DT Stephen Paea, Oregon St

[Big_Pete]

Not a lot of people seem to be talking about Stephen Paea, I am curious why.

He has awesome strength, is very quick and mobile, has been very productive ( his 19.5 career sacks rank third on the Beavers' career list), seems to have a great attitude/work ethic and is still learning the game.

This guy is on the Lombardi, Outland and Nagurski watch lists.

why aren't people talking about him much?

[YAYareaRB]

I'm talking about him. He's a beast. If he started working on his pass rush moves, hed be unstoppable. He's got brute natural strength.

[TACKLE]

At this point I'd have to say he's the best pure UT prospect in the draft.

[Paranoidmoonduck]

I mentioned this in my mock that I posted a few months back, but Paea is my bet to be the first defensive tackle off the board and I could easily see him going top 15. He's got great functional strength and he'll show it at the combine, a great build, and was a real force for that Beaver defense last year.

He's not the most visible guy right now, but he will be fairly soon. In a group of defensive tackles plagued by tweeners (Heyward, Bailey, Crick) and underachievers (Austin), all Paea is lacking is exposure.

[bce]

lacking exposure meaning being a rd 1 pick on every media board in the world. You really think you found this guy or hes underrated or unknown?

[CashmoneyDrew]

At first glance he kinda reminds me of Jesse Mahelona. Lots of people said he was a late first round prospect going into his senior season and he ended up going on day 2. We'll see though. I honestly don't know much about him.

[Duffman57]

I've loved him since the first time i saw him play last year. The man is a beast.He's a little on the shorter side, but he is so quick and plays with such good leverage that IMO he can play in any system.

People are giong to talk about, because he is short, he wont be able to play the 3-4 DE spot, but i really think that he's quick and powerfull enough to get into solid position against the taller OT/OG's, let alone their going to have to sink to his level at 6'1" or 6'2" which is going to be really hard for 6'5"-6'8" guys.

[bce]

Can he play nose tackle? if so im certainly interested. if not, hes just another 4-3 dt and you really dont need those to be great to win.

[TACKLE]

Originally Posted by VoodooMonkey

At first glance he kinda reminds me of Jesse Mahelona. Lots of people said he was a late first round prospect going into his senior season and he ended up going on day 2. We'll see though. I honestly don't know much about him.

He was an absolute beast in his junior year.

[Duffman57]

Originally Posted by bce

Can he play nose tackle? if so im certainly interested. if not, hes just another 4-3 dt and you really dont need those to be great to win.

He might be able to, but his better fit in the 3-4 is at DE. But he certainly does have the quickness, strength and leverage to succeed at NT.

[bce]

he doesnt really fit at 3-4 de. not a lot of 6 310 lb 3-4 des out there.

If hes a strong and stout as they say nose tackle could be a nice spot, if hes able to handle that spot. he looks a lot more like casey hampton than aaron smith.

[tjsunstein]

One of my favorite prospects in the draft. 1st round talent but may fall to early to mid second due to team need/ position. As mentioned before, you don't need an elite UT to be great. He's big, quick, and productive. He may lack exposure to the average fan but if you're on a site like this, you should see his name quite frequently in the coming months.

[Duffman57]

Originally Posted by bce

he doesnt really fit at 3-4 de. not a lot of 6 310 lb 3-4 des out there.

If hes a strong and stout as they say nose tackle could be a nice spot, if hes able to handle that spot. he looks a lot more like casey hampton than aaron smith.

I guess. He for sure doesnt have the prototyipical build for a 3-4 DE. I guess he could be used as a 1 gap NT who you could shift all over the line in certain situations and in certain packages.

[bce]

i 'll surely be watching for nose tackle ability, if he shows it hes worthy of a high pick. If hes just another sedrick ellis then he's not.

[prock]

Originally Posted by tjsunstein

One of my favorite prospects in the draft. 1st round talent but may fall to early to mid second due to team need/ position. As mentioned before, you don't need an elite UT to be great. He's big, quick, and productive. He may lack exposure to the average fan but if you're on a site like this, you should see his name quite frequently in the coming months.

You are sounding like bce here. You don't need an elite anything besides quarterback to win, so this argument is stupid. UTs go high all the time...

[Big_Pete]

Paea certainly seems to be under the radar.

I guess Oregon State doesn't get the same kind of exposure
(I don't know, I am not from the USA)

But everyone seems to be liking guys like Marvin Austin.

I think in the end Paea could potentially be a top 10 pick, but it is going to get really loaded at the top end again this year. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the mid-late first round. There is an aweful lot of good talent on defense, particularly at DE, CB and OLB.

I guess Paea could play NT, but there are better NT options than can be taken later.

[Paranoidmoonduck]

Originally Posted by bce

i 'll surely be watching for nose tackle ability, if he shows it hes worthy of a high pick. If hes just another sedrick ellis then he's not.

Yeah! If he's just another Haloti Ngata, Tommie Harris, Kevin Williams, or Richard Seymour, forget it. He's totally not worth it!

[AntoinCD]

Originally Posted by bce

i 'll surely be watching for nose tackle ability, if he shows it hes worthy of a high pick. If hes just another sedrick ellis then he's not.

Lol what???

Yeah I'd hate to draft a young, extremely talented DT to build my defense around. Oh and by the way Sedrick Ellis played some NT last year when the Saints went to a 34. But apart from being totally wrong I see where you're coming from lol

EDIT: Where did all the hate for penetrating 3 techniques come from all of a sudden. I'd way rather have Kevin Williams than Pat Williams. I'd rather have Warren Sapp than Booger McFarland etc.

A pass rush from the inside is one of the most dangerous things to have. It stops the QB from stepping up into the pocket.

If you offered me Gerald McCoy over any of the DTs projected to play NT or 5 technique this year it would be a no brainer, i'd take McCoy. Suh was different because he may be able and verstaile enough to do it all.

[tjsunstein]

Originally Posted by prock

You are sounding like bce here. You don't need an elite anything besides quarterback to win, so this argument is stupid. UTs go high all the time...

You don't need an elite QB to win, either.

We were spoiled last year with both Suh and McCoy, that is something we probably won't see again for a long time.

To clarify what I meant. Teams don't value his position as much as they do others, knocking his projected draft position down a bit especially when parlaying that with how talented this draft is.

[PACKmanN]

sounds like the similar prospect Justin Harrell was minus the injury bug.

[bce]

Originally Posted by tjsunstein

You don't need an elite QB to win, either.

We were spoiled last year with both Suh and McCoy, that is something we probably won't see again for a long time.

To clarify what I meant. Teams don't value his position as much as they do others, knocking his projected draft position down a bit especially when parlaying that with how talented this draft is.

Just because 4-3 dts go high doesnt mean they should be going high. I like peae a bit though, and if he can play nose tackle could look good in black and gold.

When is the last time a super bowl was won by a team that didnt have a top end player at the qb position, and how often has it ever happened.

And you werent spoiled by suh and mccoy. You were duped.

[Duffman57]

I just found a good bit of film on him durring the Oregon game thats worth checking out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MARI0clp#p/u/2/laPi34hC6UU

He's an absolute monster. And when i really watched it i could see him being a heavier Jay Ratliff type NT.