Originally Posted by blh0240

if you read the first post the statement was "ideally". i believe willis is capable of playing in the 3-4, just as vilma is, however i dont see it making sense value wise for the pats to move up to get him. if he falls, he becomes BPA at 24 and im sure it wouldnt take long to pull the trigger. but to give up two late 1st rds for a player w/ some serious question marks playing in the complex pats 3-4 dosent make sense w/ all quality players that would be on the board at the end of the first round. coverage, taking on OL, and even intelligence/leadership are of concern in terms of putting willis in at ILB. while he is known as an "instintive" player (one of many buzz words that gets thrown around way too often), it was noted at the senior bowl that it was buster davis, not willis, who took control of the defense and established himself as the leader/shot caller. in the pats system, the mlb is the heart of the defense. even as bruschis physical skills have fallen, he is still able to make a major impact w/ his exceptional grasp of our system/ability to make reads. throwing someone like willis into the fire w/ a complex playbook/different system would be a questionable decision. at 24, we could afford to give him some time to learn the system and bring him along for next yr. but at a top 11 pick (he even looks like a bill), you would expect a player to come in a be a huge factor right away.

Originally Posted by PushnPencils

This is all quite a load of doo-doo in my opinion.


You've got a guy who's pushing 240 lbs and runs a sub-4.4. and great athleticism. A tackling machine. Look at the stats. He's no dummy either and he works hard. He's strong.

He's got some width to his upper body.

How could you possibly relegate him solely to a 4-3 MLB performer?

Here's what I think. On run defense, any O-linemen that moves up past the line of scrimmage will have to get their hands on him first.

On Pass D, he's got the speed to cover or adequately lay a chip on any RB or slot receiver making their way into the flat.

There aren't too many TE's that are going to out-physical this guy.

For Christ-sake, we were gonna have Monty "effing" Beisel be our WLB of the future!!!!! Weren't we enamoured with the speed he brought to the position.
What was missing was toughness and smarts.

Willis has both.