Thoughts on Lawrence Sidbury?

[Gator Mike]

I'm wondering that with all the attention we've paid to names like Everette Brown, Aaron Maybin, Larry English, Robert Ayers, and Connor Barwin, if we're not overlooking someone that I think is an outstanding fit in Lawrence Sidbury.

* He's in that 260-266 range that Vrable and McGinest were.

* He ran one of the fastest 40 yard dashes of any DE at the combine, and still put up 28 reps on the bench press.

* His coach at Richmond used to work for Al Groh and the linebackers coach is none other than former Patriots LB Vincent Brown.


Thoughts?

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

NE had him in for a visit, so he's not been neglected. The big issue for him is playing on his feet in reverse. He's not the quick twitch pass rusher like some of the higher ranked prospects, so far it seems his late-second/early-third round projection is a good assessment and he's an option for NE if they still need an OLB prospect at 58.

NFL Draft Scout has updated his profile, here's how they score him and how he compares to the other Defensive End/OLB types they've graded:

Everette Brown 7.35
Connor Barwin 7.23
Brian Orakpo 6.72
Michael Johnson 6.45
Lawrence Sidbury 6.45
Aaron Maybin 6.43
Robert Ayers 6.10

 

[StraightCashHomey81]

-The Groh connection puts him on BB's radar, much like with Redd.

-Has the height BB seems to like at OLB.

-Has an AWESOME spin move. Its Freeney-like

-I'd think he'd be a good fit and we could probally get him at #58

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

-The Groh connection puts him on BB's radar, much like with Redd.

-Has the height BB seems to like at OLB.

-Has an AWESOME spin move. Its Freeney-like

-I'd think he'd be a good fit and we could probally get him at #58

He's actually a touch on the short side for OLB, considering the last one BB drafted was a shade over 6'5" and the two UDFA types he's kept are also that or taller.

 

[mayoclinic]

Sidbury is an amazing athlete for his size. According to NFLdraftscout he ran a 4.53 40 at 265#, which his amazing. Add in a 35" vertical and 28 reps on the bench press and he is a workout phenom. But I am concerned about his ability to play OLB. The two numbers which concern me are his 3-cone and his short shuttle. According to NFLdraftscout his short shuttle time was 4.43, only nominally better than his 40 time of 4.53. Compare this with Connor Barwin's short shuttle time of 4.18, which is in the safety range (Louis Delmas ran it in 4.17). Wes Bunting from National Football Post has suggested that some teams look at the differential between 40 time and short shuttle as a measurement of lateral mobility (a questionable measurement at best, I should add). The 0.10 differential is extremely low. And Sidbury's 3-cone time was 7.46. Clint Sintim ran a 7.37 and Larry English a 7.26. Connor Barwin (6.87), Clay Matthews (6.90) and James Laurinaitis (6.93) ran times comparable to the defensive backs (Louis Delmas had a 6.67 and Darius Butler a 6.92 for comparison; Malcolm Jenkins had the fastest time at 6.59).

So I have at least some concern that Sidbury is a big strong DE with tremendous burst and linear spead but limited lateral mobility and agility. That wouldn't translate particularly well to 3-4 OLB for me. I hope the Pats do diligence and look at him beyond the numbers to evaluate him, but I am not as optimistic as some others are about his ability to make the transition based on those metrics.

For the record, Everette Brown's short shuttle was 4.53 and his 3-cone 7.53 (with a 40 time of 4.65), which is one reason I am not particulaly high on him at 3-4 OLB as well. Aaron Maybin's times were somewhat better (4.38 short shuttle, with a slower 40 time, suggesting better lateral mobility) but still not anywhere near Barwin or Matthews.

 

[Seneschal2]

He's actually a touch on the short side for OLB, considering the last one BB drafted was a shade over 6'5" and the two UDFA types he's kept are also that or taller.

The height concern is now deceased as far as I'm concerned. I laid it to rest in the Mayo thread:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...-march-pats-top-50-big-board.html#post1331853

That 6-3 preference changed when Colvin and AD arrived, as they were both under 6-3 at their Combines. And if height were a deciding factor, than why bother showing interest in some of the DE/OLB prospects, as Everette Brown, Sidbury, English, Sintim, and Cody Brown, all measured under 6-3.

So, I think it's time to lower the profile to 6-2, even if we don't want to include Everette, who arguably may be the best of the bunch.

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Height is important -- but not on it's own, as length ought to be considered as well. Some of these prospects have long arms, which gives them plenty of length and wingspan to play the position -- even if they're in the 6-2 range.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

The height concern is now deceased as far as I'm concerned. I laid it to rest in the Mayo thread:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...-march-pats-top-50-big-board.html#post1331853



---

Height is important -- but not on it's own, as length ought to be considered as well. Some of these prospects have long arms, which gives them plenty of length and wingspan to play the position -- even if they're in the 6-2 range.

Deceased is perhaps a bit premature. There are exceptions who bring unusual arm length, speed, quickness, strength to the equation to compensate for lack of prototypical size, and we see that BB looks at their production when weighing them against position protoypes. He is on record discussing Maurice Jones-Drew whom he passed over because of size, noting that players outside the size prototypes may be great players, but it's rare and a major risk when drafting. If he drafts Pat White, is it for QB? Sid has very long arms and good strength, he's a good risk, but I doubt he grades out much before the late second...

 

[Revman]

Good information. I know that the Pat's have spent time around the Richmond campus. They worked out the other DE- Sherman Logan. I know nothing about the results. Maybe they also spent time with Sidbury? I like Sidbury-good size-long arms-good speed. Probable round 3-4 area. I would be happy drafting him-he could be the real deal someday. Good info about Vincent Brown connection.

 

[dryheat44]

Am I the only one who projects him to ILB for us?

 

[mayoclinic]

Am I the only one who projects him to ILB for us?

An interesting thought, which hadn't occurred to me. As I mentioned above, Sidbury has impressive straight line speed and he is decent at taking on OLs, but he seems to lack agility and lateral movement. Those issues would be minimized at SILB. I'm intrigued, and need to think about this a bit more. Thanks for suggesting it.