There's "athletic" and then there's "athletic." Brace was the slowest defensive player in the entire draft last year. Plus the DE position puts a premium on length, and Brace is pretty average on that measure -- 6'3.0" with 33 3/4" arms. (Compare to the two "throwaway" 7th-round rookies: Deaderick 6'3.7" 34 3/8", Weston 6'4.6" 34 1/2")
As for why fans are so down on him after just one year, here are three reasons:
- Myron Pryor was busy making "he's just a rookie" look weak;
- That street FA they played ahead of Brace for a couple of games before cutting him eliminated the "lace of opportunity" excuse;
- History really isn't behind the notion that Patriots defenders routinely spend their rookie years inactive, then go on to good careers.