Ealy and Flowers:

[Addictive]

Are these two the starting DE's next season? I know flowers has rotated to the inside too, but I assume that Brown, Branch and Guy will be the guys there.

Does Nink not start? Just asking because he seems to be a BB favourite.

 

[meatface]

Does Nink not start? Just asking because he seems to be a BB favourite.

idk, thats why I'm asking. Nink would probably benefit from rotating

 

[BradyFTW!]

Flowers was a grateful surprise. And his best games came in the later part of the season, which is huge for a young player.

I could easily foresee it a 10+ sacks season next year.

I'll wait before predicting anything over Ealy.

Same. I'm very bullish on Flowers, I believe his performance this season will warrant Pro Bowl consideration. Everything I've seen from him and everything about his career trajectory so far suggests that this is his time to really explode onto the scene, kind of a DE version of Malcolm Butler's 2015.

Ealy, OTOH, I have no idea. Could see him being a rich man's, pure DE version of the Akeem Ayers year. Could see the year passing pretty uneventfully and us letting him walk in FA without a second thought. No idea which we're getting, but not too worried about it considering how little we gave up. I think it would be wise for the Pats to pencil him in no higher than third on the depth chart (ideally fourth), and if he gives more than we anticipated getting then all the better.

 

[Uptown]

Hopefully the "Chandler Jones"second half of the season dip in production does not repeat itself.

 

[willard]

I don't know, I like players who play better late in the season.

Bullish on Ealy because he has the physical makeup, is in his prime and is playing for his big contract. Biggest wildcard as a fan is not knowing how the punishment of the game will impact his play. These are the win/win scenarios the Patriots seem to be excelling at the last several years.

 

[The Gr8est]

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but when asked about Ealy recently. Ron Rivera said that he felt that Ealy would do well under BB as long as he just does what he is told to do. In fact, Rivera said that same thing twice, just worded a bit differently the 2nd time.

So, doesn't that suggest that Rivera was NOT successful in getting Ealy to do what he was told, and that was a reason why he hasn't lived up to expectations, a la Jamie Collins?

Certainly BB has the gravitas to get players to listen to him and buy in, and with one year to go, if would be beneficial for Ealy to have a good year.

So is Ealy not as coachable as we'd like, and will that be an issue this year? Certainly BB will expect him to "do his job", just as he expects from all of his players, and BB is probably not going to just let him pin his ears back and rush the passer and get his stats.

Should be an interesting development to watch unfold.

 

[bbobbo]

i just learned some more about trey flowers. no wonder he's done well with the patriots.

Trey Flowers gets his high school number retired

Trey Flowers | Football 2014 | Senior CLASS Award

intelligent:

The things he learned at Columbia High School, he said, helped set him up for success in college and again in the NFL.

"Being able to learn and grasp basic concepts at Columbia High School, I had a 4.0, so just understanding how to study, how to prioritize your time, because you know I was balancing sports and academics," Trey said. "Once I got to college, I wouldn’t say fairly easy, but I understood what it took to be a scholar and an athlete."

Trey Flowers excels in the classroom as the standout defensive end will graduate early with his degree in Economics this December. His GPA is over 3.0 and he is one of the most academically successful student-athletes on the football team.

Flowers’ efforts in the classroom have earned him academic recognition each year at Arkansas, as he was named to the Razorback Honor Roll in the fall of 2011 and the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll in 2012 and 2013.

His work in the classroom is even more impressive considering the difficulty of his classes. Flowers is enrolled in the Sam W. Walton College of Business, a Top 30 business college according to U.S. News & World Report.

Flowers’ ability to learn quickly and commit himself to his studies during his time as a student-athlete at Arkansas shows how productive he will be once his playing career is over.

a leader:

He is a leader by example. The senior admittedly doesn’t enjoy talking much, but knows how inspired his younger teammates can be by watching him both on and off the field. His leadership and demeanor was recognized by the coaching staff over the summer as Coach Bielema selected Flowers as one of Arkansas’ three representatives at SEC Media Day.

The Razorback football players also respect Flowers and look to him for inspiration. His peers elected him as one of the team captains prior to the 2014 season.

plays with a chip on his shoulder:

Trey Flowers has played with a chip on his shoulder throughout his entire career. Growing up in the backyard of Auburn and Alabama, Flowers was very familiar with the SEC. But after he finished his high school career, the Huntsville, Ala. native had just one scholarship offer from an SEC school - Arkansas.

Flowers took that chip and turned it into one of the most successful careers a defensive lineman has ever had at Arkansas.

 

[RIpats88]

ealy had 5 sacks last year, Sheard had 5 sacks last year. so at worst ealy does what sheard did last year in a super bowl winning season. at best he regains his form and is an 8 sack guy imo

we still need to replace chris long. because as of now we dont have the 4 man rotation we did last year. last year was flowers, nink, sheard, long. this year so far flowers, nink, ealy and...?

 

[JMC00]

Hopefully the "Chandler Jones"second half of the season dip in production does not repeat itself.

Not exactly sure what Hill is saying with this but let me re-post a more telling stat went comes to cast-away DEs coming to NE

 

[JMC00]

flowers, nink, ealy and...?

Guy.. Guy is Long's replacement.

Long left because he wasn't keen on playing 3-technique which he did a lot of last year Guy's ideal positions are 3-tech and 5-tech. Guy offers more versatility because he can play DT in the 4-3 and DE in the 3-4 or even NT in 3-4.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

Like to see Grissom do something its crazy he was drafted before Flowers

 

[n6249c]

You may very well be right, and Ealy was a much better prospect than Cunningham in the first place. I'm just tempering my expectations because when the news broke and I checked Panthers forums to see their reactions, they all were essentially saying "good riddance." This is what Lions fans were saying when we got Van Noy, so it's not necessarily a sign of anything, but if Ealy succeeds here I think it will count as a career turnaround.

Isn't that what all fans say when one of their players moves on? And especially when he moves to NE?

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Flowers got a taste on Big Stage and came through. He will only get better with games and gain confidence as well as BB & Patricia with him. Depending who is with him forming a rotation of our present 4 or getting a possible Rusher/Edge Rusher through Draft, then Skies his limit.

As for Ealy, at worse it could be a wash with loss of Long. Change of scenery for Ealy might do him good. His play was limited and had less reps on Panthers and if he can give us a glimpse of his play vs Broncos in SB 50 from time to time and especially in P'Offs and again depending on what players are in a rotation and schemes, this can be fun to watch.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Am I the only one who thinks Ninkovich is a potential cut in 2017? Patriots would take a $1M cap hit but save $1.5M. They signed him to an extension last year to spread out the cap amount over two years, not necessarily to keep him. He is 33 years old and seems to be dropping off very fast. The team doesn't appear to have a lot of guys who can play his position, but that hasn't prevented Belichick from cutting bait in the past.

Should be noted that the Patriots traded Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs at a similar age (34), and that was just two years removed from Vrabel's peak '07 season when he had 12.5 sacks. In '08, Vrabel dropped to 4.0 sacks and was done. Ninkovich had 4.0 sacks in 12 games last year, and his sack production has declined steadily over the last three seasons (8, 6.5, 4), not that sacks are everything, but it seems his overall play has also trended downward. If they keep him for 2017, I imagine that will be his last season with the Patriots.