Conversion Prospects?

[PATSNUTme]

For the past 5 years or more, this forum favorite subject has been which DE will become the next OLB pass rusher for the Patriots.

Many of us, including me, have spent hours onthis only to have BB pass over our hard work and break our hearts year after year.

So, is this the year that the coversion prospect has no gone the way of the buffalo? Or, are there 1 or 2 out there that BB better draft his year?

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

tease, please don't start this again, I can't take it anymore. Let's face it, he just isn't gonig to draft a pass rusher....

 

[patsderoer]

Jake Bequette looks like the best candidate. Has ideal size and weight, and great combine agility numbers, 6.9 3-cone and 4.07 short shuttle. He also has great college production, 10 sacks and 5 FF in 10 games this last season playing in SEC. Finished his college career with 23.5 sacks.

In this era where QBs throw for 5k like its nothing, and receivers cannot be touched, pass rushers are really needed.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

This remains mind boggling to me.

BB sees the game changing and makes adjustments to his schemes all the time, yet there remains the 3-4 OLB position; which he steadfastly refuses to draft. He won't even draft a developmental prospect unless they project as better ST players than starters in the base defense.

For example on making adjustments: On offense he sees the rise in dime and nickel defenses and moves to a double TE based offense. Mismatches galore. Genius, no doubt.

Yet here we are surrounded by an explosion of passing, and he still refuses to draft a pass rusher, and a good pass rusher is beyond a shadow of a doubt, the BEST defense to a passing offense.

Even weirder is that while he will not draft and develop a pass rusher, he appears to have no problems signing free agent pass rushers that he passed on years before in previous drafts and still end up having to teach them his defense.

This makes no sense to me.

 

[reflexblue]

tease, please don't start this again, I can't take it anymore. Let's face it, he just isn't gonig to draft a pass rusher....

Agreed, I've given up. Last year was a killer; I can't go through that again.

 

[everlong]

I don't see a player at the top of this draft who meets the size and speed that BB requires and can set the edge, rush the passer and drop into coverage. If there's a conversion coming it will be later in the draft. I know people will make a case for Branch, Mercilus and Perry but what do those players have that Barwin, Matthews, Sheard and others didn't? None of them are seamless.

 

[VrabelJr]

I'd rather we just play more of a 4-3 under defense and grab some talent at DE. Skip this 3-4 OLB hooplah all together. It's just too much risk/getting excited about for nothing. First we hope he drafts one... then we hope that player will actually develop.

 

[captain stone]

But you can't win if you don't play, and Bill simply hasn't given himself a chance to win the lottery
for a starting-caliber Pass-Rusher; and the 2 whole times he has invested a top-100 draft pick on one,
has been an unmitigated, amateurish disaster - which most of us saw coming a mile away.

This is in response to post #6, but I was too slow on the type to immed. proceed it like I thought I would.

 

[everlong]

But you can't win if you don't play, and Bill simply hasn't given himself a chance to win the lottery
for a starting-caliber Pass-Rusher; and the 2 whole times he has invested a top-100 draft pick on one,
has been an unmitigated, amateurish disaster - which most of us saw coming a mile away.

This is in response to post #6, but I was too slow on the type to immed. proceed it like I thought I would.

I don't disagree but why will he choose to play this time when he didn't the others? The players in this draft have the same faults.

 

[DH523]

One thing to remember is that in his scheme, the OLBs are usually asked to either support the edge against the run, stuff the run plays outside, sniff out screens, or cover the flats. They get asked to blitz at times but it isn't nearly as prevalent as a guy in the Steelers/Texans schemes so it's not nearly as big a priority in the actual scheme itself. That also partly explains why they have often taken DEs/DTs in the 1st or 2nd Round who are able to play along the defensive line.

Also it's not like the "stars" that New England plucked as FAs were all 1st or even 2nd Round selections themselves.

- Mike Vrabel was a 3rd Rounder.
- Rosevelt Colvin was a 4th Rounder.
- Rob Ninkovich was a 5th Rounder.

 

[mrscruff]

I think Shea McClennin would be the safest pick to play OLB for the Pats in a 3-4.

Some background info:
3-4 OLB

With Ninkovich on the roster to handle basic zone dropping duties, possibly BB tries to find an OLB who is primarily a pass rusher gambling on the likes of Andre Branch or even Nick Perry.

I read somewhere that when Everson Griffen was on the board on 2010 draft day, the Patriots were ready to take him before an offer from Carolina came in for a future 1st. The Patriots denied calling Griffen. But this week someone mentioned (I can't remember who) Griffen's similarities to Nick Perry both in measurables and production. However, (if the rumours were true) Patriots were looking at Griffen in the third and not the first where Perry is most likely to go.

Final answer is, I have no idea who will be a conversion prospect for the Pats in this draft.

 

[captain stone]

I would be all over Shea McClellin at 48 if Pass-Rusher isn't addressed at 27 or 31.

I too seem to vaguely recall the Everson Griffen story, though Bill still could've taken him with the pick used for Taylor (they kept Tyquan feckin Underwood instead of me?) Price. What Bill should've done is draft Golden Tate with the pick thrown away on Jermaine ****ingham, who would have beyond a shadow of a doubt been still available at the end of the 3rd round.

 

[fester]

This remains mind boggling to me. ....
Yet here we are surrounded by an explosion of passing, and he still refuses to draft a pass rusher, and a good pass rusher is beyond a shadow of a doubt, the BEST defense to a passing offense.

Even weirder is that while he will not draft and develop a pass rusher, he appears to have no problems signing free agent pass rushers that he passed on years before in previous drafts and still end up having to teach them his defense.

This makes no sense to me.

We know the 3-4 OLB conversion for rookies is an absolute beast of a process with a very, very high attrition rate. Recently, the top 3-4 conversion projects have been working out decently, but out of the 1st round, the failure rate is significantly above failure rates for non-conversion players.

Risk minimization --- a vet that has proven that he is NFL competent (or better) in hand fighting, in setting up moves, in setting contain, in taking coaching etc is less risky than a 1st rounder (much less a 2nd, 3rd or 4th rounder) who besides switching positions is also switching levels of competition and expectations. I think the thought process is that TBC or Anderson or Burgess may not be elite players BUT they are NFL competent players and can be relied upon to be NFL competent players instead of a great gamble that the next rookie is either Connor Barwin OR Brandon Graham. It is a trade of cash ( and some lower picks) along with lower ceiling for much higher floor.

Not sure if I agree with that, but to me it makes sense.

 

[UK_Pat37]

4-3/3-4 talk is massively overblown and overrated. The hybrid is the way forward (which is more of a 3-3 personnel just without the traditional stack).

The team needs an edge setting defensive end who can stand up against the run and rush the passer. Potentially move inside if required but Love does a nice enough job whilst we move Wilfork around.

They still like to two gap an awful lot with it though, so Jared Crick I really like as a DE/DT hybrid prospect. I'd have definitely liked to settle for someone like Cox, but he's elevated himself well out of our reach!