Some NFL teams comparing Nick Fairley to Albert Haynesworth

[alen1]

I've followed Fairley very closely this year. I don't know how you 'know for sure' or who your 'good source' is but I have never read anything but positives from Rocker and Chizik about Nick Fairley going back to last year. I encourage you to read McClain's article. If Fairley drops, I'd love to see him in a Pats' uniform.

That's because you're listening to them through the media IMO. I understand, we'll agree to disagree. I respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it.

 

[chevss454]

That's because you're listening to them through the media IMO. I understand, we'll agree to disagree. I respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it.

I watched every play of every Auburn game this year. I didn't miss a one. Rocker is on record that he spent hours and hours with Fairley last summer going over his play specifically to show Fairley why his reputation was that he took plays off. It turned out to be a confidence issue which Rocker corrected before the season started. With his newly found confidence, Fairley was a beast from his first play in 2010.

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[Patriot Missile]

You could say they are rumors, but you can also make a strong case that they are true. The background of Nick Fairley is not one that is unknown. He went to a CC because of his grades and then came to Auburn and didn't really do much his first year. One of the reasons is because of his lack of work ethic (which Ron Brace had the same issue with). He has very poor practice habits and they've continued even this year where he dominated against competition. He is not a guy who likes to go hard in practice and that's been made known. He's got a lot of talent as a 1 gap penetrator and his explosiveness and burst is of great quality, yet his technique is lacking often and as noted previously, that comes from a lack of work ethic. It is hard to trust a guy with a one year wonder label on him, especially a guy with the questions that he has.

Whether they are true or not is not for us decide. It's for the people that do the background checks on the players and the interviews with the coaches etc. People sometimes get caught up in this one gap two gap a little too much. Sometimes players get labeled as a certain technique only because he was asked to do something else during hs time at the school based on the formation they were running. Sometimes coaches can just study film and decide before he is done that he could be worked at different positions at his scheme.

You would be a fool to overlook his one year of productivity and his pure athletism without doing your due study on the player. Nick Fairley is a much better player than Ron Brace was at this point in their careers. I did notice quite a change in Brace this season as opposed to last. Not so sure it was work ethic rather than just not knowing the playbook? Maybe he realized if he was going to stick in the NFL he was going to have work harder? {Pretty sure if Fairley has the same issue then Belichick who is one of the best motivators in the game by the way, may be able to help him develop that.} He is a steal if we get him out out of the top 10 imo.

BTW..I know you weren't comparing Brace and Fairley athletic wise. Just work ethic.

 

[alen1]

I watched every play of every Auburn game this year. I didn't miss a one. Rocker is on record that he spent hours and hours with Fairley last summer going over his play specifically to show Fairley why his reputation was that he took plays off. It turned out to be a confidence issue which Rocker corrected before the season started. With his newly found confidence, Fairley was a beast from his first play in 2010.

That's fine. I've watched his games and I'm not saying he was lazy in them. I said he was lazy in practices. He had piss poor practice habits. Its like the case with Stylez G. White in Tampa Bay.

Whether they are true or not is not for us decide. It's for the people that do the background checks on the players and the interviews with the coaches etc.

Yes, its for them to decide but we can discuss it as well. I think if you're going to look into a draft prospect and want to gauge him, you should have an idea of what kind of a player he is.

People sometimes get caught up in this one gap two gap a little too much. Sometimes players get labeled as a certain technique only because he was asked to do something else during hs time at the school based on the formation they were running. Sometimes coaches can just study film and decide before he is done that he could be worked at different positions at his scheme.

I agree.

 

[Off The Grid]

People sometimes get caught up in this one gap two gap a little too much.

Sometimes players get labeled as a certain technique only because he was asked to do something else during hs time at the school based on the formation they were running. Sometimes coaches can just study film and decide before he is done that he could be worked at different positions at his scheme.

Great point, Brother Missile.

I think that there is great value is assessing a player's strengths, of course.

But I heartily agree that the impulse to bring closure to a decision making process ~ something we're all beset by ~ often produces conclusions that simply aren't conclusively justified.

 

[borg]

You could say they are rumors, but you can also make a strong case that they are true. The background of Nick Fairley is not one that is unknown. He went to a CC because of his grades and then came to Auburn and didn't really do much his first year. One of the reasons is because of his lack of work ethic (which Ron Brace had the same issue with). He has very poor practice habits and they've continued even this year where he dominated against competition. He is not a guy who likes to go hard in practice and that's been made known. He's got a lot of talent as a 1 gap penetrator and his explosiveness and burst is of great quality, yet his technique is lacking often and as noted previously, that comes from a lack of work ethic. It is hard to trust a guy with a one year wonder label on him, especially a guy with the questions that he has.

I won't pretend to know anything about Fairley except to know the guy dominated on the field last season. But speaking in generalities, I will always cut these JuCo transfers slack for multiple reasons, especially the big boys. Alot is asked of these linemen that come into these big programs. Some of these guys are asked to add weight...alot of weight...30-40 lbs. Then they have absorb a complicated playbook that is much more technical than they are used to. They get put into training programs that their bodies aren't used to while their bodies are stll transforming from teenager to adult. And finally, they now must match up against 20-22 year olds instead of the teenagers that they dominated against in JuCo. My point, these new kids have alot on their plate and, yeah, I'm sure that first year for them is eye opening and likely confidence busting. Clearly the game clicked for him this year and my eyes saw a guy that dominated. His path to prominence was not the usual route, but the guy is a baller.
Is he a fit for the Pats....personally I think his legs are to skinny for a 3-4 DT...but skinny legs usually mean quick legs and a gap shooter.

 

[Off The Grid]

But speaking in generalities, I will always cut these JuCo transfers slack for multiple reasons, especially the big boys. Alot is asked of these linemen that come into these big programs. Some of these guys are asked to add weight...alot of weight...30-40 lbs. Then they have absorb a complicated playbook that is much more technical than they are used to. They get put into training programs that their bodies aren't used to while their bodies are stll transforming from teenager to adult. And finally, they now must match up against 20-22 year olds instead of the teenagers that they dominated against in JuCo. My point, these new kids have alot on their plate and, yeah, I'm sure that first year for them is eye opening and likely confidence busting.

Very intriguing post.

And I would expand that to embrace their evolution as human beings, as well.

I believe that ~ all too often ~ fans expect prospects to've lived in a vacuum, and tend to judge them very harshly on ~ haw ~ Youthfull Indiscretions.

MIND you: an A Hole is an A Hole. Judgement needs be employed.

But it seems to me that there are many stories of young lads who screwed up, here and there ~ particularly in the first year or two of college ~ and then woke up, grew up, and pulled it all together.