Big Love: Patriots Big Men Ron Brace and Vince Wilfork Work Together
by Richard Hill on Mar 24, 2010 2:42 PM EDT
in New England Patriots News
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PrintThe Boston Herald's Ian Rappoport has been following the blossoming mentor-ship of New England Patriots DL Ron Brace by NT Vince Wilfork.
"Whenever he has a chance, V will pull me aside," said Brace, referring to Wilfork. "I just ask, ‘V, what do you look at while you watch film? Or ‘Come watch film with me.’ Those little things right there are going to make a big difference. You realize you got to really get in-depth."
Wilfork has often talked about players stepping up and assuming a leadership role on our team and it's nice to see him stepping up and putting his actions where his mouth is. Brace needs to be an integral part in our defensive line since DE Jarvis Green departed to the Denver Broncos. Brace is currently the least used of our four 2nd round picks and, rightfully so, is considered the biggest "bust". With OT Sebastian Vollmer stepping up the plate and being one of the best tackles in the league, and with CB Darius Butler contributing when called upon and with S Pat Chung helping out on special teams, Brace seems to be looking for his niche. Hopefully he can find it soon.
Veteran Jarvis Green signed with Denver, opening up a spot at end. Brace practiced there in the spring, and the 6-foot-3, 330-pounder is a possibility to fill the void. Either way, he knows he has a big season ahead of him.
Brace needs to find his place on the team and find it soon. He's watched fellow draftee Myron Pryor jump ahead of him in the depth chart. He knows he needs to work harder and he has the desire to succeed. Brace is taking advantage of the people and resources around him and he continues to seek out knowledge from Wilfork.
"My locker’s next to one of the best D-tackles in the league right now," Brace told [Rappoport] yesterday, "so I can’t help but take advantage of his teachings, you know? I try to learn how to watch film like he does, I try to watch to see what I can do to improve my technique. Basically, everything this man is doing, I’m watching, because hopefully I’m going to try to play to the caliber that he is."
"It gives me more time to learn from a player like him," Brace said. "Learning is vital to me now, especially in this league, because here, everybody has physical attributes. It’s just all up here (in his head) now, it’s a mind game now. He has it down, I’m trying to learn to figure it out like he does, ya know?"
I have a lot of hope for Brace this upcoming season and I think that a year under his belt will do a world of good in his production.
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Seymour played Nose until Vince came along.
He slid to end and dominated.
Brace is a big body like Vince. He also has the potential to dominate on the end.
If he can become 80% Vince, we should be good.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Mar 24, 2010 2:51 PM EDT reply actions
DE
I would love to see him bust out as a big DE. We played him in High School and he was a beast then, if he can learn a thing or 5 from Vince maybe he fills that void for us. Wishful thinking but lets root for some Home Grown Talent!!!!!
I'd like to see him try out as DE, but...
he doesn’t strike me as quite the body type to be able to replace Seymour. Contribute at RE, yes. Dominate LTs, no. He’s a little short, so he might struggle with rip and swim moves against long-armed LTs (and the division and conference has got a bunch of young, good ones, sadly), and he doesn’t have the arm-length and height to get into and disrupt passing lanes. He might be able to bull under tall LTs and wangle a few sacks from it, but his lack of length also means he probably won’t soak up the double-teams like Seymour did on run D – one guard sliding out can probably manhandle Brace just enough to get him out of the lane.
He can spell Wilfork and probably run as the second DT in a 40 front (which would be great against certain teams). While I’d like him to be able to play RE, I’m not sold enough on his physicals, let alone his actual play, to say he’ll make a good RE at this point.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Mar 24, 2010 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions
This is the first proof of life I have seen from the media on Brace..
and I like it. He may not turn into a player, but at least he has the desire and drive and smarts to do so from the sound of this article.
Here’s to hoping it translates to the field.
I think the issues he had last year were line issues, not his..
Sure, Vince is awesome but the lack of a real pass rush and a turnstile opposite Mayo didn’t help anybody at that position last year.
The lack of a balanced line is very easy to exploit once it’s found and everyone knew they could double up Brace, push him slightly, and then they really wouldn’t have much of a fight getting some yardage because the DE were suspect and one linebacker may/may not be there. Also, the lack of pass rush allowed teams to ignore or single block the DE and OLB and double the NT to get yardage.
I said all this about Denver before last year too. It just takes someone who is on the DE or OLB spot that can be consistent as a threat and a DE on either side that won’t fade out like Green did pretty often.
All that said, I do think Brace needs to keep his head down more and get more lower body strength. His height and length are slight issues but I worry more that he got stood up alot on single blocks. That needs to stop.
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