Thread: Bears' Paea in walking boot after injury

Originally Posted by soulman

To be honest I did too. He's another example of a Bears player who's just a great human being in addition to being a very good football player. And that's what he was. A "football player". A "Grabowski" who wasn't an athlete but played the game as it was designed to be played. Loved the guy for his effort and his motor and so did Ditka but the kid was an undersized overachiever as DTs go.

Paea is 2" taller and about 25lbs bigger and in Paea's case that a very strong and solid 25lbs. I know we haven't seen all that much of him as a pro yet but I watched a lot of his game vids at OSU before the draft and after he did those 47 reps at the combine. That's when I became a Stephen Paea fan. He's not the slickest pass rusher out there but the kid is relentless in that same way that Pep is. He'll hunt to you down until he sacks you if you don't get rid of the ball and he can and will chase you down when you try to escape the pocket.

So is he Zorich like in that regard? Yeah I'd say you're right about that but I think he's got physical tools and a skill set that Chris Zorich could only dream of. Their "motors" are a lot alike but where CZ was just a very good DT this kid Paea is a "beast". I just want him to stay healthy and prove it. This kid has John Randle kind of inside pass rush potential and Randle in his prime was virtually unblockable. Paea has that same kind of combination of strength and burst with his first step. JMHO

If Paea is anything like John Randle, he'll be awesome. Of course, he'll have to be just as boisterous as Randle.

Originally Posted by soulman

To be honest I did too. He's another example of a Bears player who's just a great human being in addition to being a very good football player. And that's what he was. A "football player". A "Grabowski" who wasn't an athlete but played the game as it was designed to be played. Loved the guy for his effort and his motor and so did Ditka but the kid was an undersized overachiever as DTs go.

Paea is 2" taller and about 25lbs bigger and in Paea's case that a very strong and solid 25lbs. I know we haven't seen all that much of him as a pro yet but I watched a lot of his game vids at OSU before the draft and after he did those 47 reps at the combine. That's when I became a Stephen Paea fan. He's not the slickest pass rusher out there but the kid is relentless in that same way that Pep is. He'll hunt to you down until he sacks you if you don't get rid of the ball and he can and will chase you down when you try to escape the pocket.

So is he Zorich like in that regard? Yeah I'd say you're right about that but I think he's got physical tools and a skill set that Chris Zorich could only dream of. Their "motors" are a lot alike but where CZ was just a very good DT this kid Paea is a "beast". I just want him to stay healthy and prove it. This kid has John Randle kind of inside pass rush potential and Randle in his prime was virtually unblockable. Paea has that same kind of combination of strength and burst with his first step. JMHO

John Randle one of my all-time favorites ( even saved an NFL Network piece on him to my DVR ). If Stevie Guns turns out half as good then I'm happy with that. He'll be one disruptive mf.

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

John Randle one of my all-time favorites ( even saved an NFL Network piece on him to my DVR ). If Stevie Guns turns out half as good then I'm happy with that. He'll be one disruptive mf.

This might be a case, Blue, where you get more sacks out of the interior part of the line than you will from the defensive ends. I'm not saying that Peppers and McClellin won't have great seasons, but I think that these defensive tackles may prove someday to be the best 4-3 defenders at their position in the NFL.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

This might be a case, Blue, where you get more sacks out of the interior part of the line than you will from the defensive ends. I'm not saying that Peppers and McClellin won't have great seasons, but I think that these defensive tackles may prove someday to be the best 4-3 defenders at their position in the NFL.

I'd like to see that , but I don't really think about DT's having big sack numbers (or even expect it really) . Can't even think of a time when I've seen it much on any team.

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

I'd like to see that , but I don't really think about DT's having big sack numbers (or even expect it really) . Can't even think of a time when I've seen it much on any team.

I can give one example. In Ndamukong Suh's rookie year, he had 10 sacks. I think he led the team in the department unless Cliff Avril also got close to that total. I don't know for sure, though. But yeah, that's one example of an offensive tackle getting a lot of sacks.