With the 31st pick, the Eagles select Mike Patterson

[General_Failure]

Sapp only has a desire to make babies.

[Eagles_Legendz]

From CNNSI John Donovan:

A terrific, and fortuitous, pick for the NFC champs. Patterson is an active guy in the middle -- though maybe not big enough -- who will learn from a veteran defensive line and will, as these things always go, get some playing time when someone gets banged up. Next up, the Super Bowl champion Patriots, who have the final pick of the first round. Cody doesn't seem to fit there, but Bill Belichick could surprise. He's done it before.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

If this guy can play like Sapp and not be a deusche off the field, he's a winner.

[BigEd76]

What else are you hearing, Ed? 

Today?  Nothing.  Just the stuff from Thursday....

[SD_Eagle5]

From the official site:

1st Rd (31st): DT Mike Patterson, USC 




April 23, 2005



OVERVIEW

One of the premier nose guards in the collegiate ranks, Mike Patterson was nicknamed "Baby Sapp," as his style of play is very similar to that of Oakland's Warren Sapp. Both rely on their suddenness off the snap, instincts and aggression to make plays in the backfield, despite yielding considerable bulk and size to the offensive linemen.

Patterson teamed with Shaun Cody to give the Trojans the premier tackle tandem in college football: both garnered first-team All-American honors as seniors.

Patterson moved to the Los Angeles area as a high school sophomore to live with a cousin and his family. The All-CIF wrestler and defensive tackle earned PrepStar and Super Prep All-American honors as a senior at Los Alamitos (Calif.) High. He recorded 94 tackles with seven sacks and 18 stops behind the line of scrimmage in his final prep season.

He arrived on the Southern California campus in 2001 and expected to redshirt, but injuries forced him on to the field as a reserve defensive tackle for the team's final 11 games. Patterson struggled a bit to adapt to classroom work and the playbook during his first year at USC, but made considerable strides over the course of his career. He finished his rookie year with only nine tackles, but registered three sacks, five stops for losses and caused and recovered two fumbles.



Vitals/Links
College: USC
Height: 5-11, Weight: 292



Patterson started the first six games of the 2002 campaign at nose guard before shifting to tackle for the next four games, then moved back to nose for the final three contests. He totaled 37 tackles (27 solo) with 5½ sacks, 11½ stops for losses and four fumble recoveries.

During the Trojans' march for a share of the national title in 2003, Patterson had a career-high 55 tackles (36 solo) with seven sacks, 13½ stops for losses of 61 yards and returned three fumble recoveries for 68 yards. Those figures earned the nose guard first-team All-Pac-10 Conference honors.

As he entered his senior year, Patterson was the subject of constant double-team coverage. Despite those stacked odds, it was he doing the stacking (and disengaging) at the line of scrimmage, as he earned consensus All-American and All-Pac-10 Conference honors as a senior. He recorded 45 tackles (25 solo) with six sacks, a team-high 16 stops behind the line of scrimmage, two forced fumbles, a conference-high four fumble recoveries and two pass deflections.

The three-year starter finished his career with 146 tackles (96 solo), 21½ sacks for minus-139 yards, 46 stops for losses of 213 yards, four forced fumbles, 13 fumble recoveries (team record) and three pass break-ups.

ANALYSIS

Patterson has excellent quickness and plays with recklessness and an aggressive style. He shows good pursuit speed to cover ground from sideline to sideline. Might be a little too short to play the two-gap system, but his explosion, long arms and strength make him ideal to handle the trash and double teams at nose guard.

Patterson plays very quick in the short area, as his clocked 40-yard speed indicates. Does a very good job of avoiding blockers and making plays. In the past, he needed to use his hands more to shed quicker, but showed marked improvement in this area as a senior. Now uses his hands effectively to hit and shed, moving down the line to make the play.

Can anchor and read, doing a nice job of taking a side to beat the blocker or attack the gap. When he is quick to spot the plays, he reacts well to blocking schemes and is stout at the point of attack, consistently getting leverage and getting his feet free. At times, Mike will run underneath blockers and that causes him to take a bad angle, causing him to then has to chase down the ball carrier from behind. Plays with a high motor and is quick and sudden coming off the edge of a blocker. His brute strength (Patterson earned several weight lifting honors with the Trojans) and wrestling experience makes him a very disruptive force, as he gets a lot of his tackles (one-third) in the backfield.

He keeps a low center of gravity vs. the run and can anchor and neutralize with his lower-body strength and very long arms. Extremely difficult to block one-on-one because of his power and low pad level. Physical hitter, wraps up strongly and is a good pass rusher with above-average foot speed to fight through traffic en route to the quarterback. A little slow recognizing the run and pass, but has the foot speed to get there once he spots the play. Patterson shows a great short-area burst and has good change-of-direction skills.

Gets adequate depth dropping back in zone coverage and breaks on the ball well, but struggles with his man-to-man cover skills, resulting in him generally being replaced in nickel situations. Can easily beat the single block with his speed and power. Effective pushing the pocket if the center attempts to block him and can also do it when the center gets help. Will rip or swim off the bull rush and has a very good burst to push and close the pocket. Patterns his play and is even nicknamed "Baby Sapp," in honor of Warren Sapp, but his backfield penetration agility is superior to that of the once-dominant Oakland Raider.

INJURY REPORT

No injuries reported.

AGILITY

4.83 in the 40-yard dash ... 520-pound bench press ... 700-pound squat; ... 410-pound power clean ... 34-inch vertical jump ... 9-foot-9 broad jump ... 32-inch arm length ... 9¼-inch hands ... Right-handed.

HIGH SCHOOL

Attended Los Alamitos (Cal.) High. ... Earned Prep Star All-American, SuperPrep All-Far West, Prep Star All-Western Region, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best of the West second team, Los Angeles Times All-Orange County, Orange County Register All-Orange County first-team, Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team first-team and All-Sunset League honors as a senior ... Posted 94 tackles, 18 stops for losses and seven sacks in 2000 ... As a junior, his honors included All-CIF Division VI Defensive MVP, Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team second-team and All-Sunset League first-team honors ... Patterson also was an All-CIF wrestler at Los Alamitos.

PERSONAL

Sociology major ... His family lived in Sacramento, but he moved south and lived with relatives in order to play football at Los Alamitos High ... His sports hero is NFL star Warren Sapp. "He's my favorite player, for sure," Patterson said. "He was one of the short guys and we have similar body types. He worked very hard and now he is one of the best. So that's who I try to emulate. I try to work really hard to be the best. We have different attitudes, but I love the way he plays. But I don't hear the 'Baby Sapp' nickname much anymore. It's almost like I'm finally making a name for myself." ... Born Sept. 1, 1983 ... Resides in Los Alamitos, Calif.

[General_Failure]

What else are you hearing, Ed?

Today? Nothing. Just the stuff from Thursday....

He's holding out on us. Let's get 'im!

[hunt]

i don't like to see the words "undersized" & "finesse" used to describe a DT...but i'll assume they know what they're doing.

[TexasEagle]

i don't like to see the words "undersized" & "finesse" used to describe a DT...but i'll assume they know what they're doing.

Aren't those common descriptions when talking about the Eagles DL for the last few years?

[General_Failure]

DL, linebackers, WRs until last year ...

[SD_Eagle5]

From ge99 on the EMB:

Great start to the day. Patterson was the player I wanted the most. He is the hardest working DL in the whole draft. He will play his butt off. He lacks ideal size, but will make plays all over the field. Mike made more tackles than any DT I've seen. The numbers may say different, but he is exactly what we needed.


Reggie is intersting as a WR. He's an SEC guy. He's strong. He's athletic. And tough. He played gunner on the Punt Cover team. He will gladly play STs for Coach Harbaugh and do a good job

[PhillyGirl]

From ge99 on the EMB:

Great start to the day. Patterson was the player I wanted the most. He is the hardest working DL in the whole draft. He will play his butt off. He lacks ideal size, but will make plays all over the field. Mike made more tackles than any DT I've seen. The numbers may say different, but he is exactly what we needed.


Reggie is intersting as a WR. He's an SEC guy. He's strong. He's athletic. And tough. He played gunner on the Punt Cover team. He will gladly play STs for Coach Harbaugh and do a good job

What is the meaning of that? Who is the poster that it matters? lol

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

PE.com profile

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Patterson's comments after being drafted

[Geowhizzer]

Patterson's comments after being drafted

Sounds like a good one. 

[sammyeaglesfan]

Great pick-up and I seen every USC game last year ( big pac 10 fan) .


Awesome DT with some big guns....