LaFell and Easley not present at practice

[Danger Zone]

They drafted a guy coming off of ACL surgery. It should be expected that his rookie season might be sub-par, as a result. If you take a look at the first round picks this season, it's been a very good draft crop. Let's hold off on judging Easley until he's had the time to heal and adapt to the NFL.

Somebody get Ian, Deus' account has just been hijacked by a Patriot's homer

 

[RobertWeathers]

Gronk is the best TE and graham is a great wr. As the poster above said, even graham recognizes he is a wr

The reason why Graham made those statements was that he was concerned about being given the franchise tag by the Saints as a TE and not a WR. WR tag was > than TE tag value.

 

[Oswlek]

The reason why Graham made those statements was that he was concerned about being given the franchise tag by the Saints as a TE and not a WR. WR tag was > than TE tag value.

Agreed. But it's still the truth.

 

[Sicilian]

Every year we bust our draft picks earlier and earlier. Right now it's at 10 weeks into his rookie season. In a few years we're going to start hearing, "Did you see how long it took him to climb the steps to shake Goodell's hand at the draft? This player will never be explosive enough to play in the NFL. BUST!"

 

[kennyb]

I would expect good production out of a first round pick. They only have then for 4 years. He spends the first year injured for the most part. There was some indication that his injuries were chronic.

Maybe it's me but that doesn't sound good.

I will defer to the experts though.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Agreed. But it's still the truth.

I would agree...

 

[OhExaulted1]

They drafted a guy coming off of ACL surgery. It should be expected that his rookie season might be sub-par, as a result. If you take a look at the first round picks this season, it's been a very good draft crop. Let's hold off on judging Easley until he's had the time to heal and adapt to the NFL.

I've been a little harsh on him, especially early this year, but I suppose it's been more knee-jerk since our 2nd pick won't see the field and Stork had a tough time getting on the field initially. Easley got 34 snaps last week (4 on ST's), which was encouraging, Stork seems to be coming along just fine now and Aladdin is doing a bang up job behind the scenes. White is a 4th Rder and certainly deserves patience, as does Flemming as that Cannon depth guy since he's more than likely gone at years end and Moore's that small school late Rd potential gem you can't help but root for.

When the 3 late guys (Halapio, Thomas and Gallon) didn't make the cut I cringed a bit early on. I know Easley's a DT and not a DE like Jones or a LB like Collins or Hightower so he won't put stats or show up in big plays, but I was a bit dissapointed with this draft class.

Time has eased my opinion. 3 late picks don't make the roster on a front runner. Go figure. Stealing Gaffney for 2015 kind of makes up for that. Stork has become a solid contributor at a spot that was a turnstile last year and Jimmy seems to ensure we only use 2 roster spots for QB again for the forseeable future. I feel a little better about this class than I initially did. At least we're not the Jets whose #1 has taken over punt protect duties and besides Amaro is a lost draft.

 

[50-yard-line]

I would expect good production out of a first round pick. They only have then for 4 years. He spends the first year injured for the most part. There was some indication that his injuries were chronic.

Maybe it's me but that doesn't sound good.

I will defer to the experts though.

Well, on very good teams, I don't expect that at all, and it doesn't usually happen, particularly for late picks. How many rookies, first round or otherwise, started in the Superbowl last year?

If Easley needs a year, so be it. If he can never get up to speed, then he's a bust.

I look at the off-season in total. The Patriots had an amazing off-season (Revis, Browner, kept most of their own, Stork, Butler, new capable back-up QB in jimmy Grapes, Grey, LaFell, Wright, Chung - Easley and Fleming will both contribute...and now they've added Akins, Casillo and Branch).

Two complaints: I wish Blount and Kelly were still here. Pretty minor complaints.

All that said, I would have loved Bitonio or Su'a'filo - BUT, if Easley can become what I expect, a DL pass rusher is a more valuable commodity than an OG.

 

[Oswlek]

All that said, I would have loved Bitonio or Su'a'filo - BUT, if Easley can become what I expect, a DL pass rusher is a more valuable commodity than an OG.

Absolutely. Way, way, way more valuable.

 

[goheels22002]

But you can't pretend that the choice facing a team is ever "injury risk" vs. "risk-free pick, guaranteed fabulous by hindsight." Jimmy Graham himself was considered a super-risky pick at the time, because he'd barely played football.

A fair comparison would be based on evaluations made at that time, e.g. the next player taken at the same position, or the next player taken overall. Which would mean trading in Gronk for either Ed ****son or Sergio Kindle.

The point is that GM Bill Belichick uses high picks on potentially great players with serious injury histories. We're not talking sprained ankles or pulled hamstrings.

We're talking about Rob Gronkowski missing the entire season before he was drafted due to back surgery as the team's #2 pick, and using the #1 pick on Dominique Easley who suffered two torn ACLs including missing most of his senior year before the draft. That is taking a major risk. Both players dropped in their respective drafts precisely because of the injury risk.

Both players have missed time on the field with the Patriots for injuries to exactly the same place on their bodies. Gronk's injury history is known to everyone, and now Easley is out this week due to knee issues: http://nesn.com/2014/11/patriots-injury-report-knee-injury-keeps-dominqiue-easley-out-of-practice/

 

[Oswlek]

The point is that GM Bill Belichick uses high picks on potentially great players with serious injury histories. We're not talking sprained ankles or pulled hamstrings.

We're talking about Rob Gronkowski missing the entire season before he was drafted due to back surgery as the team's #2 pick, and using the #1 pick on Dominique Easley who suffered two torn ACLs including missing most of his senior year before the draft. That is taking a major risk. Both players dropped in their respective drafts precisely because of the injury risk.

Both players have missed time on the field with the Patriots for injuries to exactly the same place on their bodies. Gronk's injury history is known to everyone, and now Easley is out this week due to knee issues: http://nesn.com/2014/11/patriots-injury-report-knee-injury-keeps-dominqiue-easley-out-of-practice/

While accurate, this is coincident information, not causal. Unless you can demonstrate a way that Gronk's back elevated his risk of knee and arm injuries it is completely irrelevant.

As for Easley, we'll have have to see what his injury is and how severe it is. Frankly, even with this setback, he is further along than most fans expected him top be so I fail to see why it is worth the fuss. NFL players get hurt sometimes. C'est la vie.

Interestingly....

The TEs selected after Gronkowski were Ed ****son and Tony Moeoki.

Both of which have been injured as much as Gronk. And Graham has had injury issues the past two years. And even Ahern missed 3-4 games every year.

TEs get hurt. A lot. They, along with DBs, have the highest injury rate in the league according to a study I read a few years ago. Gronk's issues have far more to do with what position he plays than his health back in college.

 

[Fixit]

The reason why Graham made those statements was that he was concerned about being given the franchise tag by the Saints as a TE and not a WR. WR tag was > than TE tag value.

Of course, but he didn't just say, "I'm a WR, pay me!" He presented evidence, like the fact that he splits out wide 2/3 of the time. If I was his rep, I would've asked him to block in front of the arbitrator. That would've removed any doubt right there.

 

[patchick]

We're talking about Rob Gronkowski missing the entire season before he was drafted due to back surgery
...
Both players have missed time on the field with the Patriots for injuries to exactly the same place on their bodies. Gronk's injury history is known to everyone

AFAIK Gronk's history with the Patriots is known to everybody as a bone break/infection in his arm, and an ACL tear. Whereas he has endured plays like this...

...without reinjuring his back. So how were the Patriots supposed to predict his NFL injury history from his college medical report?

If you look more broadly, "injury prone" turns out to be harder than you might think to predict coming out of college. Shawn Crable, whose name became a synonym for IR with the Patriots, never missed a game at Michigan. Antonio Cromartie was a major injury risk in the draft, having missed the whole season with an ACL tear, but he has turned out to be the iron man of NFL dbs.

 

[mgteich]

Easley has played a much larger role that I expected from a player coming back from two ACL injuries.

Belichick preferred Easley in the first to a guard or center or tight end. I think that Belichick did well with his OL picks in the 4th, and with the acquisition of Wright. I guess that Belichick didn't think Lawrence to be a fit, or he didn't think a backup or sub was worth a first rounder.

 

[mgteich]

Stephon Tuitt, among others, was also available

I didn't list the players who were "trade-downs", drafted at least 10 picks later. But yes, there were others like Tuitt and Amaro.

 

[chasa]

It's not like the patriots used a top ten pick on a player that nearly died on the field with a heart injury.

 

[Oswlek]

I didn't list the players who were "trade-downs", drafted at least 10 picks later. But yes, there were others like Tuitt and Amaro.

How is Tuitt doing? I frankly saw nothing on the limited YT footage that made me think he was worth considering in the first round. I'm no draft expert, but I was confident enough to say beforehand that there was no chance NE would select him at 29, or even with a mild trade back into round 2. Not exactly going out on a limb, I know, but I am interested if anyone has input on his season.

 

[JMC00]

Easley was present at practice today

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Easley was present at practice today

Way to ruin a thread, bro

 

[Deus Irae]

How is Tuitt doing? I frankly saw nothing on the limited YT footage that made me think he was worth considering in the first round. I'm no draft expert, but I was confident enough to say beforehand that there was no chance NE would select him at 29, or even with a mild trade back into round 2. Not exactly going out on a limb, I know, but I am interested if anyone has input on his season.

He's moved into the starting lineup for the Steelers.