Courtney Upshaw?

[Woodie]

People forget that we'll be looking for a Sam, where size is size to take on the TE against the run game but he also has to be fast enough and have the coverage skills to stick with that TE in the passing game.

We have some pretty good QB's and TE's in our division and conference and we've got to find a way to cover them.

Not saying Upshaw isn't the guy, it's just something people tend to overlook when elevating OLB's.

I think when people are talking about Upshaw here, they're thinking of him as a DE when in our base 4-3, but at OLB in our 3-4 looks. He has enough size and strength to play DE, and is already considered by many analysts to be the best 3-4 OLB in the draft. And his primary responsibility will be as a pass rusher, not coverage. I think the way we will see him in coverage is similar to how we already use the zone blitz.

Fix the pass rush, and the improvement in our coverage will be huge. That doesn't mean he will fix all of our problems, but no one player will.

[frash.exe]

why not just sign anthony spencer

he's good against the run, in pass coverage, and probably would automatically be the best pass rushing linebacker on the roster.

it's kind of a liability in blitzing that we don't run a cover 2 anymore but barely any of our linebackers are over 240 lbs.

[Jackofalltrades]

I actually like the thought of Kirkpatrick on TE's.

[Jackofalltrades]

so anderson is moving to the Will?

That's my assumption given Davis' inability to stay heathly and that's where he finishes the season. Senn was playing Sam at the end.

[unicar15]

Chirs Landry, the scout on The Drive, wouldn't say where he thought the Panthers would go but he said that DL is the spot where guys are at a premium because you can never have enough pass rushers..specifically mentioning Coples and Brockers. He thought both of those guys are no-brainers if they are there.

Also said that he thought Morris Claiborne is better right now than Patrick Peterson. Better skills but Peterson has more athletic ability. He said he's an ideal player. He doesn't expect Brockers, Claiborne, or Blackmon to be there (if Brockers has a good combine).

He said Kirkpatrick is a smarter player right now because he played for Saban but Claiborne has the upside. When Patrick Peterson left LSU he could only identify 4 coverages...LSU's scheme is simple, Alabama's isn't.

He also said that he likes Zach Brown a lot but doesn't see him going in the first round He could be a great 2nd round pick for us if he's there assuming he fits what we want to do.

If Brockers, Claiborne, and Coples are gone then we need to try to trade down...that is my assessment. We gotta get THE impact corner in the draft or one of the top 2 pass rushers.

Personally, I think one of them will be there. The guys who I think are DEFINITELY gone are the following

Luck

RGIII

Kalil

Martin or Reiff (whoever ends up looking better)

Claiborne

That leaves 2 more spots ahead of us before we pick. Those two guys could be Brockers, Richardson, whichever OT isn't off the board yet (Reiff or Martin), Coples. Gotta hope that either Brockers or Coples will be there because if we go offense with our first pick and don't bring in any impact free agent defenders its going to be a long season on D next year.