sebman2112

Here's the link.

Sampling:
Four years later, Rogers leaves SMU as a 262-pound defensive end who just finished 13th in the nation with 9.5 sacks. Those numbers, and the belief that his best days lay ahead, prompted the three-time Super Bowl champions to snag him in the sixth round.

“I’ve been at this for 23 years, and I really believe in my heart that he’ll be there for a while,” Roark said. “I’m not just saying it. I really believe it. Somebody called recently and asked if I was surprised he got drafted. No, I’m not. I think he belongs.”
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One thing Tomase doesn't mention in that article is that Rogers likes to play standing up, and he did so at times while at SMU, so he wasn't always playing down in a three point stance. He's more of a natural LB who played college DE, than a natural DE who's trying to transition to LB.

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ironwasp

It's a nice piece.

I guess we all need to bear in mind that a player's HS/College coach is going to play up his credentials - to do anything else wouldn't make any sense. And we could therefore probably trawl back through the media over the past five years and find similar stories for most of them.

That said, we all hope that we can unearth a diamond in the latter round of the drafts. We have two of them from the sixth round of one particular year (2000) emphasising that those players are always in there somewhere, and let's hope we have one this year.

Maybe it's Justin Rogers. Mabe it's Clint Oldenburg or even Matt Guttierez (sp?). It would be great for there just to be one.

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psychoPat

I think there are enough data points working that we can expect
the law of large numbers to prevail
... and for Piolichick to snag more than one again.

The baker's dozen or more of UDFAs and 2nd-day picks
is merely the tip of the massive iceberg of film and scouting reports that these proven scouts and coaches
have reviewed and sifted.
Finding only one would be a sub-par performance.

mgteich

Finding only one among the UDFA's AND late round picks would indeed be lower than the norm. One does seem the most likely in this aweful draft year, but I have put two late picks on my current projected roster, and no UDFA's.

fair catch fryar

If anything, I think Belichick and Pioli have learned to add valued depth from the latter rounds and UDFA pool. Whether or not one of these players is a future pro-bowler is not as important as getting in smart, hard-workers that can learn the system and come in for several plays in a game, key schemes, or special teams and be productive. Having the blue-collar players is just as important to winning championships as having top echelon players. I think Belichick almost comes to expect some of these players to become future starters. This seems to be the winning formula for both the Colts and the Pats.

I'm having a hard time remembering, but what round was Bruschi drafted and how many seasons did he play special teams before becoming a starter?

c_nice_37

That's perhaps the most telling asset he has, great info sebman!

BelichickFan

I think it was DaBruinz who mentioned that he read/heard that Rogers will be tried at ILB, this quote from his coach makes him sound interesting there :

"Against tight ends, he’s going to be really strong and physical at the point of attack. He uses his hands well and really understands leverage."