Ahead of the 2010 draft I wrote this piece for GGN on Ricky Sapp and how i viewed him as a pass rusher and as a future prospect for the Jets, detailing what i liked and what i didn't like. As you can see i loved the guy, and honestly thought that he would be causing 'mayhem' in the NFL right now. When predicting future NFL players, you get some right and you get some wrong. It's the way it goes from the average viewer to the Todd McShay's.
Well Ricky is sitting on the Jets practise squad hoping to be given a chance to impress after a nightmare first year in the NFL where he found himself on injured reserve before the season really got going. Fast forward one year into a four year deal and the Eagles chose to release him
There is a lot of mystery surrounding Sapp, as far as I am aware he left the Eagles team without authorisation two summers in a row. He has suggested that he is OK but somewhere the Eagles and Ricky Sapp were never a match made in heaven. Not being partial to the happenings of the Eagles I have no idea what happened. However it went from "Eagles have the biggest steal in the draft" to "Eagles cut ties with pass rusher without him playing a down for them".
It could be that after reviewing his medical records, they did not believe that he would ever be the players he was expected to be or perhaps they questioned his desire after he left the team through frustration. However to cut ties with a player with as much potential as Ricky Sapp without him ever having played for you seems extremely strange to me.
Sapp was rated as the number one rated weakside defensive end coming out of high school by Rivals.com and chose Clemson over a whole host of teams. He had a good college career and has a lot of attributes that can be used across the defence. Maybe he doesn't have the NFL ability to play as a defensive end or outside linebacker in the NFL.
However could he perhaps be viewed as a free safety? He's 6'4 and usually drifts around the 240lb-250lb mark, if he was able to drop 15-20lb's to make him a little lighter on his feet, he has the attributes associated with a centre field roamer.
If you read my original assessment of Ricky the things that burst off film include his lateral ability, his speed, his recognition and his length. I'm not saying it will definitely work but as a practise squad player who is low risk, high ceiling. I think it's worth giving him a shot to see how he does.
Bottom line is we have given up absolutely nothing for a player who has undoubted talent. Lets experiement with it.