Joe Thuney: The Tape

This pick is a little mysterious, but I have to believe that Thuney is one of Dante's binkies so he will probably be OK. He appears to have very good pass-protection skills and, ahem, good grabby hands, ahem. It looks like holding on every play, but Dante can fix that so he only does the legal holding in the NFL. With his pass blocking skills, I am surprised that the Patriots did want to play him at tackle.

What I don't get is his size and power. He just does not seem that strong and look at his arms; heck, Ed Hochuli is more ripped than him. He is not a road grader--how is he supposed to play guard in the NFL? He does do one thing that John Hannah was always advocating; on running plays, after hitting his guy he looks around for another guy or two to hit.

Interesting prospect, but he may be too nice a guy ....

This is a fun tape because you also get to watch Jacoby Brissett:

Bottom line: Thuney appears to be really good at pass blocking but needs to bulk up a little for run blocking. ...Brissett looks really, really good in this tape....I wonder when we will see Thuney protecting Brissett again?

I wonder if the Patriots were scouting out left tackles and when they watched Thuney, they said wow, and estimated that he would go in the first or second and then then he was there late in the third the Patriots could not resist...ultimately I think that Brissett will prove to be the Patriots best pick out of this draft (and Leblanc the best FA).

Nice work Fred.

I think this pick was born from the fear that Mason and Jackson can't deal with the speed, decision making and experience required to play o-line at a proficient enough level for this team and TB12.

I hope I am wrong.

FredFromDartmouth said:

Bottom line: Thuney appears to be really good at pass blocking but needs to bulk up a little for run blocking. ...Brissett looks really, really good in this tape....I wonder when we will see Thuney protecting Brissett again?

I wonder if the Patriots were scouting out left tackles and when they watched Thuney, they said wow, and estimated that he would go in the first or second and then then he was there late in the third the Patriots could not resist...ultimately I think that Brissett will prove to be the Patriots best pick out of this draft (and Leblanc the best FA).

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I think that many, many people on this board hope otherwise.

robertweathers said:

I think this pick was born from the fear that Mason and Jackson can't deal with the speed, decision making and experience required to play o-line at a proficient enough level for this team and TB12.

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To be fair, sometimes the reason the Pats take a player is simply they feel "He's too good to pass up at this point." For example, the Pats didn't need Moss in 2007, but the opportunity was just too much to pass up.

By the same token, they didn't need Ryan Mallett, but they felt that he was a good enough value to take him with the pick they got for trading Moss.

ctpatsfan77 said:

To be fair, sometimes the reason the Pats take a player is simply they feel "He's too good to pass up at this point." For example, the Pats didn't need Moss in 2007, but the opportunity was just too much to pass up.

By the same token, they didn't need Ryan Mallett, but they felt that he was a good enough value to take him with the pick they got for trading Moss.

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I agree. They never draft on need unless the player equals the value.

Not sure if Thuney is one of those guys...

ctpatsfan77 said:

I think that many, many people on this board hope otherwise.

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Cyrus will be good solid CB with excellent short-area coverage skills and great hands, but he may need help over the top with the speed merchants.

Brissett will eventually take the reigns when Brady is gone. It sort of seems as if Brady never wants to retire so I suspect that his career will end with some horrible injury such as a hip, alas.

FredFromDartmouth said:

Brissett will eventually take the reigns when Brady is gone. It sort of seems as if Brady never wants to retire so I suspect that his career will end with some horrible injury such as a hip, alas.

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Even if, God forbid, that's how it happens, there's still the whole "running out the clock" thing. Does that happen before the Patriots move on to Rookie Backup 6.0?

ctpatsfan77 said:

By the same token, they didn't need Ryan Mallett, but they felt that he was a good enough value to take him with the pick they got for trading Moss.

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Agreed - Belichick really loved that Mallett pick and in a subsequent press conference even told the story of when the Giants picked Phil Simms. I think the comparison was that most of the fans didn't see QB as a big need and that the pick may have been a reach.

ctpatsfan77 said:

By the same token, they didn't need Ryan Mallett, but they felt that he was a good enough value to take him with the pick they got for trading Moss.

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Just before the pick Lombardi announced that the Pats were going to take Mallet. The Pats then waited the full timer before picking. Given how hard they trying to shop the pick, it appears that the Pats didn't like what was left on the board at that time. They probably weren't shopping for a QB at that spot in the draft, but they probably had Mallet rated much higher than anyone else left at that point.

I have had the chance to watch a lot of tape on Thuney.
what stands out for me is he has short arms, and he is not very big. the other thing that jumped off the tape, is that the tape I was watching showed him in 4 different spots on the OL
it seems the Pats drafted intelligence and versatility with Thuney. to think he is ready to start in the NFL is short sighted imo. physically, he is not ready.

FredFromDartmouth said:

This pick is a little mysterious, but I have to believe that Thuney is one of Dante's binkies so he will probably be OK. He appears to have very good pass-protection skills and, ahem, good grabby hands, ahem. It looks like holding on every play, but Dante can fix that so he only does the legal holding in the NFL. With his pass blocking skills, I am surprised that the Patriots did want to play him at tackle.

What I don't get is his size and power. He just does not seem that strong and look at his arms; heck, Ed Hochuli is more ripped than him. He is not a road grader--how is he supposed to play guard in the NFL? He does do one thing that John Hannah was always advocating; on running plays, after hitting his guy he looks around for another guy or two to hit.

Interesting prospect, but he may be too nice a guy ....

This is a fun tape because you also get to watch Jacoby Brissett:

Click to expand...

Fred, on this tape, Thuney played a good number of snaps at LT. They must trust him a lot to put a guard in the most important position on the line.

That being said, he has some traits that are sought in good OL players: head on a swivel, good technique and leverage. Thuney as far as I can see doesn't really give up ground or is thrown off balance. He does a good job of riding rushers out of play.

To say that Joey Thuney has alligator arms would be an insult…to alligators.