Pats showing the most interest in Michael Sam

naF staP · Apr 17, 2014

I don't care if he is gay or not what I care about is can he contribute? From what I saw at the combine I wouldn't waste my draft pick on him.

Brady6 · Apr 17, 2014

I wonder if the media attention surrounding his sexuality has had an impact on his combine and workout performances. I personally am of the opinion that it has not but I would be curious to hear what others think.

FirstAndGoal · Apr 17, 2014

You don't take a guy to make a social statement. You take a guy because he can play. Should the Patriots also get that girl who tried out as a kicker too????

Kontradiction · Apr 17, 2014

Brady6 said:
I wonder if the media attention surrounding his sexuality has had an impact on his combine and workout performances. I personally am of the opinion that it has not but I would be curious to hear what others think.

I doubt he's going to run slower or have a worse 3 cone time because he's busy thinking about how the media is reporting about his sexuality. Anyway, all you have to do is watch his games at Missouri to be able to tell that he wouldn't be worth a pick.

Jackson 2 · Apr 17, 2014

naF staP said:
I don't care if he is gay or not what I care about is can he contribute? From what I saw at the combine I wouldn't waste my draft pick on him.

If you base your draft picks solely by what you see at the combine, you'll field an 0-16 team. If BB and the rest think he can play and he ends up here, that 's great. If they think he can' t and he ends up elsewhere, that's fine also.

BennyBledsoe · Apr 17, 2014

If nobody takes him in the 5th or 6th and we have a bonus pick available, he couldn't be any worse than some of the guys they've drafted way earlier than that. Who knows? This guy could be the most motivated player in the history of ever. He'll be wanting to prove everyone wrong about so so many things.

RayClay · Apr 17, 2014

goheels22002 said:
Undersized and overrated? Hmmm. Tedy Bruschi was PAC-10 Defensive Lineman of the Year at 6'1" 247. How'd that work out?

You think they're going to move Sam inside?

old 55 · Apr 17, 2014

I am liberal in my politics and I didn't get a memo about any bandwagon to sign this guy. The problem with signing him for non football reasons is that it blows up in your face if he can't make the team. Non-football onlookers will always think he didn't make the team because he was gay. They won't understand that success in college doesn't mean success in the NFL.

primetime · Apr 17, 2014

goheels22002 said:
Undersized and overrated? Hmmm. Tedy Bruschi was PAC-10 Defensive Lineman of the Year at 6'1" 247. How'd that work out?

Yeah, having watched a lot of Sam at Mizzou, he reminds me of a Bruschi or - more recently - Elvis Dumervil, who was also considered undersized but has been extremely productive as a pro. He's got great quickness and a well-developed array of pass rushing moves. He'll be a huge steal for whoever picks him.

He also improved pretty markedly on his combine performance at his Pro Day.

BradyFTW! · Apr 17, 2014

Big-T said:
Although unlikely to happen, what if he turned up and put up like 15 sacks for his new team? Would people on here be crying about Belichick cutting a player too early? Wait and see what he can do in TC & pre-season first.

If that were to happen, no, I wouldn't be crying about Belichick cutting him too early. He would just be one of those incredibly rare guys who sucks about as badly as someone can suck for the first few years then ends up finding a way to succeed. For every one guy like that there's a thousand guys that just continue to suck, and keeping him around has an opportunity cost in its own right because it means you can't have another prospect on the roster.

At a certain point, you're just playing the odds, and the odds of Bequette being anything other than what he's shown himself to be to date are incredibly small.

BradyFTW! · Apr 17, 2014

primetime said:
Yeah, having watched a lot of Sam at Mizzou, he reminds me of a Bruschi or - more recently - Elvis Dumervil, who was also considered undersized but has been extremely productive as a pro. He's got great quickness and a well-developed array of pass rushing moves. He'll be a huge steal for whoever picks him.

He also improved pretty markedly on his combine performance at his Pro Day.

Agreed, I think people got a little too caught up in his combine numbers. I have no idea if he'll make it or not, but I think it's pretty clear that he's just one of those guys who had a bad combine. It happens, and I'll never understand the mindset that extremely small margins at the combine should matter more than a large body of work in the SEC. At a bare minimum, it warrants waiting to see what happens in the pro day.

PATS16N0 · Apr 17, 2014

Worst OP ever?

There's been other gay football players. Your attempt to paint the NFL as an organization that lights them on fire and throws them in the pit that can all be changed by the acquisition of a gay college player this year is ridiculous. The guy isn't going to be a new Jackie Robinson, period, end of story, no matter where he shows up.

My eyes!!

Wildo7 · Apr 17, 2014

old 55 said:
I am liberal in my politics and I didn't get a memo about any bandwagon to sign this guy. The problem with signing him for non football reasons is that it blows up in your face if he can't make the team. Non-football onlookers will always think he didn't make the team because he was gay. They won't understand that success in college doesn't mean success in the NFL.

So people are going to think that the team that drafted the openly gay player cut him because he was gay?

Jlaff · Apr 18, 2014

Let me show how politically correct I am by being the first person on the entire internet... no make that the world to say - "I don't care if he's a gay, all that matters is if he's a good football player".

Geeze, I thought everyone would be falling all over each other trying to prove how tolerant they were, guess I beat everyone to it!

ausbacker said:
If Michael Sam can play football I couldn't give a stuff about his sexuality. A good football player is a good football player.

pats4life12 said:
I think he has potential to be a very good football player and there is no better team to start with then the patriots. I don't care that he is gay as long as he can play football I will be happy.

Rob0729 said:
If the Pats think he can have some kind of impact, I don't care about his sexuality. That is his business.

Personally, I wouldn't spend more than a late round pick on the guy, but that has to do with what I think he can do in the NFL.

Avenger said:
Maybe BB double dips and takes Ealy and Sam, I have no issues with what he does on his own time, if he can play football then take him if he's the weighted BPA.

old 55 · Apr 18, 2014

Wildo7 said:
So people are going to think that the team that drafted the openly gay player cut him because he was gay?

Yes. It's not logical, but neither was spy gate when everyone knew that the whole league spied on the other teams signals. The only difference was that the Pats used a camera. People will say that he was drafted as a public relations move only and that he wasn't given a real shot at a roster spot. The Pats are the best team to draft him and limiting the side show, but the real question is if he can play in the NFL. I hope he can and does make someone's roster, but he doesn't look like an impact player on the NFL level.

PP2 · Apr 18, 2014

primetime said:
Yeah, having watched a lot of Sam at Mizzou, he reminds me of a Bruschi or - more recently - Elvis Dumervil, who was also considered undersized but has been extremely productive as a pro. He's got great quickness and a well-developed array of pass rushing moves. He'll be a huge steal for whoever picks him.

He also improved pretty markedly on his combine performance at his Pro Day.

Bruschi and Sam are not even in the same ballpark. Bruschi's metrics were okay but his football instincts are the kind that come along once every generation.

Leaving college, Bruschi had 52 sacks which tied the IA div record, 185 tackles, 137 solo, 6 FF, 5 recovered. Sam has nowhere near those numbers.

primetime · Apr 18, 2014

Here's a good breakdown by former NFL defensive end Stephen White on Sam:

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/4/18/5...-michael-sam-pass-rusher-position-projections

He says pretty much what I did:

If Sam can get substantially stronger, I really believe he is going to play, and I do mean play, five or more years in the NFL. It might not sound like much, but if a front office or head coach believes they can get five or more productive years out of a good pass rusher who can turn the corner and who can also probably contribute on special teams, most of them would love to draft a guy like that in the later rounds.

I can't predict rounds for guys other than the first round. Who the hell really knows what will happen after that. If Michael Sam is drafted in the fifth round, I don't think whichever team that drafts him will be disappointed in the long run. Once he gets the functional strength to go along with his superb technique then there won't be any reason why Sam can't be a quality NFL player.

old 55 · Apr 18, 2014

excellentE="primetime, post: 3813331, member: 3645"]Here's a good breakdown by former NFL defensive end Stephen White on Sam:

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/4/18/5...-michael-sam-pass-rusher-position-projections

He says pretty much what I did:[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure White's resume qualifies him to identify excellent pass rushing techniques.

Geezer Butler · Apr 18, 2014

Showing the most interest and "being among the SIX teams showing the most interest" are two completely different things.

DaBruinz · Apr 20, 2014

goheels22002 said:
Undersized and overrated? Hmmm. Tedy Bruschi was PAC-10 Defensive Lineman of the Year at 6'1" 247. How'd that work out?

Bruschi didn't come into his own until he was moved to ILB in the 3-4.
This isn't the PAC-10. It's the NFL and it took Bruschi years to become a full-time player.
Sam would be a downgrade from Spikes, IMHO, even with Spikes already gone. I've not seen anything that shows that Sam has the ability to cover TEs or RBs. On the contrary. Everything screams that Sam would be a hinderance on the football field because of being slow and not having great agility.

The Pats are planning on playing Man-Man Coverge, not Zone Coverage. Bruschi excelled in Zone coverage.

Sorry, but I find it deplorable that you are comparing Sam to Bruschi when Sam hasn't shown Jack yet.

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