2011 NFL Draft: A Profile On Stephen Paea, DT From Oregon St.

Readers Session FF and the 'stealthy divine' JesusNinja13 pointed us to a very good 2011 NFL Draft evaluation article written by a fan at Bleeding Green Nation. The fan, Isi_eagle, did about as thorough a breakdown on Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea as one can do. This doesn't mean the evaluation is accurate, but damn it's hard not to admire the effort.

Here are a few excerpts from the article, which I encourage all of you to read:

49 reps with 225 lbs in bench press! I could easily stop right here. There are a lot of discussions whether bench press at scouting combine tells you anything, I won't take up this discussion, but I'll say one thing: The NFL has a large number of strength and conditioning coaches, I would assume that they have thought about it a number of times and since they haven't removed bench press, it gives them an opportunity to evaluate players in one way or another.

The 49 reps is from the 2011 NFL Combine. Paea set a record. Now, the cautionary tale we Colts fans can give others on bench press reps at the Combine isn't that the skills test itself is 'meaningless.' anyone who calls 40 times, bench press reps, or cone drills 'meaningless' is someone who is ignorant of how college football players are analyzed. The tests are indeed very important, but one test does not mean a player is 'great.'

For us Colts fans, Terrance Taylor is the example. He completed a very impressive bench press skills test at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine. Like Paea, he was a dominating DT in college at Michigan. He was drafted by the Colts in the 5th Round in 2008, and didn't make the final September roster when pre-season was finished.

He wasn't even signed to the practice squad.

Still, while Taylor seemed to be good at only lifting heavy objects, Paea might offer something more at the NFL level. More excerpts after the jump.

OSU is using "gap-cancel" system. Primarily assignment for DLineman is to cancel the gap, either by penetrating it quickly or use an OLineman's body to do so.

Positives:

• Dominating run stopper
• Used to being double teamed (and sometimes triple teamed)
• Fast explosion from LOS
• Aggressively attacks blockers
• Pumping his legs non-stop, which helps him to use his strength in quadriceps to push O Lineman in front of him backwards
• Really understands down and distance situations
• Has no problem in splitting a double team
• High motor
• Plays from snap to the whistle
• Eyes are always inside
• Good at read and react
• Knows his pursuit lanes
• Fluid hips

Negatives:

• Relies sometimes too much on his upper body strength
• Tackling is a minor issue
• Likes to get close to O Lineman in front of him
• Doesn't always break down

This kind of bullet pro v. con stuff is great for quickly digesting information on a player. The one negative I focus on is 'relies sometimes too much on his upper body strength.' Taylor had that problem too.

Still, if the Colts do not plan to bring back Antonio Johnson (a dumb, dumb, DUMB move if true), then drafting someone like Paea becomes just as much of a priority as taking a left tackle or other offensive linemen.