Bottom line we HAVE to pick a good corner in the first round!

[carpantherfan84]

Bottom line we HAVE to pick a good corner in the first round! Dre Kirkpatrick may or may not be the choice (we will see at the combine) and Claiborne will be gone. However they are not the only corners worthy of an early round pick. Josh Robinson will be available and should be considered especially because he may potentially have a big impact on special teams.

Whichever we take he should be a strong guy that plays physical at the point of attack. Our pass rush is not elite but it is adequate in the right packages. Also I believe we will run more man coverage with an elite CB. Our division has some really good QB's and most good NFL QB's dont fear zone coverage but it is doctrine not to throw into tight man coverage. A good man blitz out of the nickel package with 4 down lineman and an extra outside rusher from the linebacker position has been our most successful defensive play.

The corner should be speedy, obviously because he would be playing man cov., but it is not necessary if he is strong and plays press well.

People keep bringing up other positions like OT, or LB or heaven forbid WR in the top 10. I gurantee that if we hit a home run on a CB we make the playoffs next year, and if we take a WR we are at best .500.

That being said what we should do is take Desean Jackson free agency. He will almost definitely be available and defenses would cringe at the thought of him and Smith on the edge with either Olsen, Shockey, or Lafell in the slot, and Cam, D-Will, and Stew in the backfield. Imagine the plays we could run and just attempt to come up with a defensive scheme to cover that! There is NO wide receiver that could play that role better than that setup right there. (Unless somebody goes to the combine and runs a 4.0!!)

[Mother Grabber]

You got a lot of value out of your first post.

[LinvilleGorge]

You don't do yourself any favors by reaching. Barring some crazy good workouts and interviews, Claiborne and Kirkpatrick look to be the only DBs worthy of top 10 consideration.

[carpantherfan84]

You don't do yourself any favors by reaching. Barring some crazy good workouts and interviews, Claiborne and Kirkpatrick look to be the only DBs worthy of top 10 consideration.

I agree 100% however I think we are in a unique position this year where our team is deceptively good and are missing one or two playmakers to take us to the playoffs. I dont even know if either Claiborne or Kirk are worthy but we will see in the coming months. I just think that this one time we need to look for that one guy that fits regardless of where we take him and hope for the best. If we take anybody else it would just be a wasted pick

[LinvilleGorge]

I agree 100% however I think we are in a unique position this year where our team is deceptively good and are missing one or two playmakers to take us to the playoffs. I dont even know if either Claiborne or Kirk are worthy but we will see in the coming months. I just think that this one time we need to look for that one guy that fits regardless of where we take him and hope for the best. If we take anybody else it would just be a wasted pick

I disagree. I don't think we're one guy away from magically being a contender. We have a lot of guys coming back from injury next year and everyone will have a year under their belts in the Rivera regime. We should improve by default next year.

Again, I don't think you get ahead by reaching on a guy based on the position he plays. There are plenty of positions on our team that could potentially be upgraded. Take the BPA on the board. Now, if there's two guys available who grade out very similarly on your board, but the need values of their positions are very different, then sure take the guy based on need in that situation. But, I don't think you do yourself any favors in the long run by taking a guy who grades out significantly lower than another guy based on position or the side of the ball he plays on. Now obviously we're not taking a QB or RB in the 1st round, but I think there are more positions on the board than there are off the board.

[carpantherfan84]

I hear you, but with the way the draft is probably gonna fall who do we take? I stand by the belief that WR would not be what we need because we could get a good one in FA. I am not against trading down, it might actually be the best option if it includes another 1st RD pick this year or next. But BPA would be who? Coples, Kirkpatrick, the OL whose name escapes me, which one could actually improve our team enough to give us more wins next year? Burflict might be there and if he is seriously a stud then I say take him but putting aside moral dilemmas about reaching, who could actually make us better as a team?

[JawnyBlaze]

We absolutely don't have to take a corner in the 1st round. If Claiborne and Kirkpatrick are gone, there's no corner even close to worth the #8 or 9 pick. Reaching like that for Minnifield or someone else would be ludicrous. I'd agree with the thought that we need to take a corner somewhere, preferably early. One that contribute quick.

[LinvilleGorge]

We'll have to wait and see. There will be a lot of movement in draft boards after the Combine, Pro Days, interviews, etc.

Right now, I'm thinking that both Luck and RG3 are off the board at QB. We don't want them, but that's two attractive trade baits gone limiting our ability to trade down. Claiborne will likely be gone. Kirkpatrick I see as 60/40. He may be there, but he's probably gone - for this assumption, let's say gone. Blackmon, gone. Kalil and Reiff, gone.

Let's say we're on the clock now at #8. Luck, RG3, Claiborne, Kalil, Kirkpatrick, Blackmon, and Reiff are gone.

poo. What do we do? Even as a huge UNC fan, I'm not sold on Coples. Alshon Jeffery? Definitely maybe. Devon Still? With good workouts, he could enter this conversation. Michael Floyd? Worth consideration. Jonathan Martin? Yeah, he could play RT right now and maybe take over for Gross at LT in a year or two.

My point is that we're drafting at #8 or #9 and regardless of who's off the board, there will be some attractive options. Guys like Trent Richardson, Luck, and RG3 are our best friends - great prospects at positions that we have no need. I'd love for all 3 to go before we pick. That means 3 of the 7/8 picks ahead of us will be players who we had no interest in.

[Panthro]

I wouldn't mind taking secondary picks with our first two picks

[Kettle]

I definitely want DT or CB with that first one. People are speaking well of Devon Still in addition to Dre Kirkpatrick. I'll trust Hurney and Rivera to make the right choice.

[stirs]

With the possibility that Claiborne will be gone at 3, Tampa could take Kirpatrick with their pick.

At that point, No DT or CB at 8/9 are much better than what we could get at the top of the second. We are in no mans land......sucks

[jramsey4]

When you talk in absolutes your almost always going to be wrong. If there is CB there that is more valuable then any other player sure but this team has quite a few holes to fill. Personally I think its going to be OL (Martin or Reiff) or trade down if possible (maybe we can get the Bengals to trade there 2 1sts).

[Catalyst]

Have to say, I'm not a big fan of Kirkpatrick as a corner, but considering that we also need a FS pretty badly, I wouldn't hate the pick. I think he can play FS at a high level if he were to fail at CB.

[stirs]

And why in the world would Cincy send us two firsts? What value is sitting there for them?