Guess nobody is interested in upgrading the interior OL. Running backs unless the few special ones are just not worth 1st rd imo Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Julio Jones sliding to us would be nice but Rams at #14 is problematic. I'd still favor trading down and picking up a 2nd.
Good luck finding a trade partner in this class and draft order constellation with a labor situation too boot.
FWIW I read story yesterday that the Browns are open to moving down per Holmgren: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/03/cleveland_browns_might_have_op.html
If Gabbert or Newton slides, have to think we try and make a move. Hard without a second rounder, but possible. Cleveland has so many needs - they could easily still get a very good defender at 15.
If there is any position easier to find players at than RB its at G. Spending a first rounder on a guard is a luxury imo.
It seems like people are just too lazy to figure out what our others needs. lol. "Ricky and Ronnie are gone--- gotta be a running back...... moving right along".
I'd make a deal if Peterson were on the board. Send them Clemons, Langford, and a future non-1st rounder.
haha. As much as another DE would irritate the crap out of me, I wouldn't be upset if Watt were the pick. We need an improved pass rush to help Wake and JJ would fit the bill from the Dline IMO.
How is a Guard a luxury if you don't mind me asking? I agree that you shouldn't necessarily draft Guards or Centers high, leave that for special blindside protectors but when you need one, you take one. We certainly need one.
I don't know. Garner is coming back and Incognito might be moving to Center. Plus hopefully John Jerry coming on strong next year but who knows. Center- imo an underrated position. Three great recent picks in the 1st rd- Nick Mangold, Maurkice Pouncy, Alex Mack. I still have a thing for Gabe Carimi and wouldn't mind seeing Vernon Carey slide to Guard if the situation called for it. Also, what a bummer and surprise that Donald Thomas crapped out. High hopes for that guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhSA8FwdS2A
I don't think you can count on Garner, unfortunately. Those three Centers are pretty damn good and were excellent prospects coming out. Maurkice Pouncey was off the charts when I watched him.
Like running back, it is a position that is generally easily filled without needing to spend premium picks on them. We happen to be in the somewhat unenviable spot of having possibly our two biggest needs as the two spots that you don't really want to spend a pick on unless your team is close to contending.
I'd be quite happy with picking up Deangelo Williams in fa to solve that problem. Trade down and pick up a 2nd, ideally take Christian Ponder with the 2nd and maybe Gabe Carimi in the 1st, sliding carey to Guard. Maybe just pick up Mike Pouncy and solve the C problem for good, I don't know. Maybe Incognito can handle that position. But Ponder- dude may go in the 1st the way he's been climbing, who knows. I'm still pissed off that we didn't sign Jeremy Shockey.
Yeah but what if I told you that you could get either a damn good Guard at that spot or you can get a potentially very good Guard that can take over for Carey down the road? Is it worth it now?
As Miami so perfectly showcased with Shawn Murphy, Donald Thomas, Justin Smiley, John Jerry, Pat McQuistan, Andy Alleman, Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer, Joe Berger and whoever else we had play guard here in the last three years? Yeah, the easily filled without premium draft picks method obviously worked like a charm. In fact, it worked so well, we now really, really need a guard. But hey, let's easily fill it without a premium pick again!
Bravo, good post. I know Boomer had mentioned in Draft Winds that he thought that Pouncey could play LG from day one. Curious as to your thoughts on him or any other G prospects you like.
I think Pouncey can play left guard (or center if he works on his snaps) but ideally, I'd stick him to RG and never look back for the next 10 years. People tend to compare him to his brother (which is fine) but also tend not to look at the issues his brother is having at center despite the rave reviews. I've seen Maurkice getting exposed in pass protection more than I'd like (he has the good fortune of having a quarterback that allows him to get away with it) and I suspect Mike would have similar issues at LG or center. They both don't have top notch lateral agility to mirror the defenders in pass protection, I think. So yeah, while he certainly could play it and probably play it well with good coaching, I think his best fit is at RG. Put him there and worry about the position again when he retires. As for other interior lineman prospects, I'm really quite fond of Danny Watkins (I know Alen is, too). Not the most polished prospect but insanely talented and insanely versatile. Could play LG from day one and serve as an emergency tackle no problem. The only reason he isn't getting talked about as a first round pick is that he's 26. Personally, I couldn't care less.
I would love Pouncey ecspecially in a trade down scenario, in our offense a beast G can make a huge difference.
Here is another one without a defensive player: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/03/25/2011-mock-draft-30 Better?
One teams failure to find a good guard in the later rounds doesn't negate anything of what I said, and if you think it does then I am glad your not a GM. I'm not 100% opposed to Mike Pouncey in the first. We DO need a guard. But do we pass on an impact player at a more impactful spot for him? Chances are that you won't find an Aldon Smith in the third round, but guards will still be plentiful. We just need to pick the right one for once.
The problem, of course, being that you either ignore or are ignorant to the fact that Miami isn't the only team with guard issues depsite going the 'cheap' route and using lower draft draftpicks and outcasts from other teams. The Pittsburgh Steelers did not use their #18 selection on Pouncey because #18 is Pouncey's lucky number. They used it because they knew how many teams are in dire need of a good interior lineman. To claim that the interior OL was less 'impactful' than other positions seems to be a popular notion but quite frankly, I think it's mumba jumba. And again you only have to look at your own team to see why. Miami didn't have issues in 2010 because they lacked another impactful passrusher (I certainly wouldn't mind LaMarr Woodley Reloaded in Miami, but we got #10 in sacks with a bunch of players we got, surprise, for a bargain); they had issues because of horrible interior run blocking, resulting in an abysmal 3.7 AVG, good for #29 in the league. Looking at position values in a vacuum is nice and dandy but it rarely bears relevance to the reality at hand. And the reality at hand is that our interior line stinks. The fact that guards are plentiful doesn't mean that they are any good. It just means that there's a lot of them. And quite frankly, most picked in round 3 and later never amount to much, let alone a quality starter for the next ten years. Sure. Let's also pick the right quarterback in later rounds while we're at it. After all, guys like Brady, Romo, Cassell and Schaub prove that you don't have to spend a premium pick on the position. Sure, for every Brady and Schaub, there's 20 Brodie Croyles and Brooks Bollingers, but we just the need to pick the right one for once
Personally I would take Ponder over Pouncy at #15 and I still like the idea of drafting Carimi and moving Carey to Guard. That being said, I would have no problem with taking Pouncy at #15, but I'd like more clarity on his potential to anchor the Center position for us and the potential of Incognito at Center. We have to fix that problem, and fix it right. In hindsite missing Ryan Kalil by one spot a few years back blew chow, regardless of the claim that we were targeting Satele there anyway- we saw how that one worked out. A 1st rd trade down still appeals to me very much.
I think it would only 'solve' the problem for one more season. Carey is one of the highest paid RTs in the league (or is he the highest paid, I don't remember); I can't imagine they would keep him at guard for more than a stop gap season with that contract. And Carey would be crazy to take a pay cut. Appealing, but highly unlikely in this class.
The Steelers of course have been perennial contenders and one could easily argue they could afford to take a guard due to the presence of Big Ben, Mendenhall, Ward, Wallace, Polamalu, Harrison, Timmons, Woodley, and their DL. They needed OL and CB, and in the end, not picking that CB and instead taking a center may actually have bit them when Rogers shredded them. Miami on the other hand doesn't have anywhere near the offense that Pitt has. Can we afford to blow off other positions to take a guard? If you want to say yes, that's fine. I would rather direct my attention elsewhere. Neither of us are the GM in the end, and neither of our opinions really matter. Maybe I also missed the part where Maurkice was playing guard. I would say center is a more impactful position, and more worthy of a first round pick than a pure guard. Was the lack of Mike Pouncey the only reason our offense stalled? Would that have magically turned Henne into Aaron Rodgers, and magically made Ronnie and Rickey in AP? I doubt it, but if you want to believe in that power, by all means. There are generally better Guard prospects in the mid/lower rounds than QB prospects. If you want to argue we stand as good a chance of finding our Franchise QB in the seventh than at finding a serviceable guard then I have nothing else to say really.
Why is it highly unlikely? There's already talk about NE trading up their 28 pick with SD. I'm guessing it's possible they have their mind set on a LT, OLB, or DE b/c they're positions of need. If that's the case, then it's also possible for another team to leapfrog them for said player. We don't have a major need for those positions, but that doesn't mean other teams dont, too. 15. Mia 16. Jax-- needs a DE desperately, and there isn't much to choose from. We pick right before them, so our #15 could be a GREAT spot for Aldon Smith. (Jax probably won't want to trade back with someone if they think Aldon could be their pick) 17. NE-- DE, OLB, and LT. <Watt, Aldon Smith, Solder, Costanzo> 18. SD-- DE & OLB if no CB of value is here. <Watt, Wilkerson, & Aldon Smith> (or NE again if they trade up #28) 19. NY-- LT & NT. <Solder, Costanzo, and Carimi> (I dont see the Giants trading back and possibly missing one of the top OTs or even Ingram) 19. TB-- DE is a major need. <Aldon Smith, Kerrigan> 20. KC-- NT and OT are big needs. <Phil Taylor, Solder, Costanzo, Carimi> 21. Indy-- badly needs an OT. <Solder, Costanzo, Carimi, Sherrod> It's possible that we're in a decent spot for a team to trade up with since we fall right before the rush of teams needing a pass rusher, DT, and OT. It only takes 1 team to fall in love with one of those players. Maybe in the very least we can trade back 5 spots to TB so they can nab Aldon Smith ahead of Jax..... or maybe Indy trades up with us <ahead of NE> to take Costanzo if Nate Solder is off the board. Who knows from there. Heck, I'd be happy getting a 3rd from the Bucs and be at #19 with room to trade back again. Ingram or Pouncey and a 3rd is better than Ingram or Pouncey and nothing. lol. If we could then hypothetically go from 19th to end of the first, I'd be ecstatic. I'd even do it for a discount 3rd rounder b/c a late 1st round pick could be an ideal spot for a team to trade up in who wants Mallett, Locker, or Ponder. An early 2nd and (4) 3rd rounders would be a nice way to start the first half of the draft IMO.
