My pick would be Greg Hardy. I have convinced myself. I love Hakeem Nicks but I think I can get some receivers.
The first time you pick any defensive player that isn't a corner you're going to be "stuck" in an alignment. You've got to make a choice. If you're building a 3-4 though, J.J. Watt is already gone, as are Calais Campbell, Haloti Ngata and Muhamad Wilkerson, four very smart picks of rare 3-4 DEs with dynamic game to make the 3-4 work. Not to mention Justin Smith already gone, despite his age.
Besides, we've seen Greg Hardy run receiver routes and catch touchdowns, haven't we? Push comes to shove, think he can't work an Elephant position?
I prefer a 43 anyway. More flexibility. Need to locate some strong 43 ends and work mon my receiver game for the next couple of rounds.
I think that's a smart pick. The guy has stood out to me since the moment he stepped onto an NFL field when I checked out some Carolina preseason tape. I saw like 5 plays and thought to myself "Whoa, I wish I didn't ding him for his character rumors"
lol... I'm thinking of Ansah doing the first vertical of his life with no preparation at the combine... And Simon GM-ing a new franchise with no clear idea of how winning is assessed, no plan as to whether it's a 4-3 or 3-4 and no way of ranking players, no board, no idea who is available. LOL. This is awesome. (and yet he'll still do better than Jeff ireland would)
What I was getting at with the team-building is IMO it's becoming a little more rare to find a complete player on the right side that can consistently make plays against left tackles. This was the first year Carolina really had him working exclusively right side, and he balled out. High pass rush efficiency from the right side of anyone not named Aldon Smith. He also balled out from a run stop standpoint. And yet he's always gotten high marks in these areas with Carolina, just hasn't necessarily gotten tons of playing time. And 23 years old! Err, 24 years old. Sorry.
Ha ha. I honestly don't have time to do it! But I admit it looks a bit toss. Problem is, people keep taking my players just before I pick!! I know which players at which position I like, that's not an issue. It's just that when four are there at the same time and I don't have another pick for about forty picks.
What will you target next? Wide receiver? Corner again? Defensive Tackle? I'd be excited to build a defense around Darrelle Revis and Greg Hardy. That would be pretty cool. I wouldn't hesitate to look at Doug Martin with one of these high picks. Dude is like the second coming of LaDainian Tomlinson. The consistency is so good. He had like 2 bad games. He's a throwback. Running backs like him touch the football almost as often as quarterbacks and have that much ability to impact the game. I know some others will already be targeting him but you really ought think about targeting Fletcher Cox at some point. That's going to be another good one. If you want a real value much, much, much later on, like one of your last picks...go with Brandon Thompson of Cincinnati. Just gonna have to trust me on that.
wow, Ben Muth going with Newton over Russell Wilson?.... ditto for Clan Fahey taking Calais Campbell over Wilson? WTF Ryan Riddle starting off with Gronk & Pat Peterson....
Yep, all names I'm considering. You'd play Cox inside, right. I'm thinking probably wideout depending on who's there. I have a fairly short gap between picks. I need to make a board and stick with it. Maybe.
You might catch some people napping on Sean Lee or Brian Cushing. Not necessarily with the next picks but a little later.
Doesn't it depend on how the competition is 'scored'? If it's about which roster looks the most impressive today, it won't much matter what any of these guys project to do in the future. If it's scored by following the 2013 stats then seeing who 'won', then that's different.
Intersting seeing the different GM's strategies: PFF guy real strong with Manning and Andre Johnson out of the gate. Lance Zierlein of Sideline View risky with no QB still entering round three.
Cian Fahey of the Guardian double-dipping at DE with Calais Campbell and Justin Smith... trying to build through pass rush. Wonder if he goes with a mobile QB lower in the draft? Surprised Kaepernick went so high.
lol @ Chris Burke of SI just drafting actual 49ers in each round. See how long he sticks to re-assembling the 49ers roster.
Cox would be inside, definitely. Wideout would be good to start with. At wide receiver you have all the guys I told you about already with Hakeem Nicks, Michael Crabtree, Randall Cobb, Victor Cruz, Vincent Jackson and Roddy White. They all fit what you're looking for as guys that actually do really well in the slot. But don't sleep on Jordy Nelson or DeSean Jackson, who do exactly the same thing from the slot...produce inordinately, despite being primarily perimeter players. Well, Cruz and Cobb aren't primarily perimeter. But the rest are. 2008 to 2012 Yards per Route - Perimeter Wide Receivers Hakeem Nicks: 2.04 Perimeter, 3.68 Slot Roddy White: 2.28 Perimeter, 2.26 Slot Steve L. Smith: 2.39 Perimeter, 1.97 Slot Antonio Brown: 2.26 Perimeter, 2.12 Slot Vincent Jackson: 2.20 Perimeter, 2.10 Slot Jordy Nelson: 1.98 Perimeter, 2.29 Slot Michael Crabtree: 1.88 Perimeter, 1.83 Slot DeSean Jackson: 1.65 Perimeter, 3.06 Slot 2008 to 2012 Yards per Route - Slot Wide Receivers Victor Cruz: 1.83 Perimeter, 2.80 Slot Wes Welker: 2.42 Perimeter, 2.34 Slot Marques Colston: 2.22 Perimeter, 1.93 Slot Randall Cobb: 1.69 Perimeter, 2.38 Slot
If trades are allowed.. I begin to think strategy here... guys like Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders have Calvin Johnson and a LB but no decent QB... what happens to these GMs if you end up grabbing the last viable QB in round three.. is there leverage for you to trade them one of your QB's and a B-level WR for Calvin Johnson, to pair with Bradford. The insidious way my mind works. Know your opposition and what they need. Then execute trades to build the roster.
Field Yates of ESPN getting deep with no QB... must find one in the fourth round at this point. Sheesh. Strange GMs.
Simon, if Im you and in round four you can see there is only ONE decent QB left then a huge dropoff, I am contacting Ian Kenyon of BLeacher Report to work out a trade. He has AJ Green, Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant and no one to sling the rock to them. You call him in round four, where you are ONE pick ahead of him and offer him one of your WRs for his BETTER WR and switching draft spots (or at least choosing the player he wants and trading that QB to him).. otherwise, take the last decent QB and let him twist. It's a nifty way to trade up your WR quality from a guy who has painted himself into a corner imo. Only works if he gives a **** about QB at all. Maybe he's fine with Tarvaris Jackson.
