PDaDdy

Easy. Go to nfl.com take a look at all pass receivers and sort by TDs, sort by yards, sort by 1st down conversions, etc. See where Stevie ranks on that list. Take a look at the rest of the nfl and list the teams where SJ would be the number one target over that teams best WR(s) or TE's. By the number SJ wouldn't be a #1 on a lot of teams. Don't get me wrong, without question we need to keep this guy but is SJ and Fitz any better than Lee Evans and JP Losman? Was Lee a #1 with Losman? If he wasn't then the numbers would say SJ isn't a #1 with Edwards/Fitz.

WR is definitely a need and I think Floyd might be the second best NFL candidate in the draft. He is certainly the one that has the best measureables of the top 4 or 5 candidates. Per Nix's comments I think we will be passsing on DE in the first round. An offensive tackle or WR Floyd seem like much more realistic choices now. The offense is quite likley more than 1 piece away. There are a few positions that need to be addressed still. WR alone you could make a case for needing 2 more guys. Gailey runs plenty of 4 - 5 WR sets and other than Stevie Johnson and expected improvement of David Nelson we don't have anyone else that can be relied on.

I hope he's not if we get him but we have seen plenty of guys that can excel at the college level but can't make the transition to the pros. He has 3 years of good performance on a great defense with a great surrounding cast. That makes me worry a bit. I didn't expect his poor performance to make anyone like Coples but I still think the guy can get it done. In no way am I saying he is the next Julius Peppers but I think he would be a solid pick that has what it takes at the pro level. Motivation has been alleged as an issue but you can't teach or coach the other things he brings to the table. Coples also has a body of work though some were disappointed with his last year. Although it was still good it didn't live up to peoples expectations of increased performance much less a repeat performance. I do feel less like Upshaw is a fit for us but I am also starting to doubt that he was worthy of #10 anyway. IMO he is NOT a 4-3 DE who would be a great pass rusher. Run support, sure, it's a need. I wonder if he would need to play lighter to play faster at the NFL level. Even with his squat powerful build I don't see him bull rushing his way through 320lb NFL tackles. I definitely don't see the speed to run around them. Maybe a little lighter and quicker would help his "stiffness" as well.

That is what I am worried about as well. Everyone likes to throw out the usual disclaimers regarding why the consensus higher rated player, like Coples, isn't any good. Measureables mean nothing. The combine is the underwear Olympics. So and so has no motor. On and on. I was just wondering what the feeling was on Upshaw and his measureables and combine performance. I got ripped by quite a few for preferring Coples over Upshaw but I haven't heard a single peep about Upshaw in over a week. I was wondering where all his supporters were and if they still feel the same way? I still think he is a good football player but I have had the same fears about him before his combine performance or lack there of. I'm no expert on these potential tweener guys but I'm thinking he is more of a 3-4 OLB. This is the kind of guy that Pittsburgh would take, work with and probably have a decent football player inside 1 - 3 years. I don't think he is a fit for our team anymore as a potential 4-3 DE or a 4-3 OLB. I certainly don't think he is #10 overall worthy anymore either.

Is anyone still thinking DE in the first round? I was vocal about my support for both Coples and Upshaw but as usual forum members turn it into a polarizing issue because you can't like one guy without hating the other. I think I still prefer Coples over Upshaw but since the combine nobody is banging the drum for Upshaw anymore? Where is the love? Did the guy forget how to play football or do people think he might be a reach at #10 or a bad fit for our defense?

We had no speed after Donald Jones who wasn't that good and parrish who is too fragile went down. Why not. He had a year in the offense and knows the team and organization. Unless we are going to get a Vincent Jackson, Dwane Bowe or Marques Colston why not? Torrey Smith came on in Baltimore since Lee was hurt basically all year and Lee was expendable. I never was able to figure out the hate for a class act and good guy. He would come really cheap.

I think he has gotten everyone that he wanted at least in the first round the last 2 years. Seems to be working. The best smoke screen seems to be telling people the truth and they will of course think your lying. Other teams aren't stupid. They know what our needs are just like all of us. Trading up requires a trade partner and giving up picks. People think it's easy to move up or down in the draft based on their desire. You need a trade partner. It doesn't happen too often and it is usually expensive in the way of draft picks for the team trying to move up.

He's a small town kid from the south who happened to be an incredibly gifted WR. Most people from humble beginnings are not prepared for success or know how to manage money. They rely on other people. If the people they rely on are not trust worthy these things happen more than we know. It's sad that so many love to revel in the failure of others to feel superior or make themselves feel better.

We had no speed after Donald Jones who wasn't that good and parrish who is too fragile went down. Why not. He had a year in the offense and knows the team and organization. Unless we are going to get a Vincent Jackson, Dwane Bowe or Marques Colston why not? Torrey Smith came on in Baltimore since Lee was hurt basically all year and Lee was expendable. I never was able to figure out the hate for a class act and good guy. He would come really cheap.

haHahhaHAhahAHahAHaHAhahAHahAHHAha

The more I listen to Nix who basically tells you every year what he is going to do in the draft I think that Martin is likely our pick unless he rises above Reif and goes before #10. I also think there is a slight outside chance that we go with the ND WR Floyd. He has all the measureables and was quite productive.

We aren't a great team yet. Gambling in the draft isn't a good strategy for rebuilding this team. We need solid picks that will make this team better. I do agree though that we need to find difference makers in free agency. I have beat this drum for a while. I understand not wanting to over pay for certain free agents but we do need difference makers. I think Nix's plan is to look at difference makers and attempt to acquire ones that can be had at a good value as opposed to over paying. I am encouraged that this year Nix says we will be more active in FA and is looking for those types of players. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Why did you need your own thread when there were already at least 5 others on the top threads? I won't start a Fitz is the man thread because it accomplishes nothing. We know he is our QB. Thank God buddy just recently said that we won't be trading up to #2 because it is too foolish so all you whiners can let it go, get a good cry and move on.

When they are naming them "Draft a WR in the 1st Round", you open it and it says absolutely nothing about drafting a WR and it is really a bash Fitz get RG3 thread you know it's gotten bad. I am just trying to avoid the clutter. I myself have had a thread merged because it was similar to one single other thread. We about 5 topics in the top 10 alone saying exactly the same thing.

Moderators, Hey maybe it's not my place but the top topics are littered with what is essentially the same thread of how Fitz sucks and trade up to get RG3. One thread is even called "DRAFT A WR IN THE FIRST" then goes on to say nothing at all about WRs and is another bash Fitz get RG3 thread. There are at least 1 or 2 new ones that are popping up everyday saying the same thing. Would the community be better served to merge these to remove all the clutter so we can see other issues to discuss like realistic scenarios of who we might draft or trade for? Oh....and PLEASE!!!

Don't we already have about 20 RG3 threads already?

I meant I was guilty not you. It's a ridiculous scenario and I would much much much rather discuss prospects that we might actually get. The Fitz haters will go to any length to start effectively the same thread over and over every day hoping to get it to the top of the popular topics. We should just make a vow now to not even open a thread that could even remotely be related to getting someone we will never get to replace Fitz or just outright bash threads. I look forward to some discussions that are grounded in reality regarding potential picks we might make to fill bigger needs.

Oh look, ANOTHER Fitz sucks thread. *yawn*

Although guilty of engaging in this discussion if only to point out the same thing....

As I said I have pretty much given up on the guy but he was okay early in his career when we were playing Cover 2(4-3). He definitely doesn't seem comfortable or have his feet under him as you would like to see. I'm not sure if he just got worse, got exposed or perhaps some subtle change in how the corners played make him always look uncomfortable or out of place. He is likely a lost cause but I was trying to be optimistic. 4-3 may have been a factor or he could have just regressed in the last 2 years. Likely a lost cause. I would consider it a huge failure if we aren't in the playoffs in 2 years. I say this despite having to play against the Pats twice a year which basically means we are playing for a wild card spot as the Pats will likely win the division every year until Brady starts to decline or retires. The Pats defense keeps opponents under 21.4 points a game. Although middle of the pack average it was good enough to provide them with a +11 pts margin to their offense. Our margin is -4.1 points. That can be improved by improving either side of the ball but going from the 14th best offense to the 5th best offense gives us 2 pts a week. Improving our 30th ranked defense to just be average gives us 6 pts a week. We should improve both but by far our biggest weakness and biggest bang for our buck is improving the defensive side of the ball. As an intermediate step trying to build an average defense is a lot easier than trying to build a top 5 offense. We should look to improve in all areas but fixing the defense is job 1 and will get the fans behind the team.

I obviously agree. It is refreshing to be engaged on the issues whether positive or negative as opposed to childish banter. You bring up a great point. The Stache is obviously known for his DC success and it would be a travesty if we didn't give him more to work with. This is especially important considering the scheme switch. That being said the scheme switch might also help get better production out of some defenders we already have. For example, I'm losing hope for him but McKelvin seemed to struggle with the switch to the 3-4. Maybe with some luck and some coaching we can get something out of that guy.

Give me a defense that allows one less point than the offense scores in every game and I'll be happy.

Your lack of reading comprehension is legendary. The sentences with the question marks at the end....try responding to those not that you have any rebuttal to them. Your sophomoric simplification of the statement lacks the nuance of the point I made. You need an offense that outscores what your defense allows by a significant margin. To phrase it another way we need a defense that gives up less than our offense scores by a significant margin. This my simple man gives you two options; improve an offense that despite the incredible rash of injuries yet again this year averaged 23.2 pts per game which was 14th best in the league OR improve the defense that gave up on average 27.1 pts per game and was 30th in the league. For comparison sake the 5th ranked offense in weekly scoring only scored 25.4 pts a week. Even if we improved our offense to 5th best in the ENTIRE league we would score a whopping 2 additional pts a week and STILL average less than our defense gives up! The choice once again is obvious If you don't get that ...I guess you don't get it.

Nope that is not what I said. What I said is what I typed. Try responding to what I typed instead of paraphrasing and twisting the words. It's generally a good idea when having a discussion and you are trying to make a solid informed point that you reply with a statement not another question. We can get through this. I'm sure you can do it....well...maybe not...I'll give you the benefit of the doubt until you continue to prove otherwise

Again with nothing. I will provide what I asked you before since your reading comprehension level isn't sufficient to determine what is a question (a sentence that ends with a "?") or a point. Question in bold. Points in italics. Hope this helps ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So a defense that gives up 27.1 pts per game is how we make the playoffs? The very worst defense(regular season) that made the play offs was the Giants who barely snuck in at 9-7 while enduring a 1-5 losing stretch because it's defense wasn't healthy gave up 25 pts. When they got hot their defense was shutting teams down. The rest of the teams that made the play offs where as low as 14 pts per game with a couple in the LOW 20's. Doesn't that tell you something? Basically what I am trying to tell you is to actually think not just buy into the franchise QB passing league BS. Those things ARE important but there are so many other factors. What you need is a team that scores more than it gives up by a significant margin which leads to wins. With the 3rd worst defense in the league giving up points we aren't going anywhere without huge upgrades there. Even if we had any of the consensus elite QBs like Brady we aren't going to average 35+ points a week with the other talent we have to over come our defensive ineptitude.