Patriots Hosting Florida DT Dominique Easley On Pre-Draft Visit

[Ivan]

The difference with Aaron Donald is that he's strong as a bull and plays like a much heavier DT.

Easley isn't nearly as strong, and plays like you would expect an undersized DT to play.

I am pretty sure Kontra asked you a question.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

He gets spun around, washed out of plays, controlled by 1 blocker. Even on the plays that he does get good penetration, he then fails to locate the ball on 2 separate occasions.

He even knocks down his own player who is returning an INT. He is wild and looks like a "blind dog in a meat market" more than any prospect I've seen in recent years. On one play at the 3:43 mark, he gets a good bull rush but does not maintain any sort of gap integrity. All he does is open up a big hole for the RB to run through. At 5:42 he gets good penetration and is in perfect position to make a tackle for loss, but he completely lost track of the ball and the RB gets a good gain. I imagine things like that would drive BB crazy and quickly land Easley in the doghouse.

He isn't this unblockable, dominant force that some of you are making him out to be. He looks like a situational/rotational player to me. A guy you put in on 3rd downs and 2 minute drills. Even if he were healthy I think he'd slip to the bottom of the 1st rd or the 2nd. But he's not even healthy. He's coming off 2 blown out knees and a lot of missed time. You have to wonder how that mentally affects a player who admits he doesn't even like watching football. What happens if he blows out his knee again this year? Does he just give up and retire? How would he stay determined after having a 3rd season ending knee injury.

When is the last time a DT in college rebounded after 2 blown out knees and had a productive career? I'm not confident that Easleys best years are ahead of him. They might already be behind him, in his youtube highlight videos. I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on him in the 3rd or 4th.... but this draft is too deep to use a 2nd rounder on someone that may never produce.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

First play shown, he gets blown off the LOS, spun around, and the RB runs right by Easley as he fails to get a hand on him. RB gets a big gain for 1st down.


Second play shown, he gets blown off the LOS by about 5 years

Third play shown, he gets blocked pretty good 1 on 1 and does a spin move to disengage. Still makes the tackle after RB runs into other Gater players. This is a rare instance where he locates the ball properly

0:55 seconds in the video, its 3rd and 10... He rushes the QB and gets completely stonewalled by the Olineman 1 on 1. This is the saviour to our pass rush?

1:07 he jumps offsides, gives Auburn a free play, and they throw a long TD pass.

1:35 he gets blocked 1 on 1.... he tries hitting the wrong gap, and the RB runs right by him for a 1st down.

2:15 he gets blocked 1 on 1 and opens up a hole for the QB to run through.





Don't get me wrong... he makes some good plays too. But he's a wild gambler. Either it will pay off with a TFL/Sack, or he's flailing around, can't locate the ball, doesn't maintain his gaps, and the RB is running right by him.

He's a guy who will make a couple exciting splash plays per game, but also have a lot of plays where he's making mistakes and hurting his team.

Even at his best, I have my doubts that he could be a starting calibre 3-down DT who will last an entire 16 game season. Add in the fact that he's an undersized tweener, has short arms, and is coming off 2 bad injuries (1 which happened in a non-contact practice)..... and I'm really baffled why there is so much Easley hype at this forum.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

Also take into consideration there isn't as much game tape on Easley, so its harder to really scout him and get a good grasp of how consistent he can be on a weekly basis. Sure, anyone can look good for a couple weeks... but can he maintain playing at a high level week in and week out for 3 years? Nobody really knows.

And he didn't participate in any drills at the Combine, so his workout numbers are pretty much unknown. The only thing he participated in was the bench press, and he was less than stellar and actually very disappointing for an undersized DT.

Compared to other undersized DT's:

Geno Atkins: 34 reps
Aaron Donald: 35 reps
Dominique Easley: 26 reps

AND on top of that, Easley has short arms and still didn't come close to their bench press, showing he lacks functional strength. (short arms are supposed to be an advantage for bench press)




Perhaps this helps some of you see why I'm not nearly as hyped about Easley as a prospect.


Top 15 Talent? He's an undersized tweener with short arms and below average strength. His playing style is risk/reward and he doesn't fit our scheme (he can't 2-gap). He admits he isn't interested in watching football games and the most he's seen is about 30 minutes of a Superbowl lol... He'd rather be watching cartoons. AND he's coming off 2 bad knee injuries.

Red flags... red flags all over the place.

Don't let your man crush blind you.

 

[Ivan]

Also take into consideration there isn't as much game tape on Easley, so its harder to really scout him and get a good grasp of how consistent he can be on a weekly basis. Sure, anyone can look good for a couple weeks... but can he maintain playing at a high level week in and week out for 3 years? Nobody really knows.



Perhaps this helps some of you see why I'm not nearly as hyped about Easley as a prospect.

Clearly you have seen some clips of him on You Tube. I'm convinced. great job. This the kind of in depth analysis that makes people experts and explains why they consider Belichick a moron.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

Clearly you have seen some clips of him on You Tube. I'm convinced. great job. This the kind of in depth analysis that makes people experts and explains why they consider Belichick a moron.

We'll see on draft day how much value teams are placing on Easley. I think he is going to fall further than most of you think.

 

[Ivan]

We'll see on draft day how much value teams are placing on Easley. I think he is going to fall further than most of you think.

I don't want them to use a pick before #95 on him because of the ACL's i just think Kontra is right in saying your criticism is overblown and under researched.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

I don't want them to use a pick before #95 on him because of the ACL's i just think Kontra is right in saying your criticism is overblown and under researched.

My criticism isn't overblown. The HYPE for Easley at this forum is overblown.

Show me one place where I am wrong in my research.

 

[AzPatsFan]

The difference with Aaron Donald is that he's strong as a bull and plays like a much heavier DT.

Easley isn't nearly as strong, and plays like you would expect an undersized DT to play.

It only serves to confirm how barren this year's crop of DLs actually are. I still fail to see how a 6' 0" 280 pound interior DL like Donald or this pale imitation, is so highly rated. There is simply no JJ Watt here. Draft one when there is. Don't waste your time and draft picks pretending or wishing that there was one.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

It only serves to confirm how barren this year's crop of DLs actually are. I still fail to see how a 6' 0" 280 pound interior DL like Donald or this pale imitation, is so highly rated. There is simply no JJ Watt here. Draft one when there is. Don't waste your time and draft picks pretending or wishing that there was one.

I agree... but at least Donald has been very productive, tested really well at the combine, and doesn't have the huge red flags or injury concerns that Easley does.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I'd rather go after a guy like Kony Ealy. Prototypical size for 4-3 DE -- 6'4 273 with long 34 1/4" arms. The thing that worries me about Easley is the Dan Klecko effect. He is short, undersized, and has short arms -- 6'2 288 32 7/8". And unlike an Aaron Donald I don't see explosive measurements in strength, speed, agility, leaping to compensate.


On top of that he is coming off 2 major ACL surgeries. This guarantees that his rookie season will be a slow one. Usually a player doesn't come back to full strength/fitness from ACL until their second year. I could easily see him being declared a bust in his first season for that reason, whether or not that will be the case. There are a lot of risks with Ealy who even if fully healthy might fall into the "Dan Klecko" trap due to physical stature and athletic limitations.

 

[patchick]

I'd rather go after a guy like Kony Ealy. Prototypical size for 4-3 DE -- 6'4 273 with long 34 1/4" arms. The thing that worries me about Easley is the Dan Klecko effect. He is short, undersized, and has short arms -- 6'2 288 32 7/8". And unlike an Aaron Donald I don't see explosive measurements in strength, speed, agility, leaping to compensate.

If Easley's athleticism isn't enough to compensate for his lack of size, is Kony Ealy's size really enough to compensate for his lack of athleticism? I'm pretty sure he had the worst 40 and vertical scores of all the DEs at the combine.

I don't think there's any 4-3 DE worth targeting at #29 this year.

 

[RayClay]

Since I was hoping we'd get Hageman, if available, thought I'd check out a few youtubes again. Made me realize how misleading stats and even videos can be, because i started to notice how he was pretty much doing the right thing (especially in his 2013 "down" year statistically) but looked like he wasn't because the rest of the defense was beyond pathetic. QBs were finding receivers in fractions of a second, negating nice unimpeded rushes up the middle, he was holding up two men, but the whole rest of the field looked like no one was there for successful runs and he was moving forward with his head up on triple teams, sometimes making plays.

The guy is not polished, but watch the zombies around him and in the secondary and imagine if offenses were kept honest. He stays in his lane, then keeps following the play, sometimes making tackles from behind because there aren't any Minnesota defenders on the other 2/3 of the field, apparently. Of course, if any #29 has the potential to be a top #5 physically, it's him.

There's lots of vids on youtube, I'm not posting any.

 

[RayClay]

If Easley's athleticism isn't enough to compensate for his lack of size, is Kony Ealy's size really enough to compensate for his lack of athleticism? I'm pretty sure he had the worst 40 and vertical scores of all the DEs at the combine.

I don't think there's any 4-3 DE worth targeting at #29 this year.

I think Ealy's being pushed up because it's a poor class. Dee Ford too. Ealy's not bad, but why spend your one, when you can bring a lot of other not bads into camp and hope for a hit?

 

[patchick]

Since I was hoping we'd get Hageman, if available, thought I'd check out a few youtubes again. Made me realize how misleading stats and even videos can be, because i started to notice how he was pretty much doing the right thing (especially in his 2013 "down" year statistically) but looked like he wasn't because the rest of the defense was beyond pathetic. QBs were finding receivers in fractions of a second, negating nice unimpeded rushes up the middle, he was holding up two men, but the whole rest of the field looked like no one was there for successful runs and he was moving forward with his head up on triple teams, sometimes making plays.

If Hageman is available, I'd be thrilled with the pick. Unfortunately, I suspect that teams see the same things you do.

 

[RayClay]

If Hageman is available, I'd be thrilled with the pick. Unfortunately, I suspect that teams see the same things you do.

He's a risk emotionally whether he'll continue to develop. I could see him underachieving in the wrong situation, though I think the Pats have the right one (organization, role models). Don't know if you read this. Kind of a strange upbringing.
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/11/13/5097150/rashede-hageman-profile-minnesota-football

 

[Brady6]

I'd rather go after a guy like Kony Ealy. Prototypical size for 4-3 DE -- 6'4 273 with long 34 1/4" arms. The thing that worries me about Easley is the Dan Klecko effect. He is short, undersized, and has short arms -- 6'2 288 32 7/8". And unlike an Aaron Donald I don't see explosive measurements in strength, speed, agility, leaping to compensate.

It would be impossible to see these metrics because he did not workout at the combine and his pro day was not measured. He is just as explosive as Donald is, may be even faster in some metrics.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

Not a huge fan of any of the projected late 1st rd DLinemen.... but it's probably our biggest need, and I have faith that BB and co can develop linemen

I think Kareem Martin may have good potential and could be had with our pick.

 

[fumbrunner]

Add Evan Silva at rotoworld to the list of mockers having the Patriots taking Easley

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/46936/60/silvas-two-round-mock-draft?pg=2

 

[AzorianPats]

Add Evan Silva at rotoworld to the list of mockers having the Patriots taking Easley

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/46936/60/silvas-two-round-mock-draft?pg=2

That's way to early to take Easley for me. If he's around during our second round pick, I'd pull the trigger, but not 1st round.

First rounders to me should be a safe pick. I like Easley, but he has to many concerns to be taken first round.