RD1/#29: Makin' it look Easley!
- Thread starter Phragle
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Guys seems really likable and talented. He also has a ton of energy and personality, as evidenced by some of his pre-snap shenanigans in this video. As long as he has knees, I think I'm going to enjoy rooting for him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMhd__Dkoh0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMhd__Dkoh0
@DougKyedNESN: The Bears, Cowboys, 49ers and Seahawks all were interested in new Patriots defensive tackle Dominique Easley. Patriots couldn't trade down.
Sure, but not because they have two surgically repaired knees. As I indicated in my original post, given that the Brady window is closing sooner rather than later, a couple years of high level production from this guy is worth it. I like the pick and I expect him to be a very good player when he's on the field. I just don't expect him to be around for very long. It's a fine use of resources, but one, in my estimation, that's focused on the returns he's likely to bring in the near future.HomeRunBaker said:
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 6m
Easley: "yes sir, I was (surprised). It's a winning team and I'm really excited."
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 4m
Easley: "I love football. I love watching tape on football."
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 1m
Belichick on Easley: "He was the best player at that point"
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 36s
Belichick said there were trade discussions but didn't want to risk not getting Easley.
Tom E. Curran @tomecurran 7m
Easley: "I’m healthy. I’m just ready to get up there and do whatever Coach Belichick wants me to do." Confirms he came in for visit.
Easley: "yes sir, I was (surprised). It's a winning team and I'm really excited."
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 4m
Easley: "I love football. I love watching tape on football."
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 1m
Belichick on Easley: "He was the best player at that point"
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ 36s
Belichick said there were trade discussions but didn't want to risk not getting Easley.
Tom E. Curran @tomecurran 7m
Easley: "I’m healthy. I’m just ready to get up there and do whatever Coach Belichick wants me to do." Confirms he came in for visit.
Nick Underhill @Nick_Underhill 7s
Source says Easley is ahead of schedule from his Oct 25 surgery. Will meet with Pats soon to iron out offseason details.
Source says Easley is ahead of schedule from his Oct 25 surgery. Will meet with Pats soon to iron out offseason details.
One of the liberating things about how the Patriots are structured and managed is that they can take fliers like this. There are plenty of other GMs (not all of course given what we know about Seattle) who would simply avoid Easley because it was the safe thing to do. But how often do teams build winners by being safe?
Oh, and its a good thing that he and Bernard Pollard cannot be on the field at the same time...
Oh, and its a good thing that he and Bernard Pollard cannot be on the field at the same time...
Yes. Once you've torn your ACL, you're more likely to tear the other knee or re-tear the operative knee. You're also more likely to tear your meniscus.Klostrophobic said:
Oh, and revision ACLs have a 50-60% rate of return to play.
Meh.
Highest ceiling guy they could choose. Yes, we could still use a DE, but the pass rush with a healthy Easley and/or Armstead along with Jones and at least one of Collins or Nink? That's pretty sick. I like the gamble here. Had he stayed healthy he'd be a top 10 pick. I'd even wager potential top 5.
snowmanny said:
To be fair, it's probably pretty hard to diagnose a guy who you never even heard of until about 1.5 hours ago.
"Diagnose"? He's had two ACL reconstructions, I'm not sure where diagnosis comes in.Ferm Sheller said:
The studies are across the board, but anyone who's trying to come back after 2 ACLs is pretty motivated.Ed Hillel said:
You want to split hairs? Fine -my assessment is that he's a hell of a lot more likely to miss time due to knee injuries than someone who hasn't had both knees reconstructed. I don't know a goddamn thing about him as a football player other than the fact that the Patriots thought enough of him to take him in the first round, but from a medical standpoint he's a risk.Ferm Sheller said:
I was wondering if someone would post video of this. He also did some barrel rolls at the line as well. Kind of silly but it demonstrates his athleticism.Oklahoma Jones said:
He really was the heart and soul of that defense last year. When he went down the whole thing fell apart as he was the only lineman playing in the backfield despite double teams. BB will enjoy using him as a dline Swiss army knife.
DaveRoberts'Shoes said:
So you're saying there is a chance...that the inside of his knees don't look like carnitas or, worse yet, a goatse picture
koufax32 said:
Probably some good gifs in there but I don't know how to make them so... Also checked out his pro day video where he was at "80 percent" and he looked strong, for whatever that's worth.
Guy seems pretty intense in this interview. Certainly the type I'd want in the 4th quarter of a Super Bowl where desire wins over talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRgJUSUmRJ4
Super Nomario said:
Love this quote: “I mean, I tore my ACL in 2011, and I got faster in 2013. So when I get back from this ACL, it’s going to make me nothing but faster.”
What are they putting in reconstructed knees these days?
DaveRoberts'Shoes said:
Pats had him in for a physical. Really nice kid, really nice. His medical team at MGH says hi.
EDIT: Gronk's gonna be good-to-go, BTW. FWIW.
Bill Polian on Easley -- calls him a "departure" and a "wrecking crew" "beating guards 1-on-1":
http://espn.go.com/boston/video/clip?id=10905673&ex_cid=espnapi_public
http://espn.go.com/boston/video/clip?id=10905673&ex_cid=espnapi_public
Ferm Sheller said:
I appreciate the BbtL medical
Edit: also appreciate JDs with direct access to Pats medical staff & their secretaries.
Ed Hillel said:
I'm not a doctor. I have a PhD and a JD. I just happen to know the Pats' docs (and, more importantly, their secretaries!).
Mike Loyko @NEPD_Loyko 12s
Ray Lewis's evaluation of Dominque Easley put Mel Kiper to shame. "I saw him play my alma mater in person and he beat kids with pure effort"
Ray Lewis's evaluation of Dominque Easley put Mel Kiper to shame. "I saw him play my alma mater in person and he beat kids with pure effort"
I've literally jerked off to this pick.
(Not really.)
I fucking love it. This is what they should be doing. This guy is a monster when healthy. If this pans out, the Pats won the first round.
(Not really.)
I fucking love it. This is what they should be doing. This guy is a monster when healthy. If this pans out, the Pats won the first round.
Ed Hillel said:We've already been over this. If you have a JD, you're a doctor. A PhD makes you a Super Duper Double Doctor. Sorry, DRS, you're outranked on this one.
DRS probably makes more money than I do, so he outranks me. I'm not picking a fight with DRS, who I think is an excellent poster and brings a lot to the site. I just don't think you can apply a general assessment to a specific individual. I've been told that his knees checked out OK (one's better than the other, but nothing out of the ordinary for an ACL reconstructee) and that he was really polite and at least one of the office personnel took a shine to him.
Ferm, for someone not trying to pick a fight, you're coming across like a pretty big asshole. Given that you wrote "Right, we all know this," I'm guessing you missed when Klostrophobic asked, which I will paraphrase, "Do players with a history of ACL surgeries have a higher probability of re-injuring their knees." All DRS did was answer that question in the affirmative, and state that there are plenty of studies that show that. There are also tons of studies that show that players have trouble returning from Achilles injuries too, so those who are excited about Wilfork's chances should probably do a little reading.
Do the secretaries have anything to say about Wilfork? Because I want to know if I can disregard those studies if they took a shine to him. Of course the guys knees checked out ok. Why the fuck would the Pats draft him if they didn't? Does that actually disprove anything that DRS wrote?
Do the secretaries have anything to say about Wilfork? Because I want to know if I can disregard those studies if they took a shine to him. Of course the guys knees checked out ok. Why the fuck would the Pats draft him if they didn't? Does that actually disprove anything that DRS wrote?
soxhop411 said:
At first, with all the guys the Pats could have had still on the board, I was like, WHAT? with the Easley pick. But the more I read, and after watching some of that video on him, the more I'm sold. The guy is a wrecking machine. So long as he stays healthy, he could be an absolute monster for them.
So now I love the pick. This info from Seattle only makes me happier.
As DRS said, obviously there is a risk here, and it doesn't matter if his knees "checked out OK" or if he was nice to the staff. He has a higher risk of future knee injuries than most draft picks, plain and simple. And if he does have another injury, it's more likely to be a career ender than an injury for someone else would be. Hopefully each of his ACL tears were relatively isolated, and didn't have much cartilage/meniscus damage to go along with them.
Feels a lot like the Gronk pick to me. Injured guy with big upside gets picked later than he otherwise would have. If Easley really is a top 10 talent, then I can see it being worth the risk at pick 29. At some point, the potential reward outweighs the risk. But I'm sure the Patriots and their medical staff are going into this with their eyes wide open. There is definitely some serious risk taking a guy with 2 prior ACL tears in the 1st round.
Feels a lot like the Gronk pick to me. Injured guy with big upside gets picked later than he otherwise would have. If Easley really is a top 10 talent, then I can see it being worth the risk at pick 29. At some point, the potential reward outweighs the risk. But I'm sure the Patriots and their medical staff are going into this with their eyes wide open. There is definitely some serious risk taking a guy with 2 prior ACL tears in the 1st round.
OK, let me see if I have this right:
-- There's a chance he starts the season on PUP, though his willingness to work out for scouts before the draft is an encouraging sign.
-- He's at elevated risk for a repeat ACL tear in both of his knees; if that happens, there's something like a 40% chance it's career-ending.
-- He would have been a consensus top-10 pick absent the injury issues.
Iirc, linemen project a bit better than other positions (i.e., a larger proportion of future Pro Bowlers are drafted early, and there are somewhat fewer busts), so that mitigates the risk to some degree.
I like the pick.
-- There's a chance he starts the season on PUP, though his willingness to work out for scouts before the draft is an encouraging sign.
-- He's at elevated risk for a repeat ACL tear in both of his knees; if that happens, there's something like a 40% chance it's career-ending.
-- He would have been a consensus top-10 pick absent the injury issues.
Iirc, linemen project a bit better than other positions (i.e., a larger proportion of future Pro Bowlers are drafted early, and there are somewhat fewer busts), so that mitigates the risk to some degree.
I like the pick.
I agree that I came across like an asshole and I apologize. I was in a shitty mood and I should learn to read only and not post at such times. I'll take a break...Deathofthebambino said:
This is pretty much all I was trying to say - I'm sure Easley's graft checked out fine on his physical, otherwise he would have been off the Pats' board altogether. I'm glad he's a nice kid, as that probably makes him less likely to kill, you know, A LOT of people, but he's still statistically a bit of a medical risk.radsoxfan said:
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go do an ACL reconstruction. BOOM I went there.
If anyone caught the end of the bruins last night then you'll know that all we have to do is give this kid some frozen yogurt. It'll work out fine with some FroYo.
I liked this pick when I went to bed, woke up and I still like it. Risk yet but for a team built like the pats, at #29 it feels like the right risk to take
I liked this pick when I went to bed, woke up and I still like it. Risk yet but for a team built like the pats, at #29 it feels like the right risk to take
No worries, Ferm - it's a message board, if you don't come across like an asshole at least some of the time you're probably doing it wrong. I'm sure I'll say something super douchey when the Pats pick the backup Rutgers fullback in round three.Ferm Sheller said:
Of course, professional athletes also put their reconstructed knees under substantially more stress than losers like me rehabbing to be able to sit behind a desk most of the day.Ed Hillel said:
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