The Ron Brace disaster

[MaineMan]

So did our friend Ron Brace fail the conditioning run?

I don't know but since he is not on the field and working out with the conditioning crew I have to wonder.

Yeah. Three days of camp and he's not in pads yet. Not a positive sign for Brace.

Meanwhile, G. Warren is taking reps at NT with Wilfork at DE. And they seem to be having fun out there.

 

[efin98]

So did our friend Ron Brace fail the conditioning run?

I don't know but since he is not on the field and working out with the conditioning crew I have to wonder.

He is out with cramps, as was reported days ago. He is one of several Patriots out with minor injuries and frankly considering the freaking hot, humid, sunny weather the last few days it's surprising more haven't had this problem

But don't let that ruin your crusade to run him out of town on a rail.

 

[MaineMan]

He is out with cramps, as was reported days ago. He is one of several Patriots out with minor injuries and frankly considering the freaking hot, humid, sunny weather the last few days it's surprising more haven't had this problem

But don't let that ruin your crusade to run him out of town on a rail.

Hadn't heard that about Brace, but, yeah, I can imagine guys being effected by the weather down there. We only had the barest taste of it up here for a couple of weeks and I wouldn't want to be exerting myself at that level of intensity in pads and a helmet. So, I guess I'd prefer the coaches and medical staff being very liberal about their reasons for keeping guys on the sidelines under the conditions.

 

[efin98]

Hadn't heard that about Brace, but, yeah, I can imagine guys being effected by the weather down there. We only had the barest taste of it up here for a couple of weeks and I wouldn't want to be exerting myself at that level of intensity in pads and a helmet. So, I guess I'd prefer the coaches and medical staff being very liberal about their reasons for keeping guys on the sidelines under the conditions.

Frankly from the sounds of things his presence isn't really required in the drills yet and his being out may actually do more good for them because it gives Weston/Warren/Grady more snaps and a stronger chance to get acclimated to the system that at this point he should already know...

 

[MaineMan]

Frankly from the sounds of things his presence isn't really required in the drills yet and his being out may actually do more good for them because it gives Weston/Warren/Grady more snaps and a stronger chance to get acclimated to the system that at this point he should already know...

"should" being the critical word there. Hope he gets some snaps in before the joint practice with the Saints (a week from Tuesday?).

 

[IllegalContact]

Frankly from the sounds of things his presence isn't really required in the drills yet and his being out may actually do more good for them because it gives Weston/Warren/Grady more snaps and a stronger chance to get acclimated to the system that at this point he should already know...

brace needs the reps, trust me

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

But don't let that ruin your crusade to run him out of town on a rail.

But it is OK for Felger-Callahan to run Randy Moss out of town and Borges to run Belichick out of town? Sorry; my crusade is way more sensible.

As far as me running Brace out of town, he is doing a good job of that all on his own. Hopefully it is just a minor injury not a cheeseburger addiction.

 

[MaineMan]

But it is OK for Felger-Callahan to run Randy Moss out of town and Borges to run Belichick out of town? Sorry; my crusade is way more sensible.

As far as me running Brace out of town, he is doing a good job of that all on his own. Hopefully it is just a minor injury not a cheeseburger addiction.

Cheeseburger addiction? If that's the case, we should trade him to Cleveland for Matt Roth. He'd fit right in with Mangini and Rogers.

 

[efin98]

brace needs the reps, trust me

I don't trust you. I'd rather have a player sit out a couple of days to get this out of their system, observe from the sidelines and be told what they should be looking for thank to force them back onto the field early.

 

[SanAngeloState]

If he's out with "cramps", what does he do during games?

I agree with the OP, this has been a disaster. Or at least a complete waste of a #2 pick.

Guys like Weston this year or Pryor last year are better than this guy and were much later picks.

Too many DL as it is, hopefully they can get a pick for this guy.

I knew something was a little off when he said he liked to watch cartoons. It's infantile.

 

[mgteich]

Now, what would we have said if Crable didn't show up because of cramps?

He is out with cramps, as was reported days ago. He is one of several Patriots out with minor injuries and frankly considering the freaking hot, humid, sunny weather the last few days it's surprising more haven't had this problem

But don't let that ruin your crusade to run him out of town on a rail.

 

[SanAngeloState]

Well, I for one, agree with the OP, that it doesn't look good for our man Brace. I thought it was a reach myself, the guy never did much to distinguish himself in college, and yep, sure enough, he's JAG at best in the pros.

BB is supposed to be a good judge of talent but he whiffs horribly sometimes. Burgess, Brace, Crable. Swing and a miss.

Mighty casey struck out.

 

[efin98]

Now, what would we have said if Crable didn't show up because of cramps?

Plenty to be said about Crable...none of which is good but still plenty.

 

[patsfaninpa]

If he's out with "cramps", what does he do during games?

I agree with the OP, this has been a disaster. Or at least a complete waste of a #2 pick.

Guys like Weston this year or Pryor last year are better than this guy and were much later picks.

Too many DL as it is, hopefully they can get a pick for this guy.

I knew something was a little off when he said he liked to watch cartoons. It's infantile.

Defensive linemen are the most volatile picks in the draft. You have to draft them, but there's a huge pct. of flops. We've actually been quite good with them at the top of the draft. Seymour, Wilfork and Warren. I doubt if you can find any team that drafted dl in the 1st round over a 4yr stretch and they all exceeded expectations.

Our flops have been there too. M.Hill(RIP), R.Brace(sure looks that way) plus picks for Burgess. But, you have to keep swinging. Or, you will have a soft defense.

You have to give BB credit for drafting Pryor and Deadrick. Looks like we might have a couple of players there.

 

[MaineMan]

Defensive linemen are the most volatile picks in the draft. You have to draft them, but there's a huge pct. of flops. We've actually been quite good with them at the top of the draft. Seymour, Wilfork and Warren. I doubt if you can find any team that drafted dl in the 1st round over a 4yr stretch and they all exceeded expectations.

Our flops have been there too. M.Hill(RIP), R.Brace(sure looks that way) plus picks for Burgess. But, you have to keep swinging. Or, you will have a soft defense.

You have to give BB credit for drafting Pryor and Deadrick. Looks like we might have a couple of players there.

Agree with this.

You have to figure that each team's evaluations, they see some deficiencies/weaknesses in every player in the draft and this represents at least part of the risk. The questions become:

Are this player's specific deficiencies critical wrt where we project his role in our scheme?

Are his strengths sufficient to compensate for those weaknesses (risk/reward)?

Are the specific weaknesses "fixable"? (and how quickly?)

How these questions are answered, of course, contributes to the decision about how much draft ammo the market has decided they'll need to spend to get a specific guy. Seems to me that the Pats have generally been pessimistic about guys they'd need to take in the first round and optimistic about guys they take in the second.

Chad Jackson (learning curve) didn't work out. Wheatley (health) hasn't worked out so far. Brace (maybe a mix of learning curve and health) also hasn't worked out so far.

 

[mgteich]

So, it seems that Belichick finds value in the first and in the late rounds. I would add LeKevin Smith to the list good late round picks.

Finding a 3-4 nose tackle is difficult. Belichick was willing to use the #40 to take a shot. We could have ended up much worse. We could have traded up for Raji the sure thing at NT at 8 (he was picked at 9). Then we would have only one of Chung, Vollmer and Butler.

Brace was likely the slowest player player in the draft to make a active roster, and likely the slowest player to start in the nfl last year. So, it really doen't surprise me when he fails a conditioning run or two or three, even one with standards set for DL's. The sad thing is that he and the coaches knew that he has this issue. He should have been working on this for months.

Defensive linemen are the most volatile picks in the draft. You have to draft them, but there's a huge pct. of flops. We've actually been quite good with them at the top of the draft. Seymour, Wilfork and Warren. I doubt if you can find any team that drafted dl in the 1st round over a 4yr stretch and they all exceeded expectations.

Our flops have been there too. M.Hill(RIP), R.Brace(sure looks that way) plus picks for Burgess. But, you have to keep swinging. Or, you will have a soft defense.

You have to give BB credit for drafting Pryor and Deadrick. Looks like we might have a couple of players there.

 

[reflexblue]

I just read that Brace flunkded the physical if thats the case it may be more a matter of motavation than talent. He knew the test was coming and had months to prepare for it.

 

[patfanken]

I just read that Brace flunkded the physical if thats the case it may be more a matter of motavation than talent. He knew the test was coming and had months to prepare for it.

If that's the case. However if you read the full context of Casserio's comments he doesn't say he flunked it. He infers that he hasn't passed it because of an injury problem. When the injury clears up, THEN we'll see if he put in the work in the off season.

Personally this is one of the area where I hate the Pats injury policy. Basically they are letting this kid swing in the wind in the name of secrecy. If he is do out of shape that he can't pass a conditioning test, say so. If he's hurt and because of the injury can't pass the test SAY SO.

 

[sg14]

Where did hear about the promise of Deadrick??

Did see a sentence the other day that said the back-up DL linemen stonewalled the starting OL, which is concerning for the OL,,,

Defensive linemen are the most volatile picks in the draft. You have to draft them, but there's a huge pct. of flops. We've actually been quite good with them at the top of the draft. Seymour, Wilfork and Warren. I doubt if you can find any team that drafted dl in the 1st round over a 4yr stretch and they all exceeded expectations.

Our flops have been there too. M.Hill(RIP), R.Brace(sure looks that way) plus picks for Burgess. But, you have to keep swinging. Or, you will have a soft defense.

You have to give BB credit for drafting Pryor and Deadrick. Looks like we might have a couple of players there.

 

[alvinnf]

I remember when they drafted him. I was listening to a local talk show and someone called in to bust on Brace. They had played against him in HS and basically called him a cream puff and a bust. This person said they also went on to play college ball. I remember not being as jazzed up on Brace after that call. After watching him get scooped and pooped playing the nose in Buffalo. I fear he was'nt telling tall tales.