While it might be a longshot there is a chance that we will have the opportunity to trade down if a player like Sanchez falls or someone wants to reach of a guy like Oher.
With this team in need of critical upgrades at the following positions I really hope we take a team up on an offer to trade down if one arises:
TE........We have next to nothing at this position.
OT........While some may be in a panic about OT I think we'll be very surprised at the play of Walker and Byrd/Chambers.
G or C..It looks like we have signed two serviceable C's so I think G is a much more critical need than C at this point.
DE.......While Schoebel may return to form I think its safe to say that both Kelsay and Denney forms are awful.
LB........SLB in my opinion is a huge need for us.
With two picks in the first round and a draft deep at TE, LB, DE and C if we could somehow luck out and trade down with Detroit for their second first rounder and that top of the second round pick we could very well fill three of the four with immediate starters who could actually be productive for this team.
That said we have a number of other positions on this team that not are not exactly of critical need to upgrade but we aren't exactly set at the position either.
In my opinion those positions are:
DT.......Williams is doing the best he can with very little, McCargo does very little, and Johnson isn't an every down DT.
C or G..We're likely to be starting a player who should be providing depth at one of these positions.
DE........I'm not saying Schoebel won't return to form I'm just saying it's not as likely as it is that he won't.
SS.......With Donte moving to FS it might be a good idea to use an early pick but likely a mid-round pick on SS.
You've probably noticed that I didn't list OT as a critical need for this team and wonder why. Its only because I believe Walker can't be any worse than Peters was this past season and that the coaching staff seems to feel it might have another OT lighting in the bottle player with Bell.
If we are so lucky to trade down and get Detroit's 20th and their 33rd (1st pick of the second round) we could walk away with the no. 1 TE on the board in Brandon Pettigrew and the no. 1 C/G on the board in Alex Mack or Max Unger we could still end up with a starter at LB or DT with a second round pick.
In short if we stand pat we could easily end up with two starters out of this draft with OT being one of them but with so many holes we might be better served with increasing the odds that we could end up with three or possibly four starters.
I'd love a draft that began with:
20th - TE Brandon Pettigrew (OSU)
28th - RT Eben Britton (AZ)
33rd - C/G Alex Mack/Max Unger (Cal/OR)
42nd - OLB Marcus Freeman (OSU)
85th - Rick Jean-Francois (LSU)