Meet the Rookies

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It's the slowest part of the offseason, so if you're looking to read something, anything Pats related, patriots.com is running a series of profiles called Meet the Rookies.

 

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Darryl Richard

he was class valedictorian, student body president and a blue-chip football prospect. At Georgia Tech, he was equally active in campus life. He was known to lead town hall meetings for student-athletes in his role as president of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Board.

Keep in mind, Richard, who started for the Yellow Jackets since his freshman year, took part in all these extracurricular activities while earning not just his undergraduate degree, but an MBA as well, from Georgia Tech. All in just four-and-a-half years.

His bookworm exterior belies a warm, social personality, which Smith said helps Richard adapt to any situation. He should have little trouble making friends here in New England, especially since he already knows at least one Patriot very well. Former Yellow Jackets linebacker Gary Guyton roomed with Richard in college, and the latter said he hopes to lean on the former for career advice.

 

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I saw Brandon Tate face my Dawgs a couple years ago and he scorched our D. I have high hopes for him. Even though he was a 4th round draft pick.

 

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Julian Edelman


"A lot of teams worked him out, but the Patriots were by far the most thorough," Martin said. "They really grilled him hard on our offense, having him run through the principles of what we do and making sure he understood the concepts. I'm sure it didn't hurt that [defensive coordinator] Dean Pees, who was the coach here before me, is there. We've known each other for years so at least they were able to get a good read on Julian's character and things of that nature."

Position flexibility has become almost a cliché around Gillette Stadium. So many Patriots have performed numerous roles that it would be next to impossible to recount them all. But even in an environment like New England's Edelman would stand out in that regard.

He set the school record, breaking the mark of former Kent State quarterback and current Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl returner Joshua Cribbs, with 3,190 total yards in 2008. He tossed 13 touchdowns and ran for 13 more. But that's just scratching the surface. Edelman also was a part-time punter (he averaged 36.4 yards on nine kicks in his career), punt returner (six career returns) and even served as the punt protector on occasion.

 

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Myron Pryor

Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichickis often hesistant to compare players, especially rookies and veterans, but he admitted there are some similarities in the backgrounds of his Pro Bowl nose and his latest understudy.

"[Pryor] played in a pro-style of defense there with Coach[Rich] Brooks at Kentucky. So I think there are some elements of the things they've done to what we do and what we would do defensively," Belichick said of the transition. "But at the same time, I think there are some differences in the techniques. There might be similar defense, similar to Wilfork's defense in Miami. I'm sure there are some similarities.

"But again, he's had NFL type coaching. I would say that was true of Vince also at the University of Miami. So from that standpoint, I think he might be a little more acclimated with some of the techniques anyway that we'll see here and not necessarily the quality offensive line that we see. But that will come in time."

 

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Jake Ingram

He surfs. Jet-skis. Spear fishes. Enjoys the outdoors and the company of others, who seem uncontrollably drawn to his fun-loving personality. Those who know him best say he is blessed with what Hawaiians call the “Aloha spirit.”

Hawaii associate head coach and former NFL safety Rich Mianocalls Ingram one of his favorite people, both for his on- and off-the-field dedication.

“I tell people that the two hardest working guys in this program during my time here were Davone Bess[now a receiver for the Dolphins] and Jake Ingram. Jake’s the first one at practice, and the last to leave. He gets really upset when he makes a mistake. He’s not a specialist, he’s a football player and a true good guy.”

 

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George Bussey

Brent Myers watched intently as Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchiaheld a chalkboard session with Louisville's GeorgeBusseyduring a pre-draft visit. As Scarnecchia drew different lines to indicate various blocking schemes Myers, the Cardinals offensive line coach, was mesmerized.

"Coach Scarnecchia put on one of the most impressive clinics I've watched in a long time," said Myers, a veteran of 29 college coaching seasons. "He was diagramming all sorts of combinations and I was pretty wrapped up in it. He's an outstanding teacher. Then I looked over and saw George, and he was right there with Coach Scarnecchia."

 

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Rich Ohrnberger

"The best story I could tell about him and the one where I thought that he just did an outstanding job for us was the game we played at San Antonio against Texas A&M," Anderson said, recalling Penn State's Alamo Bowl victory after the 2007 season in which his offensive line paved the way for 270 yards rushing.

"During the course of the week that we were out there Rich lost 10 pounds. He had a virus. He had a fever. The whole week virtually that we were there he was sick in his room. He would not miss a snap in practice, would not step out for any reason. He played the game with a fever, the entire game indoors. So Rich is a durable guy. He's a tough guy mentally."

 

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Tyrone McKenzie

Further proof came from none other than BillBelichick. When asked to describe his third-round pick in a post-draft press conference, the Patriots head coach offered this response.

“Of all the players that I’ve talked to and we’ve interviewed this year and even through the years, Tyrone is amongst the most impressive. Maturity, intelligence, what he’s done with the opportunities that he’s had or that he’s had to overcome, how he’s approached them, how he’s dealt with them, how he’s made the most of them. It hasn’t been easy.

“Yet, he’s continued to excel, jump over hurdles and overcome obstacles that I think would have derailed a lot of other people and/or football players. I think he’s a very impressive, mature, humble young man.”

 

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Brandon Tate

"He's a truly dynamic athlete. He's special with the ball in his hands," Williams continued. "He's elusive, quick and fast enough to take it the distance. Regardless of how he develops as a receiver, he'll be a very dangerous return threat at the very least."

While Tate's return ability is his strongest asset, it's not his only one. The real shame of his injury is it occurred at a time when he was beginning to blossom as a receiver. He caught just five passes during his first two seasons in Chapel Hill before grabbing 25 as a full-time starter in 2007. He averaged 19.2 yards per catch and had five touchdowns as a junior, and had already posted 16 receptions for 376 yards (23.5-yard average) in six games last season before missing the final seven contests.

 

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Sebastian Vollmer

"It's funny because when Sea Bass called me after the Patriots drafted him the first thing I said to him was, 'You're not going to believe this. You're going to be competing with a guy that I coached at the University of Toledo, NickKaczur. Your probably going to be competing with him for the right tackle job,'" Gilbert said laughing. "He said, 'Oh [crap]!' I think there are a lot of similarities between both kids."

Though that competition looms on the horizon of training camp, Vollmer's first task in New England will be to learn the complexities of an NFL offensive playbook and the intricate blocking schemes within it. That can be overwhelming for the most heady of young players, but might pose an even more formidable challenge for a guy who a little over four years ago barely spoke English.

"That's what's going to be the learning curve or what holds him back from getting on the field or how fast he gets on the field," said Gilbert, who, in another New England connection, shared a room at times with Scott Pioli when the two collegiate coaching graduate assistants worked summer camps in the infancies of their respective careers.