whiskeyrbl said:
I think we all agree that this is a deep draft for OL this year,I think through FA and 2-5 rd of draft we can build an above average OL,and still use the #1 on Bush.
I agree that it is a deep draft on OLine, in fact my favorite OLine prospect (Winston) could fall to the 2nd round and that I would rather use the 2nd and 3rd rounds on OLine, but then that delays our acquisition of defensive players even more. If we trade down we can also probably add another 2nd rounder to that as well, here are two hypothetical draft scenarios:
Option 1)
1st: Reggie Bush (RB)
2nd: OT (Hopefully Eric Winston, if not next best one)
3rd: OG/C (Hopefully Nick Mangold could fall this far, if not maybe get Davin Joseph)
3rd: TE (Maybe Dominique Byrd will fall, otherwise Fasano, David Thomas, or my new rising prospect T.J. Williams)
4th: DB/DE/WR (Best CB/S/DE available, CB Danieal Manning is a rising prospect to me and could be under the radar enough to fall this far, not sure what DEs or WRs will be left)
5th: LB/DB/WR (Schlegel or Rocky McIntosh could be here, or look for another CB/S/WR depending on 4th round pick)
6th: BPA among WR/OL/DE/LB/DB somewhat depending on previous picks and who's available
7th: BPA among WR/OL/DE/LB/DB somewhat depending on previous picks and who's available
This yields your dynamite playmaker (Bush), a good OT, good OG, and good TE that should all be able to start for us, then it gives us four guys between WR/OL/DE/LB/CB/S that could compete for a starting spot. Hopefully our 4th is good enough that they should start for us and the other three can be depth/compete for playing time. We can look for other players at these positions in free agency, but I'm not sure how much talent we can afford after having to fill our remaining roster spots, and especially with Bush's $50+ million deal on there.
Option 2)
Trade down to #4/5, add this year's 2nd and a combination of players/future draft picks to make the deal even.
1st: Mario Williams (DE)
2nd: OT (Hopefully Eric Winston, if not next best one)
2nd: OG/C/CB (Grab Mangold here to play OG/C or else look for 1st round quality CB that falls)
3rd: CB/OG/C/WR (Grab best CB/OL depending on 2nd round pick or grab a WR if a top one falls)
3rd: TE (Maybe Dominique Byrd will fall, otherwise Fasano, David Thomas, or my new rising prospect T.J. Williams)
4th: DB/WR (Depending on 2nd and 3rd round picks, grab best CB/S/WR available, maybe Bullocks for S or a good WR that falls)
5th: LB/DB(Schlegel or Rocky McIntosh could be here, or look for another CB/S/WR depending on 4th round pick)
6th: BPA among WR/OL/DE/LB/DB somewhat depending on previous picks and who's available
7th: BPA among WR/OL/DE/LB/DB somewhat depending on previous picks and who's available
This plan gets us a monster DE, which is a position of great need for us since we're switching to a 4-3. The rest of our picks essentially remain the same, although in the 2nd we can guarantee we get Mangoldrather than hoping he falls to the 3rd or else grab a top CB (another need) that falls out of the 1st, then use that 3rd rounder to address CB or OLine depending on what we do in the 2nd. Then for many of our remaining needs we bump up the round in which we can look at them, so we'll be getting better guys for each of those spots.
Again, these are our top needs (in my order of importance) and where we address them in the two plans:
.......................................Plan 1.................................Plan 2
OT................................2nd Round...........................2nd Round
DE.........................4th Round or Lower......................1st Round
OG/C.............................3rd Round.........................2nd/3rd Round
Offensive Playmaker.......1st Round (RB)..................WR in 3rd/4th Round
CB.........................4th Round or Lower.............2nd/3rd, maybe 4th Round
TE................................3rd Round............................3rd Round
MLB.......................4th Round or Lower.................4th Round or Lower
S..........................4th Round or Lower..................4th Round or Lower
................................................................Additional Pick Available for Depth
In the Bush option you obviously get your RB/WR playmaker there, but in the other option you bump DE up from proabably a 4th rounder to the 1st round, OG/C you can grab in either the 2nd or the 3rd rather than getting the best available in the 3rd, CB rather than waiting until the 4th or later you can grab either in the 2nd or 3rd, you still get a playmaking WR (either a good fast one or else my preference would be a bigger, possession WR) in the 3rd or 4th round. With the trade down, you can look at MLB and S in the 4th and 5th rounds then depth/skill in the 6th and 7th, rather than having a CB, MLB, and S in the 4th-6th rounds (CB presumably taking the highest priority). So by trading down, take a DE three rounds higher and get the best DE prospect in four years, you have the option of taking OG/C in the 3rd like before or getting a better one in the 2nd, you can take a CB in the 2nd or 3rd rather than in the 4th. You still get your TE in the 3rd, and then MLB and S can be addressed in the 4th and 5th rather than the 5th and 6th. You then have your 6th and 7th round picks (rather than just the 7th) to add depth and more options at these positions of need, or you could take a chance on a guy like Reggie McNeal to play WR/QB and fill a role similar to Randle El's on the Steelers. So this way you can look for 3-4 of your needs one round higher in the draft and get better players at all of those spots, you still get a playmaker (WR) to help out the offense, and you have an additional pick in there to add another guy. To me this seems like a much better plan for improving the rest of the talent on the team.