Did we strike gold @ #7 again?? Willie Andrews

[fgssand]

Willie Andrews, remember the name folks...........he has 4.44 speed is 5-9 and 182.

ESPN Whispers noted in a recent column (this is not an exact quote here): that the Patriots believe they have one of the steals of the draft noting that Willie travelled under the radar as a senior by playing out of position (he played Strong Safety so the Pats have him down as a CB) - at the very least he shoudl be ye tanother special teams monster for the Pats.



http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/andrews_willie

He has shown the ability to plant, drive and close on passes in front of him from "Off" and "Zone" coverage fast and uses his front arm to break up passes well. The surest thing about Andrews is that he is a good, solid punt returner who can contribute returning punts as a rookie. He will probably stick around the NFL for a few seasons as a backup/No. 44 corneback and return man.



STRONG POINTS
Andrews is a quick-footed athlete who has shown the ability to stay on a receiver's hip in man-to-man coverage. He reads the quarterback well in zone coverage and can break and close quickly enough to make tackles right after the catch on passes outside along the sideline. He has shown a willingness to throw his body into the fray and tackle bigger ball carriers. He is a good punt returner who gets started upfield fast and can keep his feet vs. arm/grab tackles consistently.

 

[BelichickFan]

He seemed like a throwaway pick to me it would be nuts if he ended up being a legit player.

 

[Pats726]

I didn't see it as a throwaway...just another smallish CB to compete..they even brought in two smaller CBs as UFDAs..to compete.. I loved the pick and seeing this makes me think he may make it in some way.

 

[OhExaulted1]

I didn't see it as a throwaway...just another smallish CB to compete..they even brought in two smaller CBs as UFDAs..to compete.. I loved the pick and seeing this makes me think he may make it in some way.

I have a hard time going against 7th Rders contributing in this regime. Out of his last 14 at least 7 have made some type of contribution. Givens is obvious, but Pass, Banta-Cain and Cassell have also gotten significant playing time.

Kelly, Womack and Morton got long looks but didn't pan out. The rest were camp fodder. I like a scrappy underrated kid vying for a spot in the backfeild. He just has that Ellis Hobbs-Deion Branch-Troy Brown type of feel to him.

I'll be rooting for him.

 

[oldrover]

Willie Andrews, remember the name folks...........he has 4.44 speed is 5-9 and 182.

ESPN Whispers noted in a recent column (this is not an exact quote here): that the Patriots believe they have one of the steals of the draft noting that Willie travelled under the radar as a senior by playing out of position (he played Strong Safety so the Pats have him down as a CB) - at the very least he shoudl be ye tanother special teams monster for the Pats.



http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/andrews_willie

He has shown the ability to plant, drive and close on passes in front of him from "Off" and "Zone" coverage fast and uses his front arm to break up passes well. The surest thing about Andrews is that he is a good, solid punt returner who can contribute returning punts as a rookie. He will probably stick around the NFL for a few seasons as a backup/No. 44 corneback and return man.



STRONG POINTS
Andrews is a quick-footed athlete who has shown the ability to stay on a receiver's hip in man-to-man coverage. He reads the quarterback well in zone coverage and can break and close quickly enough to make tackles right after the catch on passes outside along the sideline. He has shown a willingness to throw his body into the fray and tackle bigger ball carriers. He is a good punt returner who gets started upfield fast and can keep his feet vs. arm/grab tackles consistently.

Uh... you forgot this part:

WEAKNESSES

Andrews is a raw player who needs to learn a lot in order to make the switch to cornerback. His backpedal is choppy and off-kilter which hinders his ability to come out of his pedal quickly to break on passes in front of him. He is not a good tackler -- he lunges/dives and misses too many tackles. He lacks ball awareness when his back is to the quarterback in tight man-to-man coverage and he does not react to the ball well because of it.

________

Sounds a lot less 'steal-y' when you report the whole story.

 

[patchick]

Interesting...I'd been assuming that Andrews had been drafted purely as a KR/PR. If he manages to stick with the team as a returner and seizes on the opportunity to develop his DB skills, so much the better! All reports point to terrific attitude and intangibles.

 

[tombonneau]

If he can average more than 2.5 yards on punt returns he will already have earned his 7th round value.

 

[fgssand]

Uh... you forgot this part:

WEAKNESSES

Andrews is a raw player who needs to learn a lot in order to make the switch to cornerback. His backpedal is choppy and off-kilter which hinders his ability to come out of his pedal quickly to break on passes in front of him. He is not a good tackler -- he lunges/dives and misses too many tackles. He lacks ball awareness when his back is to the quarterback in tight man-to-man coverage and he does not react to the ball well because of it.

________

Sounds a lot less 'steal-y' when you report the whole story.

Not when you stop and realize his weaknesses play right into the strength of the Patriots - the ability we have to teach and coach up a player. It is very difficult to teach the attributes Willie possesses such as speed, man to man coverage skill and the return game - every weakness cited was omitted because a quick learner and good student will be able to overcome and blossom in our system. Had he not had these so called "weaknesses" he would not have been a number 7 now would he?

I love the pick and I have a hunch we are going to see a lot from this kid - stay tuned.

 

[oldrover]

Except that all those 'teachable' faults are possessed by Tebucky Jones, and they couldn't coach HIM into being a starting DB because of them... bad tackling, bad in coverage, etc.

Hey, I'd love for the kid to work out. But he is what he is... a looooooongshot.

 

[spacecrime]

He seemed like a throwaway pick to me it would be nuts if he ended up being a legit player.

Not a throwaway. The patriots thought higher of him than a pretty decent MLB (Freddie Roach). They could draft one and hope the other was available in UDFA, and they drafted Andrews.

 

[BelichickFan]

Not a throwaway. The patriots thought higher of him than a pretty decent MLB (Freddie Roach). They could draft one and hope the other was available in UDFA, and they drafted Andrews.

No doubt, you're right. They obviously liked something about him.

 

[DaBruinz]

A few things.

OldRover is correct that you have to look at the entire picture. Andrews is a project. Not only that, I am not sure how good of a kick returner he's going to be given his slow 3 cone. Yes, 7 seconds is SLOW for a CB in the 3 cone. In college, he averaged 24.5 yards per kick return. However, he did average 9.78 yards per punt return. Some of that is definitely him. Some of it is his team blocking.

Now, one thing that is DIFFERENT between him and Tebucky is that Andrews is a TACKLER. Tebucky is a HITTER Tebucky can lay the wood, but he WIFFS and tackles his own guys ALOT. Andrews is know for his ability to WRAP-UP. That, by itself, gives Andrews a leg up on guys like Tebucky :>

 

[patchick]

Now, one thing that is DIFFERENT between him and Tebucky is that Andrews is a TACKLER. Tebucky is a HITTER Tebucky can lay the wood, but he WIFFS and tackles his own guys ALOT. Andrews is know for his ability to WRAP-UP. That, by itself, gives Andrews a leg up on guys like Tebucky :>

FYI, some sources cite Andrews' tackling as a decided weak point:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/andrews_willie

 

[fgssand]

Except that all those 'teachable' faults are possessed by Tebucky Jones, and they couldn't coach HIM into being a starting DB because of them... bad tackling, bad in coverage, etc.

Hey, I'd love for the kid to work out. But he is what he is... a looooooongshot.

Tebucky has that nasty habit of tackling his own players, plus wasn't it his inabilty to smoothly swivel his hips or something that kept him at safety? FWIW, I think Andrews can actualy cover very well in one on one situations and say with his man.

Don't get me wrong here, he is a # 7, but gold can be mined down there at 6 & 7.

Old Rover, I know you would love to see it happen as much as I would.

 

[zippo59]

To take a que from BelichickFan's signature:

'Don't Give Me a Defensive Player Who Can't Tackle . . . What Am I Going to Do With Him ? --- Bill Belichick '

BB would not have drafted Andrews or signed Jones if either had big issues with tackling. He just wouldn't do it. There are plenty of other special teams players who can tackle, there's no reason to get two who are big liabilities in the area. At the very least BB and co. feel they can coach up their tackling.

 

[DaBruinz]

FYI, some sources cite Andrews' tackling as a decided weak point:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/andrews_willie

Never heard of GM JR Scouting LLC so I have no idea as to their credibility. However, I do have to question them when they say that a player has no ball awareness when his back is to the QB. All players have no ball awareness at that point. However, they will look back on occasion.

Also, here is what NFLDraftscout.com says:
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/members/ratings/profile.php?pyid=11880

Strengths: ..... [FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif].Reliable wrap-up tackler who can also hit with good force.

This is the highlights of his weaknesses:

Weaknesses:

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Has the speed of a cornerback, but is too choppy in his backpedal to stay on the hip and focus on the receiver in long routes...[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Despite his return skills, he lacks natural hands to field the ball cleanly....[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Has great straight-line speed, but does not explode out of his cuts and does not show the second gear needed to recover when beaten.

Nothing in the weaknesses says anything about him being a poor tackler.

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/s/willieandrews.html

NFLDraftcountdown mentions in his strengths that he is a solid tackler who can deliver a big hit. They mention nothing about him wiffing on tackles.

[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[zippo59]

I think the poor tackling of Andrews that people are referring to is due mostly to his size. He is never going to be able to tackle like a Rodney Harrison, just becsue of the size discrepency. That does not mean that Andrews can not be a good tackler for his size and develop into a solid defensive player.

 

[DaBruinz]

I think the poor tackling of Andrews that people are referring to is due mostly to his size. He is never going to be able to tackle like a Rodney Harrison, just becsue of the size discrepency. That does not mean that Andrews can not be a good tackler for his size and develop into a solid defensive player.

I disagree. Bob Sanders, who is only 5'8 (shorter than Andrews) is a very good tackler. Now, Granted, he is almost 25 lbs heaver than Andrews, but if Andrews can add 10-15 lbs and not lose any of his speed, I think he could be an even better tackler than he was in college.

We all know and admit that Andrews is a project. Whether he ends up as strictly a return specialist or if he actually can contribute on the field, it will be 2-3 years before we see it.

 

[nickw308810]

I like Andrews but he is definitely a project. I just remember him being picked on in the Senior Bowl a couple of times. I don't remember the exact plays though, but I know it happened. Pretty useless post by me. Oh well.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Interesting...I'd been assuming that Andrews had been drafted purely as a KR/PR. If he manages to stick with the team as a returner and seizes on the opportunity to develop his DB skills, so much the better! All reports point to terrific attitude and intangibles.

Yep. That's how I see it too.