Patriots Draft Prospects: Rey Maualuga
According to reports, the New England Patriots are looking to shore up their inside linebacking core by adding another top notch talent come April. When looking at inside linbacker prospects for 2009, the one name that really jumps out to me is Rey Maualuga.
While Mauauluga may not be around at 23, if he is, he would be quite a steal.
Strengths
Maualuga is explosive, to say the least. He has very good initial quickness and gets a full steam of speed very quickly. At 6-2, 249, has ideal strength to shed blockers, as well as the quickness and hand-work to do so as well. Is a very hard hitter, consistently punishing receivers, quarterbacks, and ball carriers. Is very instinctive and fluid, and while he may not run a very fast 40 yard dash, he is very football fast, and thus excels in coverage.
Weaknesses
Is a hard hitter, and is sometimes overaggressive, going in to lower the shoulder, and occasionally missing tackles. Did not time well at the combine. Has had some off the field issues, including an arrest back in 2005.
Role
Rey Maualuga could come in and contribute immediately at inside linebacker for the Patriots. He could be used immediately as a rotational player on first and second downs (coming in for Bruschi), and occasionally subbing for Gary Guyton on passing downs. He would likely become a starter in 2010.
Patriots Draft Prospects
Reader Comments
Rey with Mayo would be a killer 1-2 punch at MLB.
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Seems like one of the only defensive players who could make a difference in 2009. Since Belichick seems to be going for it hard this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he moved up to grab him.
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Rey who?
Connor Barwin just ran the 40 in 4.47 today at the BearCats Pro Day!!! The Pats have to get this guy in the first round to replace Vrabel.
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Rey Maualuga would be a great pick if he fell down to 23. I don’t think its likely though. He’s too well known and talented to fall past the teens. If he falls that far it would be great.
In the perfect world we’d have Maualuga at 23, Barwin at 34, and give the 47th for a 1st rounder next year.
Check out this article on how Barwin just may have launched himself into the 1st round.
profootball.scout.com/2/849052.html
Belichick loves value and versatility in his players. Barwin can step in to provide the pass rush the defense desparately needs or he can step in as a DE if we can’t re-sign Seymour next year.
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Yeah… I think Barwin would be a great pick at 23… The guy ran a 4.44 40 at his pro day. Wow. Just wow. Wow.
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Oh and I don’t think we could trade the 47 for a first rounder next year… maybe the 34 but not the 47.
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You’re right Greg probably couldn’t get the 47 for a first rounder, but only in the perfect world where everything went our way…
We can only dream.
Can’t wait for the season to start.
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Hey, this is the Patriots we are talking about. If we really wanted a first rounder next year for the #47 pick, I’m sure the hoody could get it done.
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Yeah you never know… if a team is looking at a player they really would like to have and the value of that player to them was a first rounder, it could happen.
And man, that scenario you presented would be really freaking sweet… haha
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Rey Maualuga apparantly has scored a 15 on the Wonderlic, which is considered pretty low for ILB.
For comparisons sake, Jerod Mayo scored a 26 on the same test, which probably accounts for how he quickly picked up the Pats defense.
Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing also scored well at 27 and 23 respectively. I wish we had the numbers on Barwin…
Here’s the link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-22-pompei-scout-mar22,0,7151782.story
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And Louis Delmas scored a 12. Wow.
I was really disappointed when I saw Maualuga’s score… hopefully he is more football smart (he is said to be instinctive).
Still, the Patriots system is very complex, which is why the Patriots tend to draft smart players. I wonder how this will affect him on the Patriots’ draft board.
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