STRENGTHS
Bradlee has the size and athletic talent teams look for in a Defensive End or Edge Rusher. He has excellent physical stamina pushing himself to his maximum on every play. He does a good job against the run and when he is one on one, pass-rushing he is outstanding getting into the backfield with a variety of hand moves and speed. Bradlee takes pride in his play and his explosion off the line of scrimmage at the snap of the ball is as good as it gets. He can bend around the corner and his speed puts offensive tackles at a disadvantage on third and long downs. Bradlee can drop off the line if you need him to but his strength is in attacking the line of scrimmage and getting into the backfield for sacks, pressures and making tackles for losses against the run.
CONCERNS
Mentally, Bradlee has a lot of improvement to become the player his overall athletic talent suggests he can become. When he is singled up against offensive lineman on passing downs he has all the moves and athletic talent that anyone could ask for but, as soon as he is double-teamed he struggles big time. He struggles because sometimes he is “surprised” at the blocking scheme, doesn’t know how to defeat the double team, and seems to get frustrated and forgets to continue to use the excellent techniques that he has practiced so hard to attain. The “surprise” part of this statement is the most shocking part to me. You can’t be an effective pass rusher at the next level if you have no idea on any given play how a team is likely to block you. By the way, could someone please teach this kid how to do a spin move? He has to be the worse at trying to do that move against an opponent that I have ever seen.
BOTTOM LINE 2.00
For Bradlee it all comes down to the mental part of the game. I have this saying when negotiating a business deal to your advantage. You have to understand the other side of the table before you can negotiate a deal in your favor. I don’t think Bradlee has thought about his moves any further than dealing with an offensive lineman one on one. He is surprised on third and long as to where a double team is coming from and looks lost. He struggles when its an offensive lineman who helps out or when it’s a running back chipping him. He seems surprised and is off-balance almost every time it happens. I like this kids’ athletic talent, size, strength, and physical stamina but mentally, he scares the crap out of me. Right now, he is a better athlete and has impacted because of that but, at the next level someone is going to have to bring him over to the offensive side of the ball and teach him down and distance, and blocking assignments and pray he will bring that information with him from the practice field to the game. That being said, he has excellent talent and well worth the effort it will take to get him to impact with his mind as well as his talent and in this draft just might be over-drafted and rated higher than I have him rated. He’s another player in this draft who reminds me of former Bills 2001, 2nd RD Draft pick, Aaron Schobel
