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Back in January, I posted a thread suggesting that the player in the 2009 draft who could have the greatest overall impact on our draft was BJ Raji from Boston College:
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/13/209694-bj-raji-hypothetical.html
I suggested at the time that Raji could have value to the Pats in 3 primary ways:
1. As a backup or insurance policy to Vince Wilfork - both to keep Wilfork fresh, and as insurance in case of injury or inability to resign him.
2. Used along with Wilfork in a 4-3 front, similar to what the Ravens had 2000 with Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa, creating an "unbreakable" wall that no one could run against.
3. Used similarly to have Baltimore currently uses 6'4" 340# Haloti Ngata, moving him around at both DT and DE, where he can collapse the pocked and suck up blockers to free up the other DLs to make plays.
In the 3 months between posting that thread and the draft I repeated had Raji as my #1 guy for the Pats on my board, and also looked at mid-late round athletic DT prospects such as Chris Baker, Sammie Lee Hill, and Vaughn Martin as possible developmental guys with unusual size and athleticism who might eventually be able to play those roles. But during that time I never really thought about Ron Brace much, because I considered him purely a widebody 2 down run stuffer lacking the athleticism necessary to play those roles.
So who does BB pick at #40? Ron Brace. Duh.
So my question is, do people see Brace mainly as a 2-down run stuffing wide body backup to Wilfork, or do you see him as having the athleticism necessary for BB to use him like a Ngata moving him around at DE as well as DT, and changing up fronts? If the latter turns out to be the case, then he may end up being the most valuable pick out of this draft.
Thoughts?
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/13/209694-bj-raji-hypothetical.html
I suggested at the time that Raji could have value to the Pats in 3 primary ways:
1. As a backup or insurance policy to Vince Wilfork - both to keep Wilfork fresh, and as insurance in case of injury or inability to resign him.
2. Used along with Wilfork in a 4-3 front, similar to what the Ravens had 2000 with Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa, creating an "unbreakable" wall that no one could run against.
3. Used similarly to have Baltimore currently uses 6'4" 340# Haloti Ngata, moving him around at both DT and DE, where he can collapse the pocked and suck up blockers to free up the other DLs to make plays.
In the 3 months between posting that thread and the draft I repeated had Raji as my #1 guy for the Pats on my board, and also looked at mid-late round athletic DT prospects such as Chris Baker, Sammie Lee Hill, and Vaughn Martin as possible developmental guys with unusual size and athleticism who might eventually be able to play those roles. But during that time I never really thought about Ron Brace much, because I considered him purely a widebody 2 down run stuffer lacking the athleticism necessary to play those roles.
So who does BB pick at #40? Ron Brace. Duh.
So my question is, do people see Brace mainly as a 2-down run stuffing wide body backup to Wilfork, or do you see him as having the athleticism necessary for BB to use him like a Ngata moving him around at DE as well as DT, and changing up fronts? If the latter turns out to be the case, then he may end up being the most valuable pick out of this draft.
Thoughts?