Oscar Lua:"...the Patriots were the most interested."

[Seneschal2]

Former Rajah, Trojan excited to join Moss, Bruschi on team

"How gnarly was that?" said Lua, who had 26 unanswered messages on his cell phone an hour after his selection at approximately 1 p.m. "It's a good deal. My family's happy. My mom is a little sad because I'll be on the other side of the map."

Throughout the process, Lua has been contacted regularly by the Patriots, and Lua thought he could get drafted in the later rounds.

"Through the whole process, they showed a lot of interest," said Lua's father Gabriel. "In the last days, the Patriots were the most interested."

But when Lua saw the Patriots had four picks in the sixth round and none of those were used to select him, he got a little worried.
"They waited a round, probably hoping to get me as a free agent," Lua said. "But the prior round, there was a few linebackers taken, so they probably wanted to avoid losing me to the Saints, Giants, or Dolphins."

One of the perks for Lua is that he will get to play behind All-Pro linebacker Tedy Bruschi, in whom Lua sees a lot of himself.
Lua, at just under 6-1 and who played at 250, is about the same size as Bruschi.

"He's not the biggest or the fastest, but he makes plays," Lua said. "There's a tremendous amount of knowledge you can learn from.
"That's amazing, an incredible feeling, knowing I will be sitting in a room with Tedy Bruschi and maybe Junior Seau and being part of the Patriots."
Although Lua will be an apprentice to Bruschi, the Patriots told him they expect him to have an impact right away.

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Lua was a sleeper pick of mine, and if it weren't for his knees, I would've considered him slightly higher. Love the fact that Seau is his idol. He reportedly has a strong work ethic, which he'll need to stick. And from the amount of interest expressed by the Pats, I think they plan on him making the final cuts. But of course -- he's a wait-and-see...

 

[dryheat44]

Former Rajah, Trojan excited to join Moss, Bruschi on team

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Lua was a sleeper pick of mine, and if it weren't for his knees, I would've considered him slightly higher. Love the fact that Seau is his idol. He reportedly has a strong work ethic, which he'll need to stick. And from the amount of interest expressed by the Pats, I think they plan on him making the final cuts. But of course -- he's a wait-and-see...

His lack of speed concerns me slightly, but if he can give us 75% of Lofa Tatupu's production in a few years, it's a coup for Belichick.

 

[Pats726]

He was one of my UDFAs that I wanted them to sign...instead they drafted him..Heard that he likes to wtach tape..learn and really studies the game...the Patriots TYPE of player...

 

[zippo59]

The guy has the ideal attitude you look for. Yesterday someone posted some quotes from him saying that he taught other players at his position knowing it would mean less playing time for him because he wanted to win.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

I like reading that he played at 250, prototype weight for Pats ILBs. His Pro-Day weigh-in of 236 had me seeing him as the next Don Davis, STs and reserve ILB, but a kid who can reportedly stack and shed well, and who plays at the sand in pants weight for a Pats ILB, is more like it.

:singing: 'Lua, Lua, oh no, we got to go now, Yah Yah Yah Yah!'

 

[sebman2112]

What's funny about this is that I had him as an option for NE back in febuary, but as time went on and I looked at more pospects I stopped talking about him. Back in febuary when I brought him up on espn I was told he'll be a UDFA, and some other things. I went back and looked at him about three weeks ago and I was still interested, but going on advice I didn't bother putting him in any of my mock drafts. I also think they really had interest in drafting Desmond Bishop with one of their late sixth, or where they drafted Lua, but the Packers stole him. I really don't understand why the Packers picked him, since he fits better as a run stuffer in a defense like NE's.

Now going back and looking at where some players were drafted I think next year I'm not going to allow the opinions of others to change my opinion. I also think this draft turned into something very strange after the middle of the second round.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

The draft 'got weird" after pick #22. I lot of guys were left with second round grades and the whole thing became a bit watered down. And while I have no doubt that there were tons of players available that could help teams, I had a hard time differentaiting between #28 and #58.
A smaller than usual red chip class is the best way I see to sum it up.