I agree the film on JPP is not flattering, but there is a ton of raw material to work with. He reminds me of the kid from Hawaii a few years ago with the three names and Barwin as well from last year. Yet BB passed on them as well.
I like Lane and I think he would make a great 3-4 OLB in our defense. BB could take him and let him play ST a year while the kid gets a lot stronger and learns the position. With his motor and a ton of coaching and a ton of work with technique, he could work out to be a legitimate playmaker in a year or two.
That's great and all, but it doesn't help the pass rush in 2010. [I'm not saying that the Patriots should forget about Pierre-Paul altogether, merely that it doesn't sound like he can be "the answer."]
There's no quick "answer".
Here's the problem: you have to start a pipeline somewhere, and you can't expect instantaneous results. It's not reasonable to expect a rookie to come in and instantaneously produce on a high level, at any position.
Sure, Brian Orapko has 11 sacks and Clay Matthews 8, but those are exceptions. Aaron Maybin (#11) and Robert Ayers (#18) have 0 combined sacks. Connor Barwin (#46) has 2.5 as a sub, which is quite decent given how much he's played. Everette Brown (#43), considered by many the most polished pass rusher in the draft and considered a top-15 pick this time a year ago, has 1.5. Clint Sintim (#45), considered the most "ready" conversion because of his experience in the 3-4 at Virginia, has 1 sack. Some of those guys may turn out to be "busts", but it's way too early to label any of them a bust at this time. Some rookies just take longer to develop than others.
Pittsburgh didn't draft LaMarr Woodley (#45) in 2007 with the need to plug him in immediately. He did relatively little his rookie year, learned the system, then moved into the starting lineup in 2008 and exploded. Philadelphia took Trent Cole in the 5th round in 2005 and worked him into the lineup slowly, then let him loose as a starter his 2nd year. He's produced 39 sacks in less than 4 years as a starter. There are guys who've produced immediately (Jared Allen had 9 sacks as a rookie, taken in the 4th round in 2004; Elvis Dumervil had 8 sacks, taken in the 4th round in 2006) but again, they're the exceptions, and you can't really count on that kind of rookie production.
We could have drafted Connor Barwin, Clint Sintim or Everette Brown last year at #40 instead of Ron Brace and given them a year to develop. Then they should have been ready to step in in 2010. Instead we have nothing. The odds are that Jason Pierre-Paul, Greg Romeus, and Austen Lane won't do a whole lot as rookies. But if we had drafted Barwin/Sintim/Brown then we wouldn't need to depend on a rookie, and we could take another one and give him a year to develop. Then we'd have a pipeline.
We should have started our pipeline in 2004-2005, at the latest. We're 5 years too late. In the past 4 drafts we've passed up Manny Lawson, Mathias Kiwanuka, Elvis Dumervil, Ray Edwards, Mark Anderson, LaMarr Woodley, Quentin Moses, Brian Robison, Quentin Groves, William Hayes, and all of guys from last year, among others.
William Hayes is a great example. 6'3" 265# high motor kid form Winston-Salem St. who ran a 4.59 40, and played both DE and OLB in school. Tennessee traded up to take him #103 in the 4th round in 2008, and he's now a starter and doing well. We took Kevin O'Connell at 94, and cut him in TC.
We blew our chance to establish a pipeline. We could have Connor Barwin ready to step in next year, and then take Austen Lane in the second round this year. Or we could have traded up for Quentin Groves in 2008 (taken by Jackson at #52, 10 picks ahead of when we took Terrance Wheatley; Jacksvonville traded up to get Groves). By 2011 we could have one of the best pass rushing tandems in the NFL. Heck, if we'd taken Groves and Barwin, then perhaps we wouldn't even need to take an OLB in 2010. Even if one of them didn't pan out, we'd still have something to build on. But instead we don't take anyone, and then lament that there's no rookie we can count on to step in and produce day 1. We could probably have picked Groves up for cheap at the trade deadline this year (he was rumored to be on the block, and wasn't starting for Jax, so he should have been cheap), but didn't make a move.
Einstein called insanity "doing the same thing over and expecting a different result". We've done the same thing over and over again. It hasn't worked out.
We've got 4 picks in the first 2 rounds. Take a chance on JPP, or Romeus, or Austen Lane, or Jeremy Beal, or some other guys. Maybe 2 of them. Figure out which ones have tghe best chance, but don't expect miracles for 2010, and expect perfection from the draft process. But just maybe we'll have something worth building on for 2011.
