AJ Green or Nick Fairley

[rayzor]

How bad of a QB was Vick for the team who drafted him? How bad did he leave them when he went to prison? How despicable of a human was he during his time there? I was trying to take it easy and not bring up a hot button topic, but Vick was a complete bust as well. So far, he has had one great year, and he brought very little value to the Falcons for the #1 pick, and the rule still stands: running QBs will not lead you to playoff success.

Smart teams draft these guys as backups or move them to a position where their athleticism can be used effectively. I'm having a hard time understanding the concept of "lets ignore 99% of the evidence and pray we are in the 1% minority here" when drafting. Kinda sounds like THIS

that isn't quite true. as much as i hated vick, i mainly hated him because of how successful he was against us. the guy was an absolute nightmare for DCs and defenses everywhere for years. we finally figured out how to contain him (thomas davis as the vick spy) but even then we weren't consistent in being able to do it. if vick had a better (or any) work ethic and a desire to grow as a passer and a player (and kept himself out of trouble), he would still be causing DCs fits and he would still be in atlanta.

only reason for VY's lack of success is he is a headcase. it has very little to do with his style of play.

it's only a matter of time before we see one of these dual threat QBs dominate the league for years.

[PanthersGM305]

Nice avatar Jezz my eyes almost pop out!! Scarface...

I think we need to trade down, I don't see a need in taking a DT with the first pick. It doesn't happen much in the NFL. Who was the last DT taken with the first pick ovr all?

AJ Green is a great talent , he isn't going to score TD just like that now. Look at Dwayne was one of the more exciting college player remember former 2nd rd pick I think Keyshawn Johnson told him your going to do great with me here, LOl. 3 failed seasons We cut him before the 2010 season began, then the DWI now his out of work. Wide outs are not worth the number one pick IMHO Aj Green is not are problem solver. He mite come with character issues wanting the ball all the time. I saw games where he was upset when he wasn't targeted on the play. trade down and stock up on picks , or some how work a deal to get a 2nd rd pick trade it to Denver for Kyle Orton a solid QB to stop the issue we are having at qb. Kyle passed for 20 td with 9 ints at 6'4" 224 can see further than Jimmy over Gross & the gang, From there allot of talent sits at DT in mid rds. I think we should not spend money on talent and go with proven players.

This is the first year hearing about Da'quan Bowers , Nick , AJ,. They haven't been around consistency for us to even conceder wasting another pick in the draft with all the holes we have.

Other

[SorthNarolina]

Why are so many people pulling for A.J. Green?

He isn't scouted as high as Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss right?

I'm not really pulling for Fairley but DT is a disaster zone compared to WR.

[mick eye]

I will tell you why some of us are pulling for Green. After this nightmare of a season we need some excitement. Fairley getting his head ripped off by a olineman for one of Nicks patented hits on a QB would be cool for a minute but. . Green would give us a young numero uno WR. A human highlight reel. When i look at the DT's at the top and compare them to FA's and who could be available at the top of the third and end of the 3rd (peppers pick) i don't see 2 rounds worth of difference. Sleeper DT's like

Cedric Thornton, Mike Blanc, and Sione Fua. Plus the interesting question of where Marvin Austin ends up keeps me from wanting Fairley.

[Cat'sGrowl]

Why are so many people pulling for A.J. Green?

He isn't scouted as high as Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss right?

I'm not really pulling for Fairley but DT is a disaster zone compared to WR.

False.

Green has been drawing comparisons to Moss since his freshmen season at UGA, and he's being touted as the best WR Prospect to come out since Johnson, and Moss before that.

When you have the 32nd ranked offense in the league, Green can be great pick-up for your team. Fairley is a 1-tech defensive prospect who would probably fall into the 10-20 range in most drafts. With our new, complex defense, he just doesn't fit well. He simply isn't flexible enough.

Never reach for need. Ever.

[rayzor]

Why are so many people pulling for A.J. Green?

He isn't scouted as high as Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss right?

I'm not really pulling for Fairley but DT is a disaster zone compared to WR.

people have been comparing him to randy moss for some time now. at one time both he and julio were about on equal billing, with julio being compared to TO, but julio's value has dropped some while green's value has stayed the same, as has his production, in spite of him missing a few games at the beginning of the season.

can't speak for everyone, but my reasons for pulling for AJ Green is

1) talent is undeniable. he is elite and every bit as talented as a randy moss or a calvin johnson (who should have been the #1 pick that year instead of russell.

2) we had the 32nd worst offense. this needs to be addressed more importantly than defense.

3) while we have smith, gettis, and lafell as well as a project in edwards, we don't know how long smith is going to be around or how well he will mesh with whoever is throwing him the ball. very well could be traded at some point, but regardless, he isn't getting any younger. gettis and lafell have a lot of potential and looked to be good receivers after what they were able to do as rookies, but i have keary colbert and drew carter in the back of my mind when i look at them. both looked good early on and colbert was incredibly impressive as a rookie, but then what happened? we can't count on either one of those guys being able to build on what they did this past year. also, who knows what edwards is going to do or how the new regime will feel about him. edwards as a WR is nothing more than a big question mark.

we actually have four huge question marks at receiver long term on the roster for a team that is wanting to have a pass heavy offense. green would add a lot of strength and allow for a lot more error in judgement concerning the other guys on the roster.

[bleys]

Why are so many people pulling for A.J. Green?

He isn't scouted as high as Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss right?

I'm not really pulling for Fairley but DT is a disaster zone compared to WR.

Draft isn't the only route for DT.. and can be planned around even after a FA.. WR, more threats.. must have..

[scarface]

Why are so many people pulling for A.J. Green?

He isn't scouted as high as Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss right?

I'm not really pulling for Fairley but DT is a disaster zone compared to WR.

He kinda is.

[jarhead]

Moose is confident SSmith will not return.If that is true do you draft another young WR or go after a FA vet that can mentor the young guys?

[Baschski]

Draft isn't the only route for DT.. and can be planned around even after a FA.. WR, more threats.. must have..

Draft isn't the only route for WR...

[Panthers128]

no WR is ever worth a #1 overall pick

[Baschski]

The argument that our offense was bad and therefore we need to draft a WR to improve it fails on so many levels.

1. The offense was not bad because of our WR's. The offense was not bad because of our WR's. The offense was not bad because of our WR's. The offense was not bad because of our WR's. The offense was not bad because of our WR's. The offense was not bad because of our WR's. Lafell and Gettis outperformed almost every other rookie WR. Gettis showed plenty of big-play potential. If you were at the games, Steve Smith was getting open despite double teams.

2. The offense was bad because of QB play. I'm not convinced that Clausen can't develop into a good QB but he was not good in any way his rookie year. You could have given Clausen Larry Fitzgerald, Miles Austin and Wes Welker and he wouldn't have done much better than he did. If AJ Green had been on the team this past year he would have done no better than any other WR on our team. Stockpiling WR talent is completely and utterly useless if there is no one to get them the ball. It is infinitely more important to upgrade at QB than it is to upgrade at WR. If Gettis and Lafell can play well with Clausen at QB, they will do very well with a guy like Orton or Kolb at QB.

3. The most important reason why the offense was bad is the Offensive Coordinating and System. Our offense was pathetically stale and predictable. It did not cater in any way to our rookie QB. The first step to improving the offense is Chudzinski. Again, put any All-Pro receiver you'd like in Davidson's offense last year and they don't produce. Stockpiling WR talent is, again, utterly useless if the offensive system does not work.

Let's think about this the other way around. Say, for instance, our offense was strong but our defense was ranked last in the league. Say that our defense had a good D-line and LB group, was very strong in run defense, but the secondary could not cover and our defense got completely shredded in the passing game. Would it make sense to draft an MLB #1 overall with the justification that "Our defense sucks so we need to draft a defensive player?" Absolutely not. Of course it would be nice to upgrade at MLB, but that would not address the problem.

Similarly, even though our offense sucks, it does not address the problem to upgrade at WR. YES it would be beneficial to upgrade at WR. There will never be a point where upgrading at a position wouldn't help (Hell if we could get a better MLB than Beason that would even help). But that doesn't mean that upgrading at WR will fix the offense, or is even a logical step to fixing the offense. The problems with the offense are QB and OC. If you want to fix the offense, you fix those positions.

A couple other points:

STOP saying that AJ Green is going to be come in and be a #1 WR and command double teams. There is absolutely no guarantee of that and rookie WR's rarely perform that well. It is a complete logical fallacy to tell us that Nick Fairley will have to develop and may not succeed and then in the same breath tell us that AJ Green is a ready-made rookie Pro Bowler. We have no idea how either player will do.

Finally, the argument that "you never reach for a need in the draft" is completely irrelevant here. Most draft experts have Peterson, Bowers, Green and Fairley all graded very closely and all deserving of a #1 overall pick. Green is not BPA over Fairley. Peterson is not BPA over Bowers. They're all very close in talent at their respective positions. So if you have four players with equal or near-equal talent, you then decide which player best addresses team needs. With this in mind, that would be Fairley or Peterson.

[csx]

Not a huge Fairley fan, but IMO when in doubt, go with a lineman

[bleys]

Draft isn't the only route for WR...

he'll have a bigger impact than a DT who we can bring in and scheme around..

and I couldn't read that wall of text.. this topic is so beyond dead I have no more energy to put into it.. no offense.

I know if I was putting a team together, I can do more with another threat at WR and could scheme around a DT..

Barry Cofield isn't just any DT, he had a great year and is worthy of praise, he won't stick with the Giants if we go after him, they can't compete with us, they have invested too much into the dline already..

I would do that before I drafted Fairley..

that's just me..