Rookie Review for the 1st quarter of the season

[BobDigital]

I wanted to make a thread about how i feel about this rookie class. I have made no secret about how excited I am about it and think it might be the best class overall of the BB era as far as the sheer amount of keepers it looks like we are getting this year. Obviously it is still very early but I do you can tell fairly early on if a player is likely it by seeing them flash a little. With no further ado lets get to it.

#1 Malcom Brown -Not the best start for the young rookie. I was hoping for more instant impact but was not worried if there turned out not to be. However I am already seeing a trend with him. He has IMO improved just about every game. This last one he looked fairly solid. He has the talent and we saw his snaps increase as the year has gone on mostly. Over all I like the direction he is going and believe he will contribute much more in year 2 (ala Wilfork) though I expect to see this steady improvement in year 1 most likely.

#2 Jordan Richards - He is going very under the radar right now but he looks like a very good player to me who came in fairly NFL ready. His speed on the field is not bad at all and we have seen him use his smarts and awareness at times to great success. Right now Harmon/Chung are taking most of the snaps opposite McCourty and rightly so. Both are more experienced and having good years. The depth here is a blessing and a curse for Richards. He is getting taken along slowly but missing playing time which could help and would give him more of the credit he deserves. IMO if the draft was done again today he would not last till 64.

#3 Geneo Grissom - Filled in well for Easley when he was out and seems to be able to play most front 7 positions well. Simply too much talent ahead of him but the little he has shown has been pretty good.

#4 Trey Flowers - Simply too much talent ahead of him. I have hopes and believe he will be good though. This is simply an N/A. With Jones/Nink/Sheard you don't dress a 4th pure DE.

#5 Tre Jackson - Has been overall solid and worth the pick. I see him as a solution for years to come and brings some size to what has overall traditionally been a smaller IOL which allows the Pats to do different things.

#6 Shaq Mason - To this point he has IMO been the best rookie of this class. He blows people up every week in the running game and his pass protection has been solid. Arguably has been the best guard from this class so far.

#7 Joe Cardona - I have had no issue with the long snaps to this point. Enough said.

#8 Matt Wells - The first real miss seems to have happened in round 6.
#9 AJ Derby - Miss

#10 Darryl Roberts - They seemed to have something with him before he got injured. Hoping he can make a come back next year.

#11 Xzavier ****son - Miss

UDFA - David Andrews - Good find here. Has been solid overall and would upgrade the starter on a lot of teams as is.

Overall not counting signings after the fact the Pats might have walked away with up to 9 players this year (that is over 1/6th the roster) That is a great year.

 

[50-yard-line]

Yep, that's what I thought when I watched the draft and read the reports on the picks.

 

[RobertWeathers]

BB kicked absolute ass in the offseason.

If Andrews, Mason and Jackson had not come through I really think this team is 2-2.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

#9 AJ Derby - Miss

Let's call it an INC for now. Ditto for Roberts.

 

[zydecochris]

#1 Malcom Brown -Not the best start for the young rookie. I was hoping for more instant impact but was not worried if there turned out not to be. However I am already seeing a trend with him. He has IMO improved just about every game. This last one he looked fairly solid. He has the talent and we saw his snaps increase as the year has gone on mostly. Over all I like the direction he is going and believe he will contribute much more in year 2 (ala Wilfork) though I expect to see this steady improvement in year 1 most likely.

I would respectfully argue that Brown's start has been fine, even promising. As has been discussed in other threads, it seems to me that DT is an extremely hard position to make a big impact as a rookie (only two DT's as defensive rookies of the year in the last two decades), and as you point out even great players like Wilfork didn't set the world on fire their rookie year.

However, I think a stronger argument for how BB feels about Brown's progress is the DL snap count yesterday. So far everything I have read indicated that early on Brown's main problems were against the run instead of the pass. So, we play run-happy Dallas that is missing its two passing stars in Romo and Bryant but has a top OL. What is the snap count? Malcom Brown -- 23, Alan Branch -- 23, Dominique Easley -- 19, Sealver Siliga -- 18, Akiem Hicks -- 18, and Geneo Grissom -- 9.

So: Brown tied for the most number of DT snaps, and against run happy Dallas. And, this isn't like the year that Wilfork went down where we were lining up guys like Vellano. The DL looks pretty good to me this year, and Brown is taking snaps against some very solid players like Siliga (solid against the run), Easley (who has really flashed this year), and Hicks (a starter in New Orleans).

It looks to me like Brown is off to a very promising start.

 

[The Gr8est]

AJ Derby went on IR before he had a chance to compete. Has good measurable and as an ex-QB, a good understanding of offense.

Not a miss, yet.