Dominique Easley - what it could mean.

Maybe Belichick is planning to adopt some of the Gators' complicated defensive schemes, such as the play where two Florida defenders blocked each other on an opposing team's running play. (and yes, please allow me the artistic license here.... yes I know that was a Florida offensive play)

patfanken said:

Initially looks like a reach

Click to expand...

Reach? That's a misuse of that word. Is he a reach because his ability didn't warrant the spot he was chosen? There' a sizable volume of opinion that Easley is mid first round, if not more, talent. His 'on film' ability does not appear to equal reach.
Is he a reach because he was chosen at pick 29 yet still would have been available at pick 40 or 50? Unless you're aware of something, that's certainly possible, I have not heard Easly was going to available later in the draft. So he isn't a reach on that front either (if you have information to suggest he would be around mid second or after, I'd certainly listen).

It is a fair question to ask "how much health risk is too much risk for pick 29"? There's no need to take a long shot at 29. However, I'm taking it on faith that BB and staff have enough football smarts to delve into the medical situation on Easly, consult the medical staff, make the determination that it is more likely than not his injury will fully heal/his ability will fully return.

Personally I am stoked to consider the possibilities of a pass rusher with significant upside added with Jones, put in there with Wilfork (who is looking to prove something), Siliga having a full training camp, Mayo back, Collins past his rookie year, Dennard not expecting jail, McCourty, and of course Revis (among others). In theory this defense will be as good as we have seen in many years. The start of the season can't come soon enough!

Not sure about this pick, don't love it but don't hate it either.

Thought we looked ok at DT with Wilfork, Kelly, Siliga, Jones, Vellano & Armstead, the only concern I had is that 3 of them are coming off long term injuries and two of them are undersized. So drafting another undersized DT coming off long term injuries doesn't excite me. But then, after staying up till 4.30am, I'm just glad we didn't trade out of the 1st round....

After watching highlights in the video thread of Easley all I can say is WOW! This guy is amazing! When I read those articles saying he could have been a top 5 or top 10 pick in this draft if it weren't for those ACL tears I believe them!

If he's able to stay healthy...ohhhhhhhhhh mama! The NFL better take notice! Forehead will be throwing it quick ALL the time if he doesn't want to get sacked.

Truly a high risk/high reward pick, but damn do I like it after seeing those highlight videos! I love his swagger on the field!

patfanken said:

Sorry Gumby, I probably should have said a "bit of a reach". Most of the talk here was about Easly being a 2nd round pick who probably wouldn't last until 62. I keep forgetting about casually inserting words that might set people off.

I wish people would forget about whether it was a reach or not, and continue the discussion of what Easly's pick might tell us about how this team is going to attack opposing offenses this fall. It's not going to be your "father's old Pats D" this fall. For example if Tuitt or Nix had been the pick, I might have inferred that we might be headed back to the old 3-4 look more this season. Clearly we are NOT.

I also thought it was an interesting pick since Easly doesn't physically fit the DL model that we've seen here for the last 13 seasons. BB has always, in the past, built his defenses on big DLmen and LB's (see Richard Seymour and Ted Johnson). Now BB shows us the same kind of flexibility we've come to expect by acknowledging how far the game has changed that he's willing to abandon the base D and concepts that he's held for over 30 years.

The more I look at the significance of this pick and realize how we are likely to be playing an attacking front 7 in front of an aggressive physical press man secondary, its like the polar opposite from the read and react front 7's in front of a secondary playing mostly zone defense, that we've seen for the vast majority of the BB era here.

I find this a much more fascinating topic than whether this pick was a reach or not.

Click to expand...

No worries, thought I was clearing the decks on that, not instigating pernicious word-arguments.

Agree that discussion of the 4-3 vs 3-4 impacts of this pick is the more interesting discussion point. But unfortunately it requires a little bit of technical knowledge that the majority of us fans are not fully equipped to delve into (at least not without delving back into one of AJ's tome-educational threads. LOL.)

I am not so certain that this bodes the death-knell for "read-and-react" per se. But do agree that it appears BB has seen the light that interior pressure is the "SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN 2 POINTS" (D and QB/ball).

I would not expect the increased pressure up front to change his strategy in the mid-/deep-parts of the field or necessarily even affect the LBs. Theoretically it does take another player/some flexibility out of the short part of the field. But BB has dropped DL (VW in particular is memorable) back into coverage (if I had the link this would be a beautiful point to insert the video of him flattening that wr - LOL or him getting his INT). So playing 4-3 doesnt mean to me that we wont see any one of the DE/DL fake pressure, then drop back on some plays to disrupt the QBs reads and the open space/lanes. He has also sent LBs either in concert with dropping a DL or as additional rushers. So with his blurring of the lines sometimes between LB and DL; I think this is more important at increasing the talent level in middle of line; than in changing OVERALL D concepts. It may affect some DL concepts, but LBs and backfield, I think, not so much.

patfanken said:

Initially looks like a reach, but I'm more interested in what we can infer about what the Pats were looking for, since Easly clearly doesn't fit the "typical" mold that BB has utilized the last 30 years in a DLman. Especially given that there were several of the those "typical guys" there when the Pats picked. Nix, Hageman, Tuitt, Jernigan, etc were all there for the taking and BB seemed to go for Aaron Donald-lite. I think that tells us a lot.

1. We continue to move away from the 3-4 toward the 4-3 as our basic alignment.

2. The Easly pick once again points out the key importance of the inside pass rush. Push up the middle was a need, and a healthy Easly would have been highly thought of because of this very rare skill.

3. So no to the 6'6 310 lb stereo typical 2 gap NT/3-4 TE. Bill wants an explosive player in the middle and THEY evidently thought Easly was the best guy to fill that need.

4. I think that they would have traded the pick in a nano-second if the opportunity arose, but when it didn't, they went for the best guy on THEIR board, and it was Easly. Lets hope that ACL surgery is like Tommy John surgery and players actually get better once its done.

5. Its going to be crowded and competition should be fierce for those DT slots this TC. I'm looking forward to it. (Wilfolk, Kelly, Easly, Armstead, CJones, Siliga, and Joe V....so far)

6. Say what you want for BB. He never ceases to surprise us with his draft picks.....and today is only DAY one.

Click to expand...

I think both Easley and Armstead can play both End and DT. I wouldn't be surprised if both guys at times gives Chandler and Ninko breathers here and there ..

I like the pick, Easley combined with Collins and our improved D Backfield, will make things better for Ninkovich and Jones.. we have become younger and faster on Defense...

There are so many different combinations and rotations available to the brain trust.. we might be verging on a very scary defense...

I like the idea of inside pass rush, it is a much needed area.....but, I have concerns about injury history. We've seen this movie before.

The most important question around Easly is not about his knees it's whether or not he is going to be able to bring Chucky to Foxboro.

We know what Easley is capable of that's not in question for me, it's obviously his knees but if he got Go Ahead and was cleared i'm sure BB did his homework on his medical status. I'll take Wait and See approach until he gets out there in live action.

Draft Pick and DT Make-up
A lot of people are mentioning that the pick is against tradition for the Pats, since he's sub 300 lbs. However, the transition to the DL began when we picked up Andre Carter at DE IMO, back in 2011. We jettisoned Ty Warren and the new era began for the Pats on the DL.

Vince Wilfork - the last tubby leftover, who we still need.
Siliga - a true back-up for Wilfork, should we retain him.
Vellano and Jones - will hopefully bulk up this offseason and vie for the roster.
Tommy Kelly - May make the team. He is 6'6" and still has the physicals to be disruptive. He took a big paycut, which makes him very affordable, so price isn't an issue.
Armstead - Who knows with him.

The 53
Looking forward at the position, it will be curious who they retain at the position. Last year the original 53 included 3 players (excluding Armstead) between Wilfork, Kelly, and Vellano. I can't see them doing that this year. But who knows what the combination or # of players will be.

Pick out of Need
Was the a pick out of need? I do not think this was purely a "need pick." Obviously the team selected him because they think he can help the team the most. But the team had other needs at other positions, and they instead chose the player at DL, instead of interior O-line, where they could have their pick of the litter at G/C.

Going Forward this Draft
Hopefully we shift some focus to Interior O-line, TE, and even RB. The way I size up the offense and defenses last year, given two healthy units, the offense needs more help. We spent the 1st round on Defense, so now we should switch to offense for the next few picks. No C/G's have been selected yet. There will likely be a run on the position, but I hope we can find someone. I fear some teams like the Jets and Broncos will push our linemen around, like the did last year in their victories over us.

Hopefully we can also grab a back-up linebacker in the mid-rounds, and perhaps a OT since Cannon is in his final year on contract. I understand TE and RB may be a bit light in this draft.

The more i hear about him, the more i like it, to be honest. I will visit a witch or something to make his knees more durable, had it with good players ending up on the medical center.

One question though: Can he play DE? I think the end is a much more pressing need than a tackle

There's also the thought that Easley Is insurance his first year here. Give him some extras time to learn the ropes the way Coach teaches them, let him learn from Wilfork, Kelley, et al, and be available if/when one of the other guys goes down.

Remember that New England drafted Marcus Cannon and put him onto the non-football injury list, activating him after week 10 (2011 season). That let him heal up from Chemo and if Easley isn't fully recovered by TC, or thereabouts, he could end up the same way.

I like the pick. Youth, ability and insurance. Sounds like a good fit here as well.

We have Vince's heir in Siliga, Easley *could* form a superb tandem with him.

looking at vids I think both Armstead and Easley can play either DE ot DT. Will be interesting to see what role they will carve out for themselves. Kelly and Smith will have to show they are healthy. For the first time in a long time we will be see a lot of 4 DL. We will almost certainly see 8 DL on the 53 perhaps 9?

I wonder with all the sub packages the 'base' will be more of a 4-2-5?


Interesting stuff going forward.

Username said:

Not sure about this pick, don't love it but don't hate it either.

Thought we looked ok at DT with Wilfork, Kelly, Siliga, Jones, Vellano & Armstead, the only concern I had is that 3 of them are coming off long term injuries and two of them are undersized. So drafting another undersized DT coming off long term injuries doesn't excite me. But then, after staying up till 4.30am, I'm just glad we didn't trade out of the 1st round....

Click to expand...

Funny, I have been saying for months that DT was the Pats' biggest need on defense (maybe safety) and far bigger need than a rotational DE. I always thought the Pats would take a DT in the first round assuming they stayed at 29.

The DT position has more question marks than any other position on defense. No one knows if Wilfork will be back at the start of the season. Same with Kelly and how much he has left at 34. Siliga is only a run down specialist. Vellano is likely gone and looked good early last year and fell off. Jones is a pass rush specialist. Armstead is an unknown.

I'd say that we are not moving from 3-4 to 4-3. The move is already complete. Wonder if BB would have signed VW if he knew he'd draft Easley?

Also to whomever said a 2nd round Center - hope not. 5th-7th round Centers not much less than the top 2-3 kids are out there. Meanwhile we could use 2nd-5th round talent at: S, OG or OT, LB (or two), RB, TE, and a SE more than C.

We need to get after the qb. Manning's jersey didn't have a grass stain on it in the AFCCG. Mayoclinic in the draft forum has been touting this guy for a while. I agree he's a 1st round talent. Maybe because of Ras-I Dowling. I'm gun shy about taking guys with an injury history. Time will tell.

These defensive players didn't play in the AFCCG; Revis, Browner, Wilfork, Kelly, Mayo and Easley.

It's getting easier to find skill guys after round 1 now. We could use a wr, te, rb and c/g. I think we're going to see a lot of offensive players in Rounds 2-4 with our next 4 picks. Maybe, sprinkle an olb who can play in space.

A couple of DEs away from the 5-2-4 base I've been banging on about all off-season

LDE: Ninkovich, Smith
LDT: Kelly, Armstead
NT: Wilfork, Siliga
RDT: Easley, Chris Jones
RDE: Chandler Jones, Buchanan, Bequette

So he fits in perfectly with what I want the team to do.

I'm pretty sure we'll see a QB taken by New England as well. I am still hoping we can land AJ McCarron. That's a personal hope. I think he'd be an excellent fit here. I'm not yet convinced we need another WR, but a good solid bookend TE for Gronk would be a no-brainer in my book.