When former Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers got scooped up in the fourth round of last weekend's NFL draft by the New England Patriots, many thought the Pats came away with a steal. Our Brandon Thorn gave New England a B+ grade for the pick, noting that Flowers is a jack-of-all-trades type of player.
Well, Flowers' former college coach has another idea of what kind of player Flowers is. Bret Bielema, who used to coach at Wisconsin, sees similarities between Flowers and one of his former Wisconsin standouts. “I will say this -- I’m cautious to compare anyone to J.J. Watt, but Trey’s mentality and his work ethic and his attitude is like J.J.,” Bielema said Tuesday when asked about Flowers, per WEEI. “They have a similar approach to the game. Trey just goes hard, especially when the situation is biggest.”
Flowers isn't quite as big as Watt (6-2, 266 pounds compared to Watt's 6-5, 289), and he wasn't quite as productive in his final college season, either. Flowers ended Arkansas' last season with 44 tackles, including 13.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks. Watt's final year at Wisconsin saw him record 62 tackles, 21.0 for loss and 7.0 sacks. And of course he has since become the best defensive player in football. But if Bielema is even comparing Flowers' work ethic to Watt's, if not necessarily his production, then that's probably a good sign for Flowers' future development.
Besides work ethic, they've aleady got at least one other thing in common. Just like Watt, Flowers already has the box jump down pat.
That's a 55-inch jump right there. Impressive stuff. Flowers has already stated that his true football inspiration is the Bobby Boucher character from the Adam Sandler film The Waterboy, so if he combines that and Watt, he might really be a force to be reckoned with for New England.
