Dominique Easley! or Dominique Easley???

New England just made their first selection of the 2014 NFL Draft, and it's Dominique Easley at Number 29. The Florida product was a surefire 1st rounder until an ACL injury suffered in September sidelined him. The Patriots clearly saw enough in his abilities to use their first round pick on him, and so now it's time to welcome Easley into the fold.

As usual, this wasn't a pick a lot of people saw coming (minus a certain Pats Pulpit blogger), as Easley to New England was on very few mock drafts (minus one Pats Pulpit blogger's). And as usual, the pick has had a polarizing effect on Patriots Nation. There seem to be two primary camps here - those who love the pick, and those who hate it. There are a few who are somewhat neutral and see Easley as a high upside selection who is an elite talent, but has injury risks, but for the most part you're on one of the following two teams. The question is, which one is it?

Team I hate this pick!

Ugh. ACL. Injuries. Could have gotten him later. Too risky. Why didn't they trade down? I have zero confidence in this guy's ability to stay healthy. Wasted pick. Classic overshot. Listen to me, I TOTALLY know what I'm talking about.

Team I love this pick!

Top 10 talent. Elite pass rusher. Character guy. Came back from first injury like an animal. Nonstop motor. Never takes plays off. Youth along the line. Can beat double teams. Fills a huge need. Likely wouldn't have been there in the 2nd. Great pick. Listen to me, I TOTALLY know what I'm talking about.

Or maybe you're like me and you don't really follow college football that closely and Draft Night is the first time you hear of a lot of these players' names. Then your comments might go something like this:

Team Alec Shane!

What? Who the hell is Dominick Easley? Oh, that Florida kid? Well alright. Go Bruins!

But at the end of the day, there's really only one team we should all be on.

Team Reality!

The NFL Draft is an absolute crapshoot and ultimately absolutely nobody has any idea who is going to pan out and who is going to bust. We blather about who is going to succeed and who isn't because we love football and it's a fun topic to debate, but nobody really has any idea. So we can love the pick or hate the pick all we want, but until these kids take the field it's anybody's guess. So let's all keep that in mind.

Gotta love the Draft.