mcsully

He's on the bubble? Seriously.. Brace is starting his second year and people think the Pats are going to dump him? Esp with the loss of Ty Warren?? Get real..

Here is a list of DL drafted in 09 & 08 in the first and second round that would play in our 3/4..

Tyson Jackson -showed nothing in 14 starts.. 38 tackles and 0 sacks
Raji - Looked great at times but would have never gotten him
Hood - 16 games, 1 sack 8 tackles

Look at the 08 draft
Long - probably play OLB but he's shown nothing
Dorsey - bum
Jackson - traded
Balmer - traded
Merling - basically going to get released
Laws
Jones

The point is, most DL take time to develop (learn the speed of the game and their assignment). Brace is 23 years old and going into his 2nd full season.. TO say its time to dump him or he's on the bubble is joke.. if you want to say your disappointed with his play, then go back and look at what else was drafted and look at the production.. the only thing fans should be disappointed about is the fact he started off not practicing and took sometime to come back..

spacecrime

Given that he is in the same spot the other DTs were the third or fourth day of training camp, and he is playing against guys who have the benefit of ramping up the past three weeks, he did better than I thought he would.

He is going to be slow at first because he is thinking. My guess is to hold off judgment until preseason game 4, when he is mor in the flow of the game. At that point I hope he looks good on the field.

But I agree with the poster who said Brace is doomed. It will be the Maroney debate all over again.

Fan Group X: "Brace is fat and slow."

Fan Group Y: "What? He lead all DTs in tackles, plus he slid off multiple blocks to move down the line and strip the ball."

Fan Group X: "Brace is fat and slow. Plus, Maroney is made of glass."

repeat ad nauseum.

__________________
“When we look at the board, based on everything we want in a football player at that particular time, we evaluate them and take the player that fits best for our football team. That’s what we always do, and I think the last nine years we’ve put a pretty competitive team out there on the field every year. I think that’s how you do it – you get good football players. Sometimes they are not always at the No. 1 position, but I don’t think you pass up good football players to get the guys who aren’t as good just because they’re at a position that somebody feels you need.”
BB on his draft philosophy, April 2010

5 Rings for Brady!!

He looked a little rusty getting off the ball but did well against second string competition. Not bad considering he started practicing this week.

The best thing you can take away at this time is that he has something to build on, and he is a big dude. We need big dudes.

He was one of my 'ups' for the game, all things considered.

Richard Camembert

This makes sense to me because I could see him pause for what looked like significant time at the start of at least ten consecutive plays.

And I did see him move up and down the line okay, he moved laterally along the flow of the line and he appeared to fill his lanes correctly.

mgteich

Brace has shown that he belongs on the team. He is a second year DL who is still developing. With Warren down, we certainly need the help. I don't think anyone but fans have trouble with his work ethic or progress.

At this point, I suspect that Brace is NOT on the bubble at all. We have the three W's as starters, plus the developing sophomores Pryor and Brace. Deaderick seems headed to the Practice Squad, but could beat out Lewis for the 6th DL roster spot.

bucky

This is all mostly irrelevant. What's relevant is where Brace is right now compared to the rest of the team and where BB projects him.

At the moment, the following people are ahead of him (IMO) - Wilfork, Wright, G. Warren, Pryor, Lewis. I also think Daederick is ahead of him as a pure DE. So he's definitely competing for a roster spot. Given where he was drafted, he will probably make the team. But it's not a guarantee.

Sicilian

What did you see from Deaderick that was better than what Brace gave you?

mcsully

UGH.. Throw up some facts and base an opinion on it and I have to read a response like this...

As someone posted earlier, just a lot of banter without any facts.. Why I hardly post here

Not sure how you can base 1 week of practice as "competing for a roster spot".. This isn't chad jackson or kevin o'connell.. I hate to say it but as I stated before, look at the history of DL in the NFL. it takes time to adjust to the speed and assignments. Next to QB, DL is one of the toughest positions to adjust to..

& this is a guy that FF last.. Man I'm not even a huge promotor of him but to be on the other end so extreme is ridiculous

bucky

You think saying that he isn't guaranteed a roster spot is extreme? To say that he's not one of the top 5 DL on the roster right now - that's a fact. You would have to agree. He reportedly failed a conditioning test. We don't know the reason, but whatever it is, it's not good for him.

Does his 2nd round draft status factor into his situation? I'm sure it does. But not to the point where he would make the team automatically. Bottom line - Brace needs to show progress during the next 2 weeks and he'll probably have a roster spot. If not, he might not. That's what I call the bubble.

bucky

Yesterday, not a whole lot. They were both decent. I would just say that if Brace and Deaderick were in a dead heat, I would pick Deaderick. But that's just me. I think it'll all become more clear over the next 2 weeks. IMO, there's room for both of them on the 53.