Maine-iac

If Shorter shows he can do Gave Davis type things it would be a real cost savings as Davis hits the end of his contract. I like Davis but he has enough stats to demand a decent contract. Money we might not have.

Take away Frank Clark and I doubt the Chiefs win. Take away Frank Clark, Chris Jones, and most of their secondary and I guarantee the Chiefs don't win that game.

The offense is loaded but I don't think our offense was the limiting factor at any point the last two years. They fell on their faces a little in the Bengals game but the defense wasn't making any stops to get them the ball back which leads to I think the big question. Can we stop the run and effect the QB? Injuries I think effected both our pass rush and our coverage ability so we might (barring injuries again) have that fixed just with people being healthy. The large question I have is can we stop the run? The Bengals ran the ball at will which might also be a product of injuries (Jones being hurt) but it's something that has happened several times a season (sometimes more). Will the players we have (with McDermott's coaching) be able to stop the run. The Pats and the Jets will probably still come out running against us.

My fear isn't that this guy can't catch or that he drops passes. That doesn't seem to be the case. My fear is that he doesn't have the quickness or agility to get away from NFL cb's and that leaves him being a contested catch guy and reports are that for his size he's not great at contested catches. That said I take everything I read on the internet with a grain of salt, he may come out and have a great feel for zones and be a smooth route runner and just find ways to get open. It's as much on the OC as it is receivers sometimes. I don't mind the pick. The team had met with him and felt comfortable with him and they seem to be pretty decent at evaluating WR's. I'll "trust the process".

Garner is going to end up at safety. He's a big DB.

Hope they bring in Bryce Ford Wheaton and Mekhi Garner.

He might not have a problem with drops (per the numbers) but he doesn't win contested catches like you expect from someone that big. Saw it in two other places and ESPN put it in their article also. If he's playing outside and can't out quick people and isn't sudden in space then he needs to win contested catches at that size and there are a lot of reports saying he doesn't do that very well. Don't get me wrong, the pick is in and you have to love the one your with so hopefully our scouts and coaches know what they are doing. A 5th round pick for WR is a crapshoot anyways. Who knows maybe he ends up at TE.

Klein is pretty decent at getting to the QB though. Just spit balling here but play Milano, Klein, and Rapp as "LBs" and let Klein blitz more and drop into short coverage enough to keep them guessing.

So now we have 3 TE's who are great pass catchers ........

If he was a lock to be playing in the NFL he wouldn't be a 5th round pick. Not hating on the pick but outside of being huge he doesn't have a lot that would make you pick him over someone else. That where our scouts come in ............ hopefully they know something and he's not James Hardy 2.0.

I actually didn't see many saying drops were a problem. I did see conflicting reports (or at least confusing) that he runs routes well but then at the same time he comes from a spread offense and doesn't have much of a route tree. So he runs 4 routes but runs them really well? At least two reports suggested moving him to TE.

Daboll got Hyatt. I know he was a favorite for many on here.

I wish multiple scouting reports didn't say he never played to his size. I'm hoping our scouting dept. knows something. Read several reports suggesting he move to TE.

as long as he's not more like James Hardy.

I wouldn't mind a late round swing for Garner from LSU. A 6'2" 212 pound corner would be a decent project who could end up being a decent safety.

Both the LSU corners would be interesting picks. They're both big corners who could play just about anywhere in the secondary.

I wouldn't mind drafting that kid from Princeton at WR. I'm not sure how late he was supposed to go but if he there after the 4th round he's worth a shot.

What if we play a 4-3 and our LB's are Milano (MLB), Bernard (SLB) and Rapp (WLB)? Could two physical safety sized players equal one LB and one CB? If nothing else we have options and more cap space without Edmunds. It'll be interesting to see if we have "better" or even "good enough". I think McDermott calling the defense will make a difference but we'll see.

Even if we wanted forgo running the ball there wasn't a WR who would have replaced Davis last year at the 2 spot. If we had a Hopkins or OBJ I'm sure they wouldn't think twice about starting them across from Diggs. I'm not entirely sure they brought Harris here to start. Cook just might end up being the starter and Harrris might just be here to keep Allen from being our goal line and short yardage back like he has been. Either way if (IF) we bring in someone more talented than Davis I'll bet they see the field run or no run but so far Davis is still the second best receiver we have. Currently their best option is to get more production from the slot and TE positions draw some of the coverage away from Davis and hope you get more production. I personally think he had a bit of a down year and you could see a better year (within reason) especially in a contract year.

My guess is that if your average depth of target is over 15 yards you probably aren't open on every play. You also aren't making easy routine catches that far down the field either. His role is to keep teams defending deep passes. If we had a decent slot receiver or used our TE or RB like other teams we would see more of the benefits of having Davis and Diggs outside.

We have question marks as to the health of our top 3 safeties. He's young and cheap and if he plays well we resign him and get younger at safety. I would hope he can beat out Marlowe.

Not sure how we'd do that again but sign us up. That would be awesome. Kyle and Dareus were pretty damn good when Schwartz was here.

Sat next to his mother on the plane ride home from Buffalo 2 years ago. Very nice lady. Showed me a bunch of pictures from BC and I guess his sister is a swimmer if I remember right. Her husband got my wife's carry on out from above her. Just very nice people. Wish them all the best in NY.

Just looking at the numbers and unless I missed a guy here or there every single DT (except one) that had 6 or more sacks was a first round pick. We've had as much success with 3rd and 5 rd picks (Phillips or Williams) as we have with first round picks (Oliver and Dareus). It would be awesome if Jordan Phillips stayed healthy and found the fountain of youth and had a big year beside Jones. I like Phillips but I'm not sure I'd pin my hopes on that. I guess the big question is if you draft a DT where (what round)?

To your point we played McDermotts first year with Preston Brown at MLB and made the playoffs. They can play defense without Edmunds.