Not knowing what were going to do in FA this would be my mock. My take on the draft is this: A) A top 20 pick should start the year, as a starter.Any 1st round pick after that should be a starter by the end of the year. B)A 2 round pick, should see playing time and should be fighting for a starting spot in year two. C)A 3rd round pick like a 2 round pick should be playing some the 1st year and should be have fighting for a starting spot in year 2 and 3. D)Any pick after the 3 round your just picking up people who you see as backup's and Special teams players, and if they someday become starters great!!! With that said: 1) Alex Mack C ~We need to run the ball up the middle.[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8xCkToEnJ8]YouTube - Alex Mack Run Blocking Highlights[/ame] 2) Darius Butler CB ~He could push for a starting spot from the get go and he's also a returner and can play some WR.[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzeAtfSPGAk]YouTube - CB/WR Darius Butler Highlights UConn vs Virginia 9/13/08[/ame] 2) Herman Johnson G ~Like i said before we need to run the ball up the middle, and Bill's not going to just hope both are starting G's come back 100% and even if they both do,he could very well beat one out in camp his 1st year.[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D611DCJRjOM]YouTube - OG Herman Johnson & OT Ciron Black Highlights LSU vs App. St[/ame] 3) Hakeem Nicks WR ~This guy reminds me of Michael Irvin more then any other player that has come out in the past 20 years.So if others start thinking that to he will be long gone but if he's not i'd take him.[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHyYfMbfYso]YouTube - Hakeem Nicks vs. Notre Dame[/ame] 4) Cody Brown or Auston English or Derek Walker or Phillip Hunt OLB ~ One of them could help us on 3rd downs playing as the LDE and one of them should still be there in the 4th I know a'lot of people here want a OLB or a NT with the 1st pick, but i like how Roth plays the run....and i wouldn't want to pay a rook 1st round money to be JP's robin. Jason Ferguson still looks like he has a few more years left in him so i don't think drafting a NT that's not going to play very much with your 1st pick is very smart.Plus i really liked what lil i have seen of Lionel Dotson. Also Paul Soliai has what it takes to be a very good NT in the NFL and we all seen it here and there.Last week he had a real good game. Please be kind, i don't get payed to do this for a living.
Nice effort FD. I agree somewhat on the concept of OL and more OL, but, especially after taking Jake with the 1-1, I dont see the FO spending 2 of the first three picks this year on OL. Could happen, but I dont think it will. As you pointed out, depending on who is available where, I would be very very surprised if we didnt address LB (Not nessicerily OLB) and/or DT with at least 1 pick out of the top 4... probably one of the top 2 picks. FTR: Nicks in the 3rd would be a very very nice pick IMO.
I like it. I've been banging the Alex Mack drum for a while now- dude's a stud. As much as I enjoyed watching Caldwell in the UF game, the fact is that Mack fits our smash mouth style better. I think that we need help at Safety, but if there's a quality CB or S in rd 2 I'm game. I'm higher on Charlie Anderson than most, so if he continues to pick up the pace I can live with no OLB taken high. That being said, I'd be stoked to get Philip Hunt- that guy is explosve off of the edge. I like Herman Johnson- I just don't think that we'll need to take a G that high with Smiley and Thomas set to return. Mack would really improve things and take out the weak link Satele- I don't buy the argument that Satele is ok but needs a good G to cover for his deficiencies and lack of power at the LOS. He doesn't cut it for what we're trying to do, and in my opinion has to go. Hakeem Nicks would be a welcome addition.
Appreciate the effort, fd. I really do believe we will draft a couple of pass rushers on the first day. As to drafting Mack with the 1st pick......I don't know. You have to ask yourself, just how much $$$$ are they going to be willing to tie up in the OL alone.
Enough to get it right and control the game/clock with the runing game. If Al Johnson works out at C then great- otherwise I'm all for Mack or Caldwell- Caldwell in rds 2-3.
Thanks I remember the last playoff game we lost to the Ravins in 01 cuz are oline and fast forword 7 years and we still can't beat them cuzz we can't play with them up front.Other then 2002 we have had bad line play for years, and i think we could fix that this year. We could go pass rushers,this is just what i'd do.This or next year were going to be getting OL and LB's.......I'd just try to fix the line this year.
Interesting, interesting. Mack is a good player, although I'm not as completely sold on him as others. I think he plays a little high at times and bends at the waist. I also think that he struggles with very quick interior linemen getting in underneath and around him and he doesn't always move his feet to accomodate. No doubting that he can create massive holes in the run game and he's very strong and finishes his blocks as well as any lineman in the class. It'll be interesting to see how he times and how he runs in drills to see just what those feet are like pace wise. I certainly don't think that it's an area Miami will ignore; with Andre Gurode on the roster, they drafted Al Johnson. The question is with Satele, whether he's going through something of a sophomore slump or whether it's something greater? He struggles with the very big NT's like Vince Wilfork - although he played him very well in Foxborough earlier in the year - but then he was very strong against Marcus Stroud on Sunday, who's a fine player. I'm not sure whether, given our inability to consistently rush the passer, the age of Jason Ferguson, DESPITE his strong season and the massive questions marks of Paul Soliai, we go C before we go defensive front or even left tackle, given that it's such a remarkably strong class and you're going to get mid 1st round value in the mid 2nd round. Butler is another interesting guy. Fits what Parcells and Ireland like in that he's a team captain, good character guy, 4 year starter, but he's small and like Kevin Barnes, he's very thin hipped. He's the physical antithesis of what Jeff and Bill seem to like in a CB; look at the last CB they took high in Terrence Newman- as much as Parcells had to be talked into taking him. I also think that Butler isn't as quick as his stat sheet. Whilst I rarely trust college 40 times, he certainly doesn't play to his and I wonder if he's not better suited to a zone. I'm a Herm Johnson fan but I wonder, with Thomas and Smiley whether we'd look at the interior of the OL that soon. They seem to really like Mtt McChesney and there is clealry a reason why Shawn Murphy hasn't been cut yet. I agree with you on Nicks; there's something about hin in that #88 that is Irvinesque. He does so much after the catch with the ball. He's Irvin/Boldin like. 2 things; will he come out and secondly, if he does, I don't think he makes the 3rd round.
I dont think you got much of a chance to see two linemen on day one, especially when the most likely hole is RT.
Yep , this is what i would do , not what i think they will do.I'll do a my " real " mock after FA. Last year i did well..... i thought they should go LT and QB in the 1st 3 picks and they did.Never thought we'd also land Phillip Merling as well. As of right now i do think they will go oline with 2 of there top 5 picks,but they could get someone in FA so who now's. As far as VC it would suck to see him go right when we get good.Hope we get him back next year.
Nice work FD. I agree we need to go OL. Our D played well enough to beat the Ravens. The inability of the the guards and center to control the interior was what cost us the game as much as anything. Going back and looking, as bad as everyone says Alleman and Ndukwe were, Satele was manhandled as much as any of the three. Unger is my favorite for the 1st, but if he's gone, Mack would be a welcome alternate choice.
I think the raven game shows us where we need to go with our first three picks... not necessarily in this order, just best player available when we draft Nose tackle center Best linebacker available.
Yes, we could use a lot of things, but depth and quality at the guards and center, so if/when Smiley has his next injury we have someone good enough to step in, is what we need most. Thomas isn't a sure thing yet either. He is a rookie with one game of experience who could turn out to be very good if the injury is 100% healed. Satele is beginning to look like Tim Ruddy with a better suntan and a pony tail, to me. If we swapped our guards and center for the Ravens inside trio for that game, or if our 3 were clones of their 3, we would have beaten them hands down, IMO.
Cant have everything, iam willing to stick with our young receivers and go in the linebacker, interior line and dtackle direction... gotta project that Cammy is coming back..a young receiver added thru the draft to go along with our already young group of receivers does'nt seem like the way to go..i think if we add there, we go free agency {bolden}, not thru the draft. Guys......j fergie is gonna be 35 years old , your willing to count on solai for our future to one of the most important positions on the field...i dont think so.
He's in a'lot of people's top 20 or 40 now.When i made this 4 weeks ago most people "draft sites" had him as a 3 rd pick. Like i said about him back then ""This guy reminds me of Michael Irvin more then any other player that has come out in the past 20 years.So if others start thinking that to he will be long gone but if he's not i'd take him"" After he blow up in the bowl game every lil draftnik from here to China is talking him up and now people are seeing what i have been for some time. If he's not there, and odds are very high he won't be i'd just take some other WR..........We are to far away from the draft to be picking names, i'm picking by position. So as of 4 weeks ago i'd take a C,CB,G,WR,the names as of right now are just filling in the blanks.As of today i'd go C,G,WR,CB. Intell we fix are Oline we will always be a joke to teams like the Ravins that know we can't line up and play with them.
Aint a snowballs chance in hell they ignore NT. Ferguson can fall apart apart any minute, Soliai keeps getting suspended, and Ireland has singled the spot out repeatedly as a need
If I were a betting man I'd say the first three picks in some form of the other would be a nose tackle, an outside linebacker, and a C. It almost screams make a pick at these selections. My preference would be to draft Unger or Mack early and secure the C position, draft a SOLB, and then add to the depth at NT with the late second rounder. After that skill position picks and cornerback, secondary are welcome. It would sure be nice to have Alex Mack taking on Vince Wilfork twice next year.
Ain't that the truth- I'm late to the party with Unger, but I call them when I see them, and that dude is good. I could see him either starting or being the top backup at 4 positions accross the board. Mack is just a mauler, would love to get him. Caldwell- I like him quite a bit, but is he a masher like we need? p.s. I caught a bit of the Panthers game- Ryan Kalil has some pretty darn good feet on him, too. One pick before Satele- I wonder how that would have worked out.
Sometimes you have to accept that your line needs work and can't go for ball-hawking safeties and incredible WRs all the time. (Jason Allen, Ted Ginn Jr. were wastes in comparison to what we could have had even though I still like the ability of both). Ryan Kalil has little in strength when compared to Unger and Mack though. Both are in the class of Mangold in my opinion. Caldwell is strong but I can't see him generating movement against NTs.
Agreed with all of the above. Re: Jason Allen, Nick Saban was PISSED when Ngata went before the Fins selection, Wimberly, too. If Ngata isn't a pro bowler, he must be close. He's been looking awfully good.
I think a bonefide NT, if available, swamps out everything else at #1. I don't have the faith in Soliai
NTs hardly are any guarantee in the draft. I agree though if Suh or Cody are available they're very high possibilities.
Saban tried trading up for Ngata. Don't think Wimbley was ever a consideration. Bunkley was certainly a player in the mix.
Ahh looking back lets see how i did. Without knowing what would happen in FA this was my 1st mock.So my picks were based on needs.As i saw them, and as it turns out how the front office saw them as well. 1.Alex Mack Center , They went and got Jake Grove instead of waiting to see what they would have in a rook.Good move, plus Mack was gone by our pick.This was a HUGE upgrade.Like Pennington compared to Joey Harrington upgrade. 2.Darius Butler CB ,Now that they had a center their next biggest need was a CB.So they drafted the best one in the draft, in my mind, in Vontae Davis with their 1st pick.He will remind many of you of Troy Vincent very soon. Picking up Pat White here was a great move for a team that had a hard time getting 1st downs last year.He'll be used in the wildcat but also as our 3rd down QB sometimes.No player in the draft would of helped us pick up 3rd downs like White will.I 100 percent love the pick. 2B.Herman Johnson G , They did address interior line in Joe Berger but just not the way i thought they would.But still they Address it.....Then they went on to pick up Sean Smith and again it made a'lot of since after losing Goodman. 3.Hakeen Nicks WR , Nicks stock shot to the Moon after his last game but at that time he was only talked about being a 3rd round pick.Ether way, i thought we'd go after a big physical WR and we did with Patrick Turner. 4.A 3rd down pass rusher, Six days after i made this we signed Wake and we also signed Tearrius George another CFL 3rd down pass Rusher type.....So after filling that need they went after another need in WR in Brian Hartline. So long story short they filled every need like i thought they would "other then interior line " and also didn't fill other needs that many here thought were needs.Like DT, OLB. The past 12 years Bill has had better luck finding DT's on the cheap in the 7th round then with higher picks.And his first 7th round pick here was a DT in Lionel Dotson and he played well the few snaps he got last year. And as far as OLB go. Bill has the guys he wants here already.Miami has been trying to sign Matt Roth to a long term deal since last year, and as long as JP can get to the QB he'll be starting and they just found his understudy in Wake.They still don't have a real understudy for Roth because they plan on him being here for years to come.
