The craziness that was Day 1 of the draft has come to an end; however the draft itself is far from over. Many of the nation’s top talents have been chosen, and are now heading to their respective facilities. Let’s look at New England’s 1st round draft selection, Dominique Easley.
Dominique Easley hails from Staten Island, NY and has always been one of the nation’s best recruits. Both Rivals.com and Scout.com rated Easley as a five-star recruit, and was also said to be the second best defensive tackle in his 2014 class, only behind current Minnesota Vikings DT, Sharrif Floyd.
Easley is a true competitor, and if you watch the tape you will see exactly that. Easley explodes off the snap, thrusts himself into gaps and wins with suddenness. Easley also showed through his time at Florida that he can play anywhere on the d-line, giving us a glimpse at how versatile he really can be. New England loves versatile DT’s and has really been searching for one ever since the departure of Richard Seymour in 2009. For a man of his size, he was able to put up 26 bench reps at the NFL Combine, which is without a doubt noteworthy.
However, it is Easley’s size along with injury history that also has some questioning this pick. Easley stands at 6’2” and 288 lbs, per NFL.com, making him the only DT on the Patriots bellow the 300 lb line. New England currently has two monsters of midway starting at DT ( Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly), who playing styles are very different from that of Easley. In addition, Easley had to sit out the majority of his senior year at Florida because he tore his ACL early in the year against Kentucky. With that injury, it means Easley has had ACL tears in both his left and right knees, making him a bit of a threat for future injury. Easley wasn’t in the first round for many mock drafts; many thought he would fall to the early/middle of the second or at the latest early third. However, the Pats made a move at 29 to get him. Rumor has it the Seattle Seahawks, who had the 32nd pick, where looking to snag Easley before they traded their pick to Minnesota almost immediately after New England drafted him.
Easley is an incredibly skilled player, with a ton of upside. When healthy and on top of his game, Easley can rush the passer like no other, generating sacks, breaking up plays, and forcing the QB to make bad throws or throw it away. Dominique Easley has to focus on staying healthy and benefiting from playing along side one of the best at the DT position — Vince Wilfork.
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