-man line, but he doesn't have ideal length for that (someone like Tuitt would make more sense there). I don't have detailed breakdowns on sub lineups either, but they run much more 4-2 than 3-3, and that was try even when they were primarily a 3-4 base team.
DaughtersofDougMirabelli said:
They have options (and will do everything from time-to-time, of course), but the one thing they don't have is a classic 3-4 DE type. They'll still run odd fronts from time-to-time, of course, but Easley is a pick that tells me that the 2011-and-on shift to primarily a 4-3 is sticking.
I don't think you can really compare Florida players under Muschamp to those under Urban Meyer, and the sample size is tiny for Muschamp draftees.Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
PaulinMyrBch said:
I mean, it's great strategy if you actually know what other teams are thinking. If you KNOW you can get Easley in round 3, then yeah, you wait til round 3. But obviously you don't know that, so you pick him at the place where you think that if you don't, you'll completely miss out on him.
As it turns out, Seattle really wanted this guy and so BB read the tea leaves correctly.
SeoulSoxFan said:
My guess is that he will line up as a 5-tech at limited times. He's got ~ 30lbs on Nink, but his movement skills are still on par with Nink's. I think primarily he'll be a 3-tech in nickel situations (which they play ~65% of the time) but he can also play the 5 in a base 4-3 or 3-4 defense. Nink and Jones wore down last year simply because all they had behing them were Andre Carter's corpse and a JAG in Buchanan. Hopefully Will Smith gives them an upgrade in reserve, but Easley gives them another option. 6'2" is short for a DE obviously, but I think he could handle a couple of series per game out there.
I see Easley's versatility helping more in pre-snap adjustments. Like, if a certain TE lines up in-line and then shifts to the slot, Ninkovich can follow him while Easley bumps out to 5-tech.EL Jeffe said:
ivanvamp said:
That was not what he was trying to say. A simple explanation is that 30 teams have a guy graded as a 2nd rounder and 1 team has him graded as a 5th rounder, what do you do if you want to pick him? You sure as hell don't wait until the 4th -- the argument McShay was making.
First off I love the pick....
Second....in this case we are assuming that the other 28 teams are wrong and 2 teams (the Pats and Seahawks) are correct.
So there CAN be reasons and a consensus on why a player is ranked where they are ranked.
There are certainly variables based on team needs, cultures, stability of management etc etc which would influence where a team should take a player.
Overall I agree with you that Mcshay was wrong to suggest that Easley was picked too high.
Because....
At the end of the day if you truly want a player (and we have to assume the pats did) then the best possibility is to get him JUST before someone else would have taken him. Its really as simple as that.
Had they not wanted Easley, and instead liked Tuitt, Hageman, Nix, Jurnigan or Ealy as much or more then the 29th would have been traded (to someone like the Texans) in a heartbeat.
First off thats the opposite of what seemed to happen here.amarshal2 said:
Second....in this case we are assuming that the other 28 teams are wrong and 2 teams (the Pats and Seahawks) are correct.
So there CAN be reasons and a consensus on why a player is ranked where they are ranked.
There are certainly variables based on team needs, cultures, stability of management etc etc which would influence where a team should take a player.
Overall I agree with you that Mcshay was wrong to suggest that Easley was picked too high.
Because....
At the end of the day if you truly want a player (and we have to assume the pats did) then the best possibility is to get him JUST before someone else would have taken him. Its really as simple as that.
Had they not wanted Easley, and instead liked Tuitt, Hageman, Nix, Jurnigan or Ealy as much or more then the 29th would have been traded (to someone like the Texans) in a heartbeat.
My point was this is the day after the draft and McShay is discussing it as if he was a 3rd/4th round guy when we now know at least 2 teams had him at first round grades. So to discuss him where he was lowest on teams boards doesn't paint an accurate picture of where he'd be selected. It's the NFL draft, how many times have we heard it only takes one?
He should know that players grades vary from team to team and not be so lazy to fail to point out that the defending Super Bowl champions with the greatest defense in 10 years liked him in round 1. Reminds me of the Kiper comments on the Mankins pick, but at least Mel's comments were immediately after the pick and not the next day when he had time to learn what some other teams thought. The NEP and the Seahawks liked him in round 1, that pretty much tells me all I need to know about what teams think of him.
Note: Not trying to be argumentative here, I think most of us are in agreement on what I was trying to say.
He should know that players grades vary from team to team and not be so lazy to fail to point out that the defending Super Bowl champions with the greatest defense in 10 years liked him in round 1. Reminds me of the Kiper comments on the Mankins pick, but at least Mel's comments were immediately after the pick and not the next day when he had time to learn what some other teams thought. The NEP and the Seahawks liked him in round 1, that pretty much tells me all I need to know about what teams think of him.
Note: Not trying to be argumentative here, I think most of us are in agreement on what I was trying to say.
NiceAlNipper49 said:
The thing that stands out to me in this video is how disruptive he is. He gets himself to places beyond the line of scrimmage where he just shouldn't be in that amount of time. Looks like a ton of plays where the guy with the ball looks up, has to adjust to avoid him, and runs dead into trouble with other guys. So he may not rack up huge stats, but a bunch of players nearby are going to have some easy sacks and tackles for losses.
If we can rotate his reps to keep him fresh for the second half he's going to have a field day with gassed offensive linemen.
Gresh and Zolak said earlier that Dallas was actually going to take him at 16 but Martin fell to them instead.
Ben Volin @BenVolin 1h
From last night:
Q: Easley’s not giving us any information on the knee injury on his conference call
Belichick: We’ll get the violins out
From last night:
Q: Easley’s not giving us any information on the knee injury on his conference call
Belichick: We’ll get the violins out
Interesting tweet from Rapaport about scouts trying to keep the interest in Easley quiet. Reading the tea leaves, I think what happened is that most teams had a worse grade on Easley and only a limited number of teams actually went and saw his late April workout. The Pats obviously knew the workout went great and who was there so they realized that they probably weren't the only ones looking at him in that area of the draft.
PaulinMyrBch said:
The concept of having a deep D-Line in general makes sense in today's NFL where you NEED to get after the passer. That's why I want them to double dip for DL - and probably DE this time or a guy who can play both like Tuitt or Hagemon. If you have a line that is versatile and deep it gives you that much of an advantage over the course of a game. Example needed? Could there be a more obvious example than SEA? Plus it will reduce the injury and wear and tear risk to Jones and Nink (plus keeping them fresh longer). I truly believe the Pats are one DE/DT away from being a top 5 unit. Obviously injuries can derail anything.
This is good to know. My street cred just doubled.Ed Hillel said:We've already been over this. If you have a JD, you're a doctor. A PhD makes you a Super Duper Double Doctor. Sorry, DRS, you're outranked on this one.
Generally, I think you always have to overdraft if you want a guy where there's a wide range of evaluations. Belichick talks about this in War Room (specific to taking Vollmer in the 2nd):Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
This is where the "value" stuff is misguided - if Kiper talks to five teams about Easley and hears 2nd round, 2nd round, 3rd round, 4th round, 5th round, he's going to rate him 3rd round - but he's going in the 2nd or late 1st.
Field Yates' breakdown of Easley.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4762639/breaking-down-tape-on-dominique-easley
I am psyched about him too. Just be careful of emulating LAST year's super bowl winner. Given the rapid adaptation of strategies in the NFL you know defensive coordinators are right now scheming about who to draft and how to coach to deal with Seattle's D-line. Obviously hard but e.g. designed QB roll outs and screens can help. If coaches emphasize this they can acquire talent that helps.SMU_Sox said:
Long story short: in a copycat league catching up to the cutting edge is necessary, but anticipating the next trend is what puts you over the top.
Sure it does, but it doesn't change the fact that they need a better interior pass rush. Easley provides that.crystalline said:
I like the pick, for whatever my opinion is worth (nothing).
However, looking at those highlight reels, I can't help but think that there's no way that a (relatively) smaller guy like that is going to push around NFL guards like he did to the collegiate guys.
However, looking at those highlight reels, I can't help but think that there's no way that a (relatively) smaller guy like that is going to push around NFL guards like he did to the collegiate guys.
Well he is a 3 technique. He's more mobile than a guy like Nix but does come with the obvious flags. That said I've been a fan since I went to a game against The U where he was all over the place. Loved the potential then and love it now. You need to keep his knees healthy though. The upside justifies the pick.Super Nomario said:
Devizier said:
He looks smaller then he is.
He's 290 pounds. On no planet - even one dominated by NFL guards and centers - is that a small man.
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