He is good against the run, makes plays, and is a good tackler. If you just watched him play you would like him, and think he is bigger, so it makes it strange when you find out how small he is. If Blades was a little taller he would fit the Ted Johnson role prefectly, but he's not. A lot of smaller LB's are fast which helps make up their lack of size, but Blades is not really that fast, either. If NE was going to take any of the short LB's who could be around in the third round, Buster Davis would be the better pick. Buster has been one of my favorite defensive plays all year, but the lack of size hurts his draft stock.