Brace????

[patsfan-1982]

Wilfork was a projected top 10-15 pick when he was drafted. The Pats were lucky that he fell to them where he did. Brace is not that type of prospect.

Besides, Wilfork played like crap his rookie season and it wasn't until his second year when they decided that he should line up farther off the ball so he could see what was going on, did Wilfork start to emerge as a dominant player. You go back and look at the message boards and the media during Vince's rookie season and no one was very kind to him.

As for Brace, he is a second round pick learning a new defense in a position that historically has difficulty with players adapting at the pro level from college. It is too early to judge the guy.

i agree 100% willfork was a top 10 pick that fell to the pats


brace i think went a lil higher then he would have if the pats did not pick him i think he would have fell to the late 2th round or even the 3rd round

 

[sbpatfan]

Brace wouldn't have went to the third round. There were a lot of people and teams high on him. I remember seeing some "**** the Patriots!" on other boards when Brace was selected.

 

[mayoclinic]

Brace wouldn't have went to the third round. There were a lot of people and teams high on him. I remember seeing some "**** the Patriots!" on other boards when Brace was selected.

The Pats traded up with Oakland and took Brace. Usually when something like that happens it means someone is waiting to take the player right after them.

 

[condon84]

The fact that Myron Pryor gets playing time over Brace when both are healthy should tell us all we need to know.

 

[mayoclinic]

The fact that Myron Pryor gets playing time over Brace when both are healthy should tell us all we need to know.

It tells us that Pryor is ahead of Brace on the depth chart right now, or possibly that the coaching staff feels that Pryor's skills are a better schematic fit. Nothing else.

 

[gomezcat]

Wilfork was a projected top 10-15 pick when he was drafted. The Pats were lucky that he fell to them where he did. Brace is not that type of prospect.

Besides, Wilfork played like crap his rookie season and it wasn't until his second year when they decided that he should line up farther off the ball so he could see what was going on, did Wilfork start to emerge as a dominant player. You go back and look at the message boards and the media during Vince's rookie season and no one was very kind to him.

As for Brace, he is a second round pick learning a new defense in a position that historically has difficulty with players adapting at the pro level from college. It is too early to judge the guy.

That's exactly my recollection of Wilfork and the first couple of seasons. There is no rush to develop Brace and, as others have said, he is being trained to play an incredibly demanding position.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I think we've been spoiled by this year's rookie class if we're ready to call Brace a bust before his first season is over. There were similar questions about Chung until he started playing more over the past few weeks as well.

We've had a heck of a draft class so far. Vollmer and Edelmen look like they'll be solid contributors for one of the top offenses in the league, and you could also include Tate in the conversion with the flashes of potential we saw. Butler, Chung, and Pryor have done a nice job when they've played for this developing defense that has improved dramatically, and has a chance to be special. And Ingram has done a great job taking over for Paxton. And don't forget about the injuries to Bussey and McKenzie, who could make this draft class even better. And this influx of youth didn't come on a re-building team forced to play rookies. The Pats were 11-5 last year, contending for the #2 seed this year.

So when Brace doesn't play or isn't even active, I can understand the questions people have. But I think we're too quick to judge because of how amazing the rest of the rookies have done. As others have mentioned, Wilfork wasn't much of a contributor in year 1. And as others have pointed out before, Meriweather wasn't doing much for a few years, and some wanted to write him off as well. It's way too early to make any type of judgment on Brace.

Reiss' football journey today is about Brace. It seems like the young man is taking it all in stride and keeping a positive attitude, though I'm sure he wishes he could contribute more as well. The last two sections made me think he didn't realize how critical film work is, but that he's coming around:

Life in the pros: “A real big eye-opener. I just appreciate the game even more because of all the work you put into it. You don’t realize, from the outside, how much guys are in meetings, studying film, and how deep you study the opponent.”

What he likes about football: "I like the hard work and reaping the benefits on game day. All the guys are working hard throughout the week, working together, and we all win together or lose together. It’s a real team sport. Basketball can be more individual. Football is everybody.”

So let's hold off a bit before deciding if Brace is a bust or not. In the meantime, we have a lot of solid rookies to root for.

 

[JDSal45]

I think he is just a big fat ass.. it works in college against a 260 pound guard but you need more than weight to play in the NFL.

Works out all year joins the rotation next year.

That's just brilliant. What college team on BC's schedule has "260 pound guards"?

J D Sal

 

[DaBruinz]

I thought we've been shorted on D-linemen with injuries? a healthy and capable body would certainly help. Not sure Brace would be consider "able" at this moment.

That's why Brace has dressed and played....

 

[DaBruinz]

The fact that Myron Pryor gets playing time over Brace when both are healthy should tell us all we need to know.

Really? are you sure about that? You sure its not because they are two different types of players and that Pryor's skillset (pass rushing) isn't needed more than Brace's currently?

 

[mgteich]

Let us say that we accept your analysis that Pryor's skill set are a better "schematic fit" for the patriots (at least for one game). Let us also recall that pryor has been ahead of Brace throughout camp with much work with the first team. Pryor stayed ahead of Brace throughout the first half of the season. And how low was Brace on the depth chart? Sands was brought in for a couple of game (and played) when Wilfork was injured.

There are alternatives.
1) While Brace may end up being a great player, we probably paid too much at #40. After all, guys like Pryor were available later. Yes, others likely wanted Brace. However, we were locked on him (and traded up) because we thought he was a major talent and could start for Wilfork in 2010 if necessary. We might have "overpaid" because Brace was the only really solid 3-4 NT left on the board.
2) Brace is everything we expected. After all, we had one full season and two offseasons before he might be needed. This analysis posits that Belichick knew that Brace might take lots of time to develop.
3) Pryor is an exceptional find and, if his talents were known, was worth a second round draft choice. In this argument, it is Pryor that is not playing to the standard expected; he is a great, great find.
4) A good 3-4 NT is very hard to find and to develop.

I suspect that all of these points are at least partial explanations. One thing that we ALL should understand. A non-first round rookie should not be a disappointment because he is not a major contributer in his first year. Personally, I think anyone who expected a player the quality of Wilfork at 40 was expecting way too much. I don't think that there were any Wilfork's in this draft, Raji included. There certainly weren't any besdide Raji.

It tells us that Pryor is ahead of Brace on the depth chart right now, or possibly that the coaching staff feels that Pryor's skills are a better schematic fit. Nothing else.

 

[Dragda]

He only had good college numbers because he was next to Raji. He has the measurables to project in the NFL as a nose tackle--and was really the only one in the draft that looked to be a solid prospect.

He's a project, was drafted as a project, and is perhaps right on schedule. We aren't playing in the 3-4 much this season so I am not surprised we aren't seeing him more often. I wouldn't have expected to see him at all this year except that we've had some injuries so it wouldn't have been a huge surprise had he play a few downs.

 

[mayoclinic]

Let us say that we accept your analysis that Pryor's skill set are a better "schematic fit" for the patriots (at least for one game). Let us also recall that pryor has been ahead of Brace throughout camp with much work with the first team. Pryor stayed ahead of Brace throughout the first half of the season. And how low was Brace on the depth chart? Sands was brought in for a couple of game (and played) when Wilfork was injured.

There are alternatives.
1) While Brace may end up being a great player, we probably paid too much at #40. After all, guys like Pryor were available later. Yes, others likely wanted Brace. However, we were locked on him (and traded up) because we thought he was a major talent and could start for Wilfork in 2010 if necessary. We might have "overpaid" because Brace was the only really solid 3-4 NT left on the board.
2) Brace is everything we expected. After all, we had one full season and two offseasons before he might be needed. This analysis posits that Belichick knew that Brace might take lots of time to develop.
3) Pryor is an exceptional find and, if his talents were known, was worth a second round draft choice. In this argument, it is Pryor that is not playing to the standard expected; he is a great, great find.
4) A good 3-4 NT is very hard to find and to develop.

I suspect that all of these points are at least partial explanations. One thing that we ALL should understand. A non-first round rookie should not be a disappointment because he is not a major contributer in his first year. Personally, I think anyone who expected a player the quality of Wilfork at 40 was expecting way too much. I don't think that there were any Wilfork's in this draft, Raji included. There certainly weren't any besdide Raji.

Good thoughts. I certainly wanted depth at DT behind Wilfork last offseason, and brought up a number of prospects, from the very early (I loved Raji, and thought he could be devestating for us) to the obscure (Vaughn Martin, Sammie Lee Hill, Chris Baker and Pryor, among others). I never really considered Brace, because I didn't see us using a day 1 pick on NT unless Raji somehow slipped, and I thought we would use our day 1 pick on a pass rusher.

I agree with several of your points. A good 3-4 NT is very hard to find. Pryor is certainly playing to a much higher level than that expected from a 6th round pick.

Only time will tell whether we overpaid for Brace, or whether he develops into a quality 3-4 NT. If the later, the #40 pick was probably well spent. I certainly would prefer to see him get some playing time and perform well. The last player we traded up to get in the 2nd round didn't work out too well (Chad Jackson), which makes me a little nervous. But like you I think it's premature to make judgments this early.

 

[JDSal45]

He only had good college numbers because he was next to Raji.

Not true. Raji was suspended his entire Junior year and Brace was still a very good player that year for BC.

J D Sal