Easley signed

[Marqui]

That remains to be seen as neither have played a single snap in the NFL. I did read that some saw Easley as a better player if not for the injuries. Of course, those happened so we'll have to wait and see how he holds up.

They played snaps in college and Donald was the better player even when Easley was healthy. Donald is the better prospect and he's not considered a Sapp/Watt level talent, so Easley definitely shouldn't.

 

[mayoclinic]

How much is Easley going to play out of the gate?

anybody got a firm answer to that question?

Less than a year from ACL reconstruction.That's a question with many answers, most of them pointing to, historically,a player's second year removed before he's fully recovered.

Collins was almost exclusively special teams until December last season, fully healthy. The Pats eased him in as he became familiar with his responsibilities.Will Easley get snaps right out of the gate?

I want to SEE him play preseason snaps before I form any opinions.

I think you're right, though I see it as a different situation to Collins. Collins was an athletic freak who needed a little refinement before his role could really be established. Easley seems like the type of player who historically would come in and contribute right away: Athletic, tough, and a motor that won't quit. His question marks are injury and recovery related. But if those check out, I don't see the Patriots having to hold him back until he learns more. I think if the knee holds up he's at least a 3rd down specialist week one.

Remember how Chris Jones, Vellano et. al. started off well but flagged as the season and playoffs went on? The problem was that these limited talent players played too many snaps. They were exhausted. What's exciting to me about the 2014 Pats is that with Easely's motor, plus a deep well rested rotation at DL, we'll wreak havoc and let loose the dogs of war by the 3rd QTR in many games.

We ended last season with Siliga, Chris Jones and Vellano at DT. I'll take any upgrade over that, including 2nd year improvements by those guys, and improvements due to better positional depth.

At NT, Wilfork reportedly looked good in minicamp and OTAs and has declared himself ready to go, but has yet to be tested. It's still unknown whether his reported explosiveness will translate when he goes up against competition, or how his Achilles tendon will hold up.

At the 3-tech position, Easley is competing with Tommy Kelly, Armond Armstead, Chris Jones and Joe Vellano. The bar set by Jones and Vellano last year is not that high. Armstead has yet to get on the field, or to be medically cleared for contact, so Easley is well ahead of him. Kelly has been a bit slow to recover from his ACL injury and is 33. I think it's an open question who wins the starting job at that position going into training camp and no one expects a Patriot rookie to be anointed as a starter at this point, but a healthy Easley has as good a chance as anyone, and I think that he'll at least get a significant role out of the gate if his body is ready.

 

[Kontradiction]

We ended last season with Siliga, Chris Jones and Vellano at DT. I'll take any upgrade over that, including 2nd year improvements by those guys, and improvements due to better positional depth.

At NT, Wilfork reportedly looked good in minicamp and OTAs and has declared himself ready to go, but has yet to be tested. It's still unknown whether his reported explosiveness will translate when he goes up against competition, or how his Achilles tendon will hold up.

At the 3-tech position, Easley is competing with Tommy Kelly, Armond Armstead, Chris Jones and Joe Vellano. The bar set by Jones and Vellano last year is not that high. Armstead has yet to get on the field, or to be medically cleared for contact, so Easley is well ahead of him. Kelly has been a bit slow to recover from his ACL injury and is 33. I think it's an open question who wins the starting job at that position going into training camp, but a healthy Easley has as good a chance as anyone, and I think that he'll at least get a significant role out of the gate if his body is ready.

I agree. I'm thinking he'll start out as a 3-tech sub-rusher on third and fourth downs (if it's 4th and long near the end of the game) on top of possible roles on both the punt and field goal units. I think he'll have to prove that he can hold up against the run at the professional level before Belichick begins using him on first and second downs.

 

[dales804]

They played snaps in college and Donald was the better player even when Easley was healthy. Donald is the better prospect and he's not considered a Sapp/Watt level talent, so Easley definitely shouldn't.

So now college snaps tell the story of what you'll be in the NFL? I never said Easley was a HOF talent, as the two being mentioned are. I was simply comparing Donald to Easley.

 

[Marqui]

Kelly has been a bit slow to recover from his ACL injury and is 33.

Where has it been reported that Kelly has been slow to recover from his ACL injury? I thought I read Wilfork, Kelly, and Smith have all been participating in around the same level.

 

[mayoclinic]

I agree. I'm thinking he'll start out as a 3-tech sub-rusher on third and fourth downs (if it's 4th and long near the end of the game) on top of possible roles on both the punt and field goal units. I think he'll have to prove that he can hold up against the run at the professional level before Belichick begins using him on first and second downs.

The run-stopping is where Kelly (if healthy) has a significant advantage. I'm personally not worrying too much about it. When Easley was drafted I thought there was some chance he would start the year on PUP, and then be eased in as a sub rusher over the second half of the season, hopefully being ready to make a Collinsesque impact come playoff time. Anything ahead of that schedule is a major bonus, IMO, and right now I think there's a good chance that he'll be well ahead of that schedule.

 

[Marqui]

So now college snaps tell the story of what you'll be in the NFL?

They tell you the story of what level a prospect you are. I said "he's not quite that level of a prospect", never said anything about what anyone's definitely going to be in the NFL.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

I think Dobson would've benefited a ton from spending a large portion of the 6+ month offseason working day in and day out with Brady. I agree that missing minicamp isn't a big deal, but the whole picture is less than ideal, especially since before his foot injury last year I felt that he was on the cusp of becoming a really good receiver, based on his size and the separation that he was consistently getting. I'm still hopeful that he'll make the leap this year anyway, though.

I thought Dobson did do some training with Tom over the offseason. I thought I saw an article on it awhile back but not 100% sure

 

[mayoclinic]

Field Yates breaks down Easley's contract;

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-..._/id/4764439/closer-look-at-easleys-contract

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

What's neat is with $5.8 guaranteed, he can get a huge mortgage should he wish.
Snark aside I sincerely hope more young players live below their means just in case. They don't have to go the full Mankins about it, just manage their expenses and don't buy into "business deals" with friends, family, posse & advisors.

 

[Kontradiction]

What's neat is with $5.8 guaranteed, he can get a huge mortgage should he wish.
Snark aside I sincerely hope more young players live below their means just in case. They don't have to go the full Mankins about it, just manage their expenses and don't buy into "business deals" with friends, family, posse & advisors.

Hard to do for a lot of those guys. Most of them come from dirt poor backgrounds and families without means so it's hard to expect them to be financially prudent. That's why you see so many of them get hood rich after their first contract.

 

[Deus Irae]

I just want to see a nice DT rotation. That shouldn't be too much to ask for with this group.

I still think they should also have drafted a lardass like McCullers, though.

 

[Kontradiction]

I just want to see a nice DT rotation. That shouldn't be too much to ask for with this group.

I still think they should also have drafted a lardass like McCullers, though.

If McCullers can ever learn to lower his shoulder pads so he's not so exposed, he could be dangerous in this league.

 

[Deus Irae]

If McCullers can ever learn to lower his shoulder pads so he's not so exposed, he could be dangerous in this league.

I agree. I see the potential* for him to be a poor man's Dontari Poe.



*Dangerous word, I know.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Hard to do for a lot of those guys. Most of them come from dirt poor backgrounds and families without means so it's hard to expect them to be financially prudent. That's why you see so many of them get hood rich after their first contract.

Quite true. They also rely too much on their agents for general advice. I'd like to see the Patriots being active in helping their players with such issues (perhaps they do, though, and I don't know about it). Credit to the players who came from poor backgrounds and stayed very cautious about money. Ty Warren, Rosevelt Colvin, Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods, Jarvis Green come to mind.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I just want to see a nice DT rotation. That shouldn't be too much to ask for with this group.

I still think they should also have drafted a lardass like McCullers, though.

Don't know if I'd use the word "lardass". He is huge, though (he was a draft binkie for me).

 

[Deus Irae]

Don't know if I'd use the word "lardass". He is huge, though (he was a draft binkie for me).

Lardass, toilet clogger, plugger, run stuffer, etc... whatever works for you. I was all for drafting him, precisely because he's a big fatty with good physical skills. But let's not kid about his weight history. He was a 400 pounder at one point, and he's still somewhere around 350 or so, or he was at the combine.

 

[mcmurtry86]

With Easley and potentially Armstead being able to play outside at LDE on early downs, combined with Buchanan, Smith, and Bequette or Moore it should free things up a bit to allow Ninkovich to play some snaps at the SAM.

I'd be shocked if more than 2 of Bequette, Moore, Smith and Buchanan make the team. Armstead seems like a given to either be cut or IR'd.

 

[patfanken]

They played snaps in college and Donald was the better player even when Easley was healthy. Donald is the better prospect and he's not considered a Sapp/Watt level talent, so Easley definitely shouldn't.

If you are going to start to compare Easly and Donald's college snaps you'd better also consider the competition they played against.
The ACC doesn't compare to the SEC in football right now, especially in depth.

I'd like to see how Donald fared against Florida State last season. I hope he did better than his team. All I know is that against one of the best college OL's in the country (Tenn), Easly dominated. So while Easly fell because of his injuries, no one really knows (unless you are on an NFL personnel staff), how Donald and Easly compared and who would have been rated higher if healthy

 

[Mike the Brit]

Lardass, toilet clogger, plugger, run stuffer, etc... whatever works for you. I was all for drafting him, precisely because he's a big fatty with good physical skills. But let's not kid about his weight history. He was a 400 pounder at one point, and he's still somewhere around 350 or so, or he was at the combine.

OK, I don't want to argue this, but his more recent photos don't look Terency Cody-esque to me. Let's just agree on "big".