Lofton80

I have not seen anyone give Schmidt a 4th round rating. I would take him if he was there later. I wonder if Dwayne Wright can play FB? Why reach?

Well the choices in the thread didn't include Davis or Bennett. I like Bennett due to the great size. Davis is basically a WR playing TE, not really a blocker at all. As no TE got a round one grade, not sure there is a Lexus in the group. The only reason I don't see it as a "great" pick is that it means we either didn't get Fred Davis or Martellus Bennett, or still haven't picked a tall WR in Rounds 1 and 2. I see Carlson as the Chevy Malibu you settled for rather than the Lexus GS450h you could have picked. Both might get you where you want to go, but one might get you there faster.

This article from Ourlads sheds light on drafting trends that support picking a wr early. An interesting article. I will paste the conclusion of their statistical study. "What’s not shocking is the obvious need to find your cornerback, running back, tight end, and wide receiver talent in the first two rounds. For each of those positions, 1st and 2nd round were the rounds with the highest rate of two-deep talent over the last three NFL seasons: 47%, 50%, 37%, and 45% of the two-deep talent at each position, respectively, was acquired in the first two rounds. Those are sizeable numbers not to be ignored. Get talent at CB, RB, TE, and WR early or you’ll be waiting for them to develop into contributors." http://ourlads.com/dayone.cfm

Carlson would be a great pick at that point. Adibi is intriguing but the undersized VT linebackers usually disappoint in the pros.

George Wilson, he was coming on prior to the injury.

Worst they could do is pick someone who cannot contribute in 2008. Use the first three picks for contributors and then go for depth.

Teams strategically leak info all the time. This could be a smokescreen or maybe one player fits their scheme better than another. Ourlads rated McKelvin and Rogers-Cromartie as definite first rounders. Jenkins, Cason and Talib were categorized and first or second rounders.

I doubt the Giants even trade him. He is tough as nails. Blocks well, better than anyone we have had in 10+ years at the position. I would take him in a heartbeat for the right price.

Modrak will see who falls back. If Ellis falls he will take him. With the Raiders and Bengals picking in front of us anything is possible.

Great stuff P-G. Looking forward to the defense. I would like a Center drafted though.

It's actually possible it's a little of both. Probably could sprinkle in some terrible playcalling as well. Huh? And here I was thinking our inability to run in short yardage situations was because teams knew we didn't have a credible redzone passing threat and could stack the line...

That would be a great choice. Maybe we could start converting on third and 1. Plenty of wr's and corners available in round 2 and 3.

He looks to be a good player. He wasn't surrounded by great talent at IU and still put up good numbers. I think it is a matter of what happened with the assault charges by his girlfriend. We still took Lynch last year with some background issues and that worked out.

I am convinced our redzone problems have more to do with not being able to convert short yardage plays in the run game. Teams blow up our middle constantly. We could not convert key short yardage plays countless times. We routinely turned 2 and 2 into 3rd and 7. Good redzone offenses can run the ball. My hope is the pick, if defense, is a good run defender even if a cb. If the pick is on offense someone who is physical ie Devin Thomas or someone who can can block like Albert.

Silva was fun to watch at BC. I could see him as a special teams wild card.

Basically, if we expect a first round pick to come in and be a #1 receiver, it is rare that this happens. We need a contributor particularly on third down and in the red zone. There are many examples of rookie receivers who are strong contributors. I can think of Plexico Burress being that kind of receiver as a rookie in Pittsburgh, Steve Smith for the Giants last year and Greg Jennings with the Packers, Chris Chambers of Miami, Andre Johnson and Marques Colston. I believe a #2 wasn't addressed in free agency due to the pricey market that developed for some mediocre talent at the position. I am all for fortifying either side of the line early but a WR/TE is surely on the radar in the first three picks.

On the flip side, Tom Modrak does not have a history of getting caught up in combine/workout warriors so it is not a concern. I think Thomas is intriguing because he is thick bodied which is helpful in walling off the defenders when catching a ball.

One thing never mentioned in the cb debate is their role as a run defender. The cover 2 requires them to be tacklers and McGee is terrible at it. Not sure on Greer as well. I think we take a cb in the first 3 rounds.

Okoye won't drop but if he did, I bet the Bills pick him immediately even if Willis is there. Marv remembers the Cowboys using waves of D lineman against us in the Super Bowls. He will try to create the same depth here. No way will he pass on the high character, good student who can hit the gap like Tommie Harris in Chicago and make the linebackers look like stars. He would take the best OLB or CB on the board in Rd #2. Crowell will be our MLB.

Needing a volume of players, the advantage to the swap is we stay away from a big contract for a rookie and we still get a pretty good player at #30. My problem is we need impact players and those tend to be higher in the draft. Be it Willis, Okoye or Branch, they will be gone by 30. Give em the second round pick or some sort of performance based pick for next year. I say stay at 12.

I agree with this. I think about Lamont Jordan who was a backup to Curtis Martin and was not as effective going to new team with different scheme and different players around him yet cost Oakland a lot of coin. I believe Turner will want big money. I would rather pay Lynch or Petersen. There are a few things about Turner that could/dissuade a team from going after him... 1) he's always been a backup to LT. So, can he be an every down back? Is his 6.3 yards per touch more a result of subbing in for LT and opposing defenses letting down just enough to get burned by a very good change-of pace back?

I believe the final straw for Fletcher and Spikes was the Tenn game. Vince Young and Travis Henry ran over and by both of them in the fourth quarter with little resistance. Adding Darwin Walker and assuming increased production from a healthy John McCargo, one would hope for an improvement upfront in the second year of Fewell's scheme. As for Langston Walker, earlier someone posted a youtube clip from his Oakland days and he was not terrible at all. The Oakland QB takes deep drops which certainly doesn't help. He has good footwork and is huge. I imagine a lot of film was studied before they signed him. If the left side is dominant with Dockery and Peters, it will help the whole line. I am more concerned about Fowler than Walker to be honest.

Doesn't sound like a Marv guy. Note these posts on the this Arizona site: http://www.azcentral.com/phorum/read.php?10000,644117,page=1 "Good luck LD, The fact that Wisenhunt and Grimm are passing on you when the entire leauge knows we need O-linemen and we have the most cap space is going to be a very bad negoitiating tool for you...Your never are going to see 12 million a year" "That kind of money is out of line for what he brings energy wise. With that body he should dominate and probably will at guard for someone else" "Bottom line, besides Big's @#$%& he's not worth 12 million a year. It was smart to see what kind of year he would have before he was offered the big bucks. He had a lackluster year full of mistakes you see from rookies instead of a 6 year pro. One interesting stat: the Cards are the biggest team in the NFL in avg weight, while the two lowest are the Bears and Colts. Speed is better factor for success over bulk" "Davis was the False-Start King. It certainly didn't help that he played out of position for the last six years but now he'll make left tackle money in free agency so good for him" From what I saw Davis had too many total "whiffs" where rushers came untouched. NO MORE FALSE START PENALTIES!!! WOO HOO!!! "LD is a very good Guard or a decent NFL linemen. But when you start talking 10-12 million dollars a year, thats where you need to be a difference maker and LD is not a difference maker. " Good Riddance. Nothing but a Hummer body with a VW engine for motivation. He can bog down someone else's schemes next year. There will be plenty of Free Agents and hungry draft picks more than able to produce better than Big (Bust) ever did. After watching LD these last few years he hasn't gotten any better he has no foot speed and can't grasp the pro off line blocking scheme.

Irons is great and would be a steal in mid round 2. Yesterday, I surfed a few websites of some other NFL teams and saw a few posts similar to this for the Cowboys, Dolphins, Jags, etc and Steinbach's name was at the top of every list. The market will be huge for him and beyond Ralph's wallet. Hopefully, we draft an OG or I presume we pick up another retread like Reyes.

I will agree that Miami was loaded when he was there. Willis scored touchdowns without even being touched (unfortunately, many against SU). I remember him being lighter back then. I thought he was great at Miami but an unnecessary rick by TD to draft him.