Post Draft Scouting Report: Geneo Grissom, DE/LB

Here is another report on one of the new Patriots that people may not know too much about.

http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2015/05/post-draft-scouting-report-geneo-grissom-delb.html

Another nice writeup, on one of the most intriguing pics for the team this year. I think he'll be a movable chess piece.

One thing to keep in mind with Grissom's lateral movement is that he hasn't had a chance to settle into a role. When I watched early film of JJ Watt at Wisconsin, I was struck by how well he moved forward and back, and how stiff his lateral movement was. That obviously changed, and fast. Grissom played TE, so I'm guessing he has some lateral movement skills that can be improved when coaching and experience.

BTW, there's been a lot of growth in your profiles since you started them. It's nice to see. Great job.

mayoclinic said:

Another nice writeup, on one of the most intriguing pics for the team this year. I think he'll be a movable chess piece.

One thing to keep in mind with Grissom's lateral movement is that he hasn't had a chance to settle into a role. When I watched early film of JJ Watt at Wisconsin, I was struck by how well he moved forward and back, and how stiff his lateral movement was. That obviously changed, and fast. Grissom played TE, so I'm guessing he has some lateral movement skills that can be improved when coaching and experience.

BTW, there's been a lot of growth in your profiles since you started them. It's nice to see. Great job.

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Thanks a lot Mayo for the nice compliment. I definitely have grown more comfortable writing these up and being honest about what I see both positively and negatively.
I think you are right on with his movements as well. He is a guy that fits perfectly into the trajectory category that has been discussed in other threads. He has such raw athleticism that if it can be developed will be really fun to watch.

midwestpatsfan said:

Thanks a lot Mayo for the nice compliment. I definitely have grown more comfortable writing these up and being honest about what I see both positively and negatively.

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I sometimes think that the most useful attribute in those writing scouting reports is the willingness to potentially make a fool out of themeselves. People who are willing to go out on a limb and deviate from the herd mentality often contribute useful insights, even if they end up being wrong. As Nick Caserio said, no one is truly an "expert". Two highly diverging perspectives on the same player can both be quite valuable, and neither necessarily "wrong". There are so many things that go into making any player succeed in the NFL, and the line between success and failure can be paper thin.

The Patriots pass rush is very disciplined and Ninkovich in particular sets up his other moves with his staple bull-rush to at the very least push the pocket. You can see the same pass rushing style style in Grissom and the fact that he does not run the arc probably is not as big a deficiency in the pats system. .

What is interesting to me is that the Patriots picked Grissom before Trey Flowers. Once the Patriots reset the board for Day 3, it seems Trey Flowers was very high up on the board and much too valuable to pass up (reminiscent of Aaron Hernandez in 2010). Considering they were slated to pick some much needed OGs early in day 3 and also interested in acquiring extra picks for later in the Draft, the selection was not traded but they went DE shows to me how highly they think of Flowers. So to pick Grissom earlier indicates how much higher they were on Grissom.

Very strong up top and makes blockers look silly at times and can be very fun to watch. In the little I have seen vs Texas, he was used in coverage to the flats or to protect the cutback on early downs with some limited pass rush opportunities from the outside OLB position, and kicked in on 3rd downs over the right guard. He was not used in the 2nd half on early downs and entered on 3rd downs to provide interior pass rush.

Very intriguing pick.

I'm nowhere near a professional, and do realize the differences in their rankings, but these two draft profiles sound pretty similar. The "What he brings" parts as well as their similarities in height and weight stick out to me.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/player/_/id/27027/akeem-ayers

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/player/_/id/46959

Comparing Grissom's potential to Mike Vrabel's production? C'mon, man.

Why not? Vrabel was drafted 91st overall. Here are his stats through 4 seasons:

2000 Pittsburgh Steelers 15 0 -- -- -- 1.0 -- 0 -- -- 0.0 -- -- 0
1999 Pittsburgh Steelers 10 0 -- -- -- 2.0 -- 0 -- -- 0.0 -- -- 0
1998 Pittsburgh Steelers 11 0 -- -- -- 2.5 -- 0 -- -- 0.0 -- -- 0
1997 Pittsburgh Steelers 15 0 -- -- -- 1.5 -- 0 -- -- 0.0 -- -- 0

Sounds pretty much spot on, considering they are very similar players with almost identical athletic profiles and versatility.

For kicks I just re-watched the Senior Bowl game which featured Trey Flowers, Geneo Grissom, Joe Cardona, Tre Jackson and Shaq Mason. Flowers was just plain awful, putting no pressure on the QB and easily being moved out of the plays. Grissom wasn't much better and played LB exclusively. He looked out of place and has terrible change of direction skills. Jackson looked good, Mason was good for three quarters up until the defense knew the QB had to pass and then he got eaten alive. To Mason's credit he did a good job on Danny Shelton and Carl Davis for 3 quarters. Davis was voted the MVO of Senior Bowl week practices. Cardona was spot on in his snaps. If you were not looking for him you wouldn't have noticed him, which is the highest compliment you can give him.

Stop keeping it real, Mark. We want to believe that Grissom will magically be transformed into something he wasn't at Oklahoma. He could be our fifth TE if pressed into action! That's certainly worthy of the high pick, doncha think? He only played one year at linebacker. Give him time to develop!

I'd like to bet someone that in the next three years the 49ers will get more production out of undrafted free agent Marcus Rush out of Michigan State than the Patriots will with Geneo Grissom, assuming both make their teams.

Any takers?

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1762318/marcus-rush
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1737590/geneo-grissom

Geneo Grissom, the Tubucky Jones pick of this draft, was taken for two attributes: the eye test and his having played three positions (Is that versatility or he the coaches could never find him a home?). But taken too early.

It's questionable moves like this that may cause the Jets to leapfrog the Patriots in two or three years, once they develop Bryce Petty or get another QB. I'm high on their GM Mike Maccagnan.

State said:

I'd like to bet someone that in the next three years the 49ers will get more production out of undrafted free agent Marcus Rush out of Michigan State than the Patriots will with Geneo Grissom, assuming both make their teams.

Any takers?

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I am right there with you on Rush, can't believe he wasn't drafted.

captain stone said:

Comparing Grissom's potential to Mike Vrabel's production? C'mon, man.

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I didn't say he was coming in Day 1 as Mike Vrabel. His physical attributes and athletic skillset along with his versatility all look and sound like Mike Vrabel to me. You have to remember, Mike Vrabel was not this sure fire prospect coming out of college and it took him 4 plus years to really start to make significant contributions.