Remaining Needs - Draft Perspective

Last years free agent signings RB, DB’s and we ended up drafting RB and DB’s. I think if the best player is a DL that fits, we would still take him, all the D-linemen we have signed are definately on the tail ends of their careers, so having youth and coptetion at the positions is not a bad thing.

Ok we have Doom and Ayers with Haggan for depth but .. Jarvis Moss and Darrel Reid? Surely we can do better, Reid has ST ability so may stay due to that but Moss is surely a goner.. right?

Other than that i think we have 1 more spot for D-line.. assuming Peterson or Thomas is gone.. Not sure if we carry 7 or 8 d tackles/ends?

CB is possibility early.. e.g. Haden. McClain and Dan Williams the others i could see going at 11.

I would say it’s probable we drop Simms, but again we might not, so not sure if we go after QB. Josh said he wants to get Hillis more involved next year and Arrington is here now also so RB may not be neccesary..

Things we can’t be sure of.. How Chris Baker is doing, how Tony Carter is doing, and how Nick Griesen will fit in if at all. Also we have that TE on the practise squad.. Branson.. that was his name..

Obviously OLine will be heavily featured during draft and WR will get some attentionwith or without Marshall, although i do think that Kenny McKinley will turn out to be an awesome receiver in the NFL.

Still to many variables to get a clear picture of what areas we will go after.. also i think McD is more of a BPA (at a position of need) kind of guy so mocking for obvious need may be flawed..

Anyway that’s my random collection of thoughts on the topic.. Thx for the post. :-)

Since we did address the D-Line with free agency, that may or may not eliminate the possibility of taking a Dan Williams at #11. We have young talent in Chris baker, Marcus Thomas, Ryan McBean and Everette Pedescleaux and I don’t see any reason to doubt their development as they get some playing time.

The Outside Linebacker (OLB) is pretty solid with Elvis Dumervil, Robert Ayers, Mario Haggan, Darrell Reid (if healthy), Baraka Atkins 4th yr, and Jarvis Moss (expect to be cut). This is a position with question marks? For sure. We don’t have any idea how Reid’s surgery (Only performed on one other player) pan out and if he will be able to play this season. Atkins is an unknown for the most part and will have wait and see with him. Moss is on his last leg IMO and his return is questionable. That leaves us with Dumervil, Ayers 2nd and Haggan. We will definitely need a OLB in the draft, but I don’t see any who I think the coach would pick in the #11 spot. I look for an OLB in the later rounds if we stand pat on draft picks.

Inside Linebacker position we have DJ Williams, Andra Davis, Wesley Woodyard, Nick Greisen and Spencer Larsen. Williams and Davis were the starters and may continue in that role? Woodyard rotates in on 3rd down and Larsen plays mostly in at sub. His main role so far has been special teams and fullback. I am hoping that he will get more playing time at ILB, but again, whether Wink thinks he can handle it or not is the question? We know he is a hard hitter and good tackler, my only question with Larsen is, how good are his football instincts? Greisen is unknown as far as his production with the team. He was hurt early in training camp and his return is in question. We have a need at this position that I feel needs to be addressed in the first round even though some of the more intelligent analyst on here will tell you different.

The Cornerback position has Champ Bailey, Andre Goodman (both 30+), Alphonso Smith®, Ty law (35), Tony Carter®. Wink/McD will have to upgrade this position sooner or later and there is no better time than in this draft IMO. Will they draft one in the first? Maybe, but I believe they will take one somewhere along the line.

The Safety position like you said was upgraded last year through free agency and the draft. Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill should be the starters again this year and their mentoring of the youngs (Bruton, McBath and Barrett) will be very valuable in terms of return. I don’t think this will be a glaring need and the draft picks can be used elsewhere. Not saying they won’t pick one up in CFA though.

Since I don’t think we will pick an offensive player with the first pick and the uncertainty of Brandon Marshall, I’ll leave that to the offensive gurus.

OK. What we have is a defensive line that has been upgraded tremendously in free agency and whether or not we draft one in the first is still up in the air. I say we won’t and I think with the OLB, ILB and CB positions needing attention, we draft a player in the first at one of these spots. Since I don’t think there is a OLB good enough to take at #11 I’ll narrow it down to the remaining two positions, ILB and CB. There are two prospects in the draft that would be rated as a plus+ BPA if we drafted them at #11. Those two are Joe haden CB and Rolando McClain ILB. Which ever one of these guys is available will be the pick at 11…Whew…

I wonder what we’ll do about Scheff’s position if he leaves. Love him or hate him, even in McD’s system, Tony accounted for some very real production.

One thing that will drop a player in the draft is having transferred when in college. It’s not the kiss of death, but it frequently counts against them because the player usually was up against lesser competition either before (Branson) or after (Baker) the transfer. Either way, it reduces that number of years the player has gone against better competition, and therefore reduces the amount of useful film and stats you have on that player. Branson went from East Mississippi CC to Central Arkansas, so he often was up against lesser players. He also underwent surgery for a torn ACL in 2005

That said, he’s a 6’3, 248 lb pass catching TE who spent last year working on his technique and his strength while on the PS. He flashed the ability, tenacity and even strength to compete at the blocking phase of the NFL game and has to become more consistent there. He also has the frame to put on another 15 or more pounds of muscle while honing his blocking technique. But as far as his pass catching, he earned All-Southland Conference first-team accolades in 2008 by averaging 16.4 yards per catch and hauled in 45 catches for 737 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns that year (Branson was UCA’s second-leading receiver that season). He also had an arm span of 34 1/4 inches and a hand span of 10 inches measured at the combine, for those who think that big hands and long arms metter in the receiving game.

Considering that Scheffler, although taller at 6’5 is only 7 lb heavier than Branson was listed last year. Branson also ran a 4.55 40 at his pro day, comparable to Scheffler’s time, and had a 36 inch vertical leap, showing that he has the potential for a good explosion off the line with proper training. Branson is a question mark, but may prove to be an effective source of the 31 receptions that Scheff had last season.

While I don’t see Trent Williams as an option (and he could be), I think your short list is adequate, and one I think I could get on board with. I keep thinking about Joe Haden. His 40 time very likely could drop him out of the top ten, and into our laps. That could be a situation in which I see we’re getting the best bang for our buck. Haden is a top five talent who didn’t run well at the combine, or workout well in general but as we know the one thing GM’s should be focusing on is the game tape.

Then you think about impact year one. CB probably isn’t going to be a high impact position year one, which makes me think we would stray away from that position with Haden as the one exception. I wonder if Taylor Mays is still out of the question either. I know we have Bruton and McBath, and I think McBath proved he can be a starter in this league, but would Mays be too good to pass on in round one? I think you have to include him on that short list as well simply because Hill isn’t getting any younger, and Bruton hasn’t displayed starter quality ability just yet.

I think WR is a real option, but only if we trade down. Dez Bryant looks dominant on tape, but there isn’t any of him for almost a year, and he will not be working out before the draft, which is concerning. I love Demaryius Thomas as a late first round choice, and Golden Tate is intriguing as well.

I like Iupati and Pouncey as round one linemen.

Dan Williams is a name that’s been thrown around, but I don’t see much of a year one impact from him, even in a rotational capacity. He is very raw, and comes from a 4-3 cover two scheme at Tennessee.

Taking the theplayer that will have the greatest positive impact on your team philosophy.
So at #11

So Iupati? Too early for a OG. Pouncey? Too early for a C. McClain? Too early for a ILB?
Williams DT, Davis, Williams OT, Morgan OLB, Impact?

Truthfully I don’t know and don’t have a strong opinion as to who will be picked at #11.

For any one interested..