Hottoddie
Veteran
Every year we, as fans, fall in love with certain players & swear on our lives that they'll turn the entire franchise around & guarantee us a shot at the Super Bowl. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. We all want to see that flashy, can't be stopped super star. However, those kind of players are usually the last piece to a Super Bowl run & we're not ready to take that step just yet.
Running backs have very short NFL careers due to the pounding they take every game & that's one of the reasons I believe we should pass on a RB in the first round this year. Many on this board are in love with Mendenhall & Stewart (that includes me as well), but we're not through laying the foundation. By that, I mean solidifying the trenches with the "Big Uglies". The best RB's in the history of the NFL couldn't do anything without a solid OL to run behind. Many of you have said that Gibbs can take a LT in the later rounds & turn him into a solid LT, but do you really want to entrust the health of your multi-million dollar QB & RB to a bargain basement LT?
Here's the link to a post I did back in November of 2005 that showed what round all the starting LT's in the NFL were taken in. I haven't updated it, but I suspect it'll turn out very similar today.
http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=210248#post210248
We all know that we need to get either a starting LT, CB, or RB with the #18 pick, & so does every team in the NFL. That can be used to our advantage to trade down & pick up an extra pick or two. We can't fill all 3 positions with just a 1st & 3rd round pick. If one of the top 3 LT's (Otah is not in the equation for us) or McKelvin are still on the board at #18, we take him, no questions asked. However, if not, we should start working the phones to trade down.
My reason for omitting DRC is his health condition. I have to be very concerned about investing the kind of money he'll get, in a player that could be knocked out with one good shot. Not that he will, but it'd be a real concern.
If we can trade down, we should be able to pick up one of the 2nd tier LT's like Baker or Collins in the late 1st or early 2nd round. Either one of those should be a huge upgrade over Salaam & Black. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Baker is going to turn out to be one of the better LT's taken in this year's draft.
Now, for my reason's why we shouldn't take a RB with our first round pick.
1) We haven't finished putting together the offensive line. This is the year we quit playing & get a legitimate LT.
2) RB's have the shortest NFL careers of all the regular starters (kickers don't count).
3) The Denver system is well known for taking average RB's & making them look like above average RB's.
4) A player like Kevin Smith or Matt Forte could be made to look like All-Pros in the Denver system & I believe that both can be drafted in the late 2nd to 3rd round.
5) We need to get an extra 2nd round pick to go after a CB. All the one's that can contribute right away should be gone by the 3rd round (Godfrey, Porter, Flowers, Molden).
Well, that's my opinion & like all of them, they usually stink.
Running backs have very short NFL careers due to the pounding they take every game & that's one of the reasons I believe we should pass on a RB in the first round this year. Many on this board are in love with Mendenhall & Stewart (that includes me as well), but we're not through laying the foundation. By that, I mean solidifying the trenches with the "Big Uglies". The best RB's in the history of the NFL couldn't do anything without a solid OL to run behind. Many of you have said that Gibbs can take a LT in the later rounds & turn him into a solid LT, but do you really want to entrust the health of your multi-million dollar QB & RB to a bargain basement LT?
Here's the link to a post I did back in November of 2005 that showed what round all the starting LT's in the NFL were taken in. I haven't updated it, but I suspect it'll turn out very similar today.
http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=210248#post210248
We all know that we need to get either a starting LT, CB, or RB with the #18 pick, & so does every team in the NFL. That can be used to our advantage to trade down & pick up an extra pick or two. We can't fill all 3 positions with just a 1st & 3rd round pick. If one of the top 3 LT's (Otah is not in the equation for us) or McKelvin are still on the board at #18, we take him, no questions asked. However, if not, we should start working the phones to trade down.
My reason for omitting DRC is his health condition. I have to be very concerned about investing the kind of money he'll get, in a player that could be knocked out with one good shot. Not that he will, but it'd be a real concern.
If we can trade down, we should be able to pick up one of the 2nd tier LT's like Baker or Collins in the late 1st or early 2nd round. Either one of those should be a huge upgrade over Salaam & Black. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Baker is going to turn out to be one of the better LT's taken in this year's draft.
Now, for my reason's why we shouldn't take a RB with our first round pick.
1) We haven't finished putting together the offensive line. This is the year we quit playing & get a legitimate LT.
2) RB's have the shortest NFL careers of all the regular starters (kickers don't count).
3) The Denver system is well known for taking average RB's & making them look like above average RB's.
4) A player like Kevin Smith or Matt Forte could be made to look like All-Pros in the Denver system & I believe that both can be drafted in the late 2nd to 3rd round.
5) We need to get an extra 2nd round pick to go after a CB. All the one's that can contribute right away should be gone by the 3rd round (Godfrey, Porter, Flowers, Molden).
Well, that's my opinion & like all of them, they usually stink.
