Connor Barwin and why the Pats should draft him

Sciz · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 12833 Location: Iowa

Connor Barwin
Defensive End, Cincinnati

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u79CJdrxZbo

Height: 6'4
Weight: 256
40 Yrd Dash: 4.66
Bench Reps: 21
Vertical Jump: 40 1/2*
Broad Jump: 10'08"*
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.18*
3-Cone Drill: 6.87*
*Best among defensive linemen at combine

With the recent trade of Mike Vrabel, OLB is a position that is expected to be focused on in the draft. If the Patriots are interested in filling Mike Vrabel's versitile shoes, they have to look no further than Connor Barwin.
Barwin originally went to Cincinnati as a tight end, where he played during his freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Before his senior year, however, he made a switch to the opposite side of the ball, to defensive end. In his first and only year as a defensive end, he totaled 15.5 TFL, 11 Sacks, and 7 PDs, plus 3 blocked punts.

Yeah, he was great in college. But why should the Patriots draft him?
Barwin has been called very intelligent with very good work ethic. As you can see from the combine statistics above, he is a very rare athlete. His NFL.com profile says that he has the speed of a tight end and the mentality of a defender. However, the real reason I think he is a perfect fit for the Patriots is his versatility. He played tight end for 3 years at Cincinnati, plus in goalline formations his senior year. He played defensive end his senior year. He would play OLB for the Pats. And he's a great special teams player. He sounds exactly like the linebacker that he would be replacing.

Before the combine, there were questions about his speed, but he outran all big-name LBs other than Aaron Curry in the 40 yard dash. His 20 yard shuttle was faster than all but one linebacker and tied with Clay Matthews.

Other than concerns about his speed, only Barwin's experience and level of competition are questionable. These are the reasons he will likely last to the 23rd pick, if not the 34th. However, if Bill Belichick decides that Barwin is the answer at OLB, I trust Bill to make sure he gets him. At least in my opinion, there is not an OLB in the draft with more upside.

To be honest, I wrote this for a different forum and was going to post it in the draft thread, but I guess it deserves a new thread now. Discuss my writeup and your opinion of Barwin and when you think he should be taken. Smile

PatriotsWin! · Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 15475

Yeah he does compare very favorably to Vrabel. I want him!!! I think we could go as high as the #34 to get him.
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Canadian_Patriot · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 8701 Location: Halifax

THAT is what I'm talking about.
Terrific post, I needed a better idea about who this guy was, and why we were starting to hear buzz about him!

Great job!

I'm still an Aaron Maybin guy myself, but the more I read and learn, the more intriguing Barwin is sounding!
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hollywood14 · Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 13669 Location: LSU

Barwin is definitely a guy that the Patriots will watch over on draft day. And good job on the write-up by the way! The versatility he would bring to this team is second to none in this draft. The best thing about the whole Barwin situation is that we could draft him at 34. Why at 34? Well because the teams that are remaining after we initially pick do not have a need at the position.
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GoldenboyGB · Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 10451

Kudos to Rab because he was one of the first if not the first guy to bring up Barwin.

Only two problems with Barwin is we really havent seen him drop back even though he is athletic enough to do it and he needs to work on his technique.

Other than that I love the guy.
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SoxNats07 · Joined: 21 Jul 2007 Posts: 10015

rabbisson · Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 28041 Location: #PoWwWwWvidence

LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE BARWIN.

I've been talking him up for a while now, and I truly think he could be the next great 3-4 OLB for us.
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Shockwave732 · Joined: 13 Feb 2009 Posts: 38

Troy Brown · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:56 am Post subject:

tj177mmi · Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 1965 Location: Lisbon, NH

GoldenboyGB · Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 10451

Sciz · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 12833 Location: Iowa

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=284831

There's Rab's thread from two months ago. There's a lot more information about Barwin, and down a few posts is a pretty awesome picture of him playing basketball Razz

Darth Jay · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 4260 Location: Worcester, MA

Let me go ahead and jump on board this bandwagon. I'm not going to lie, I saw everyone here frothing at the mouth over him and said to myself "great, another little guy for the message board folk to build up." But y'all seem to have nailed it.

I think this dudes stock is on the rise big time to the point where we may have to use a first on him. He had a huge week at the combine from everything I've read. I think the Vrabel comparison seems legit and even though I think he may slip into the first, I am kind of hoping we can use our second or third 2nd rounder on him. We'll see, though. He's definitely a very intriguing prospect.

So consider this thread Darth Jay Approved. Cool

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TheManChild16 · Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 169 Location: Needham

SoxNats07 · Joined: 21 Jul 2007 Posts: 10015

Is there any chance of him playing tight end for us too if we get him or would he solely be a DE?
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