Why do fans want a WR in the first?

Really? Then why is that the common opinion of UNC fans? Nobody was paying attention to Nicks until Tate went down. Nicks was the #2 guy period and the team's possession receiver. You said it yourself, Tate's more explosive and that's what this team needs. Explosive weapons.

 

The only thing I'm absolute about is that you don't pass up better players to reach for lesser players at positions of slightly greater need especially when those positions don't have as much impact. I also don't believe that you take a player in the 1st when you can get an equivalent prospect one or two rounds later.

I have no idea what bearing you think Merling/Henne has on this discussion. If anything they felt Merling was a better player and decided not to pass on him to reach for a need.

 

Usually one's draft board will have 2-3 guys ranked close to the same overall at any given pick. What would you do if the by highest ranked player on our overall board this year was a RB?

 

Because big picture, Qb is a much more important position if you wish to upgrade, DE's are a dime o dozen, starting Qb's are a rare breed.

 

I'd consider it, but I don't rate RB as a position you usually draft high. Just like I wouldn't draft a K or P in the first just b/c they are the BPA, I think there are other positions it makes salary cap sense to draft later. RB, FB, ILB, CB and G fall into those categories as well.

But I was in favor of drafting Ronnie Brown just b/c I had him rated so much higher than the other options available that year.

 

But they felt pretty good about Beck as the future then. IMO they took Henne simply b/c he was the highest ranked player on their board.

 

Oh Long was a awesome pick Xeticus, he could not have worked any better for us, the thing of it is, he wasn't a "need" in a strict sense, Vern Carey was coming off a great season for a very bad team.

What it does show is they like making a strength even stronger, by moving Vern to RT, we have the best set of tackles in the AFC East.

That is a part of the reason why it would not surprise me if we took Ziggy Hood at #25 because he'd make our Dline even better.

Maybe, I say that because our Wr corps can be looked at in any number of ways, from servicable to underachieving.

Boomer has us taking Pettigrew, if he is there, he would be a great fit for what we do, run the ball and pass in the 5 to 20yd range.

I do like Barden though but we could see Ginn and Greg C as our starting Wr this year.

 

Anthony Henry was a FA aquisition in Dallas, and a 4th round pick; #97 to Cleveland.

 

Terrence Newman...

 

But reportedly it was Jerry Jones and Larry Lacewell that made that call.

What could be noticed is that any time BP has had two picks in the first round and he has taken both a DE and OLB, he has always wanted to or taken the DE before the OLB prospect. With DeMarcus Ware BP had to be talked into taking Ware first by Ireland - supposedly.

They have however, started bigger corners such as Henry and Marcus Coleman at the #2 spot.

 

We could have a Pro Bowl roster's worth of young DE's and OLB's and he'll still draft DE and OLB with his 1st round picks.

 

I understand what you're saying about needing explosiveness and it would seem to make sense.... but saying that Tate is the man is inaccurate in this case.

1. NC fans aren't draft experts. Notice where I live, and (not trying to seem arrogant) I know a lot more about the draft and future prospect potential than 99.9 percent of fans who aren't caught up on this subject. The fans see some of the big gains that you were referring to and think that's the ticket to the NFL. Not true. The list is long of guys who were more explosive than Tate yet didn't make it in the NFL.

2. Long gains in college are not going to happen like that in the NFL. A physical, dependable, WR who brings it every down and consistently moves the chains is much more valuable then the player with sporadic results.

3. Tate is shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Nicks.

4. Tate is a Senior while Nicks was only a Junior last year.

5. In Tate's 12 game Junior year he had only 25 catches for 479 and 5 TDs.
where as in Nick's Junior year he had 68 catches for 1,222 and 12 TDs.

6. Nick's had a better Freshman year than Tate's full junior year (39 catches for 660 and 4 TDs).

7. Including Tate's unjury plagued Senior year, his 4 year totals were not close in comparison to Nicks 3 years.
Tate: 46 catches, 927 yards, 8 TDs.
Nicks: 181 catches, 2840 yards, 21 TDs.

Tate played 6 games as a senior year..... what would Nicks have done in 6 games if he elected to stay his senior year, and don't forget- Nicks put up great numbers with a backup QB the second half of the season.

8. Where is there any value in the pick if the player doesn't turn out to be the impact WR we need? We don't need "draft value" from a WR. Value doesn't mean he will be a #1 or quality #2 WR. We need near-certain impact from a WR. You draft Nicks b/c he's the closest WR to a sure thing over the past 2 years. We got value from Bess and Cam. LOL

 

Newman was a large Corner himself Conu:



Hello Jerry

Hello...Newman



(This is supposed to be fun after all)

 

A WR like Nicks would take our offense to a new level. He will be great for catching passes because he has amazing hands and runs amazing routes, abusing smaller corners because of his physical stature, and he can take it to the house because of his tackle breaking ability. He is also a good blocker, so he will help Ronnie and Ricky alot to. Oh and he is a perfect compliment to TGJ to. TGJ will have a career year if Hakeem Nicks is our number one receiver.

All this with the 25th pick.

 

I'd prefer Nicks to Maclin and Crabtree.

Mac and Crab's production was due in large part to their offense. (look at Chase and Harrell outside of it)

Where as UNC's offensive production was due in large part to Nicks.

 

Last year when we split out four wide, a lot of times we had two receivers a tight end and our 3rd string runningback. We need another wide receiver.

 

The Top 31 wideouts in touchdowns scored last season.

Larry Fitzgerald - 12 touchdowns
Calvin Johnson - 12 touchdowns
Randy Moss - 11 touchdowns
Anquan Boldin - 11 touchdowns
Lance Moore - 10 touchdowns
Terrell Owens - 10 touchdowns
Greg Jennings - 9 touchdowns
Kevin Walter - 8 touchdowns
Andre Johnson - 8 touchdowns
Bernard Berrian - 7 touchdowns
Roddy White - 7 touchdowns
Dwayne Bowe - 7 touchdowns
Antonio Bryant - 7 touchdowns
Hines Ward - 7 touchdowns
Vincent Jackson - 7 touchdowns
Laveranues Coles - 7 touchdowns
Isaac Bruce - 7 touchdowns
Santana Moss - 6 touchdowns
Steve Smith - 6 touchdowns
Brandon Marshall - 6 touchdowns
Justin Gage - 6 touchdowns
Reggie Wayne - 6 touchdowns
Marvin Harrison - 5 touchdowns
Derrick Mason - 5 touchdowns
Santonio Holmes - 5 touchdowns
Marques Colston - 5 touchdowns
Eddie Royal - 5 touchdowns
Chris Chambers - 5 touchdowns
Donald Driver - 5 touchdowns
Muhsin Muhammad - 5 touchdowns
Jerricho Cotchery - 5 touchdowns

There's not one Dolphins wideout on that list.

 

Wow! In a league that gives such a huge advantage to receivers, not having a guy to go to down there is a significant, unnecessary handcuff. We can keep trying to manufacture points (and we did well last year), but that doesn't usually last forever. Sometimes you need to believe that you're guy can just beat their guy.

And with the way the rules are the odds are strongly against us or really any team having a CB that will have the advantage in that situation on a consistent basis.