Jon Abbate ILB Wake Forest

[PATSNUTme]

I like him. I like him as a 2nd option for ILB in the 4th round.

To hell with all the stats and measurables. The kid is a football player with all of the 'patriot type' attributes. Measure his heart, smarts, and guts at 6'10.

boy, was that poetic!

 

[patchick]

There's a certain kind of guy. He's not blessed with great size or athleticism, but he's smart, tough and has the heart of a lion. He's a leader in the locker room, a fixture in the weight room and the film room. He flat-out loves football and will do whatever it takes to play the game. What does a college coach do with a guy like that? He makes him an ILB. He's in the middle of the action, a coach on the field. He becomes the heart and soul of the defense, the linchpin of the team's success. And at the college level, his physical limitations aren't exposed too much in that role.

You see these guys in every draft and you root for them to succeed in the NFL. Most often, though, the pro game just takes more than they have to give. Tim McGarigle and Anthony Schlegel were guys like that last year. Schlegel registered 1 tackle in his rookie year, which was one more than McGarigle...and they're both bigger and more athletic than Abbate.

Of course, every player is an individual. Abbate may well be the one to buck the odds. But with regrets, he's not on my draft board.

 

[DaBruinz]

Another short ILB like Davis and Blades. Give him 3 inches and I'm interested but even Belichick can't coach ht.

Nope. Belichick can't. But height didn't stop Tedy Bruschi from being a player. Granted, Abbate is about 3 inches shorter than Bruschi, but Bruschi isn't tall.

 

[BelichickFan]

Nope. Belichick can't. But height didn't stop Tedy Bruschi from being a player. Granted, Abbate is about an inch shorter than Bruschi, but Bruschi isn't tall.

If Bruschi's listed height is correct, he's about 3 inches taller.

 

[DaBruinz]

Oh, and Abbate does have long arms.....

From Abbate's Agility test:
"Campus: 4.67 in the 40-yard dash … 360-pound bench press … 500-pound squat … 315-pound power clean … 32-inch vertical jump … 31 5/8-inch arm length … 9¼-inch hands."

Compare that to 6'2" 239lbs Michigan ILB David Harris:
"Campus: 4.66 in the 40-yard dash … 355-pound bench press … 30¾-inch arm length … 9 1/8-inch hands."

Unfortunately, Abbate ran at the combine and the last 20 yards, something happened because he ran a 5.00 flat. That's not good. However, his 10 and 20 yard splits aren't bad, but they aren't outstanding either.

Abbate also had a 38.5 inch vertical at the combine.

Abbate's Pro-Day will determine where he goes.

 

[DaBruinz]

If Bruschi's listed height is correct, he's about 3 inches taller.

Corrected myself already.

 

[SamBamsFan]

I like Abbatte, and like Patschick, I root for those guys. After saying all that, I believe his upside in the NFL is Larry Izzo which isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

[BelichickFan]

I guess I can't put Dan Klecko out of my mind when I read about these short guys with good attitudes and good bulk. My problem, not his, but I guess I'm biased.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Stats are stats, Abbate was far and away the better performer of the 2. Do you recall a great stats guy going into the combine? I can come up with Mike Mammula and he was god awful. Abbate would be a great mid round addition to the Defense.

I watched the combine and specifically the LBs. Harris jumped in my opinion to just about Willis' level. (for the Patriots scheme, maybe slightly better!) He also ran under 4.55... twice. The consensus had him at a second round level, prior to the combine and they thought he was a 4.75+ . Now he is being talked about early second and even late first.

Abbate has heart but should start filing out applictions for the CFL...

 

[patchick]

There's a certain kind of guy. He's not blessed with great size or athleticism, but he's smart, tough and has the heart of a lion. He's a leader in the locker room, a fixture in the weight room and the film room. He flat-out loves football and will do whatever it takes to play the game. What does a college coach do with a guy like that? He makes him an ILB. He's in the middle of the action, a coach on the field. He becomes the heart and soul of the defense, the linchpin of the team's success. And at the college level, his physical limitations aren't exposed too much in that role.

You see these guys in every draft and you root for them to succeed in the NFL. Most often, though, the pro game just takes more than they have to give. Tim McGarigle and Anthony Schlegel were guys like that last year. Schlegel registered 1 tackle in his rookie year, which was one more than McGarigle...and they're both bigger and more athletic than Abbate.

Of course, every player is an individual. Abbate may well be the one to buck the odds. But with regrets, he's not on my draft board.

Just a note that Jon Abbate was waived by the Texans today, after a brief experiment at fullback. Not the one to buck the odds, alas.

 

[PonyExpress]

Each year a player gets tagged as the "next Bruschi". It's become almost as difficult to bear that burden as "the next Mickey Mantle". I fall prey to this myself, and forget that Bruschi was among the greatest division I college football players of all time, setting the single season sack record at over 20. When I first started studying the draft, I believed with my heart that college production and leadership were the key predictors of NFL success. I exhaustively created a data base to track this, going back years and finding trends. To my horror, I discovered that in fact raw athleticism, as reflected in pre-draft drills is the key indicator of success if interpreted correctly. By those standards, Abbate had no chance. It is a sad disheartening truth that character can keep you in the NFL, but it can't get you there.

 

[patchick]

When I first started studying the draft, I believed with my heart that college production and leadership were the key predictors of NFL success. I exhaustively created a data base to track this, going back years and finding trends. To my horror, I discovered that in fact raw athleticism, as reflected in pre-draft drills is the key indicator of success if interpreted correctly. By those standards, Abbate had no chance. It is a sad disheartening truth that character can keep you in the NFL, but it can't get you there.

Fascinating!

And we can now add the freshly cut Buster Davis to this unfortunate list.