Mocking Positional Need

[KendrickPanther]

I have not looked in detail at where players are expect to go but I do want to establish positions drafted by round for the 2013 draft as we work our way towards April.

Round 1 (Pick 14): Tackle. It's time to upgrade this position. Even if you keep Gross we need to bring in a blue chip offensive lineman who can be groomed into a stud. Byron Bell has served admirably but maybe we can do better. Keep Byron of course for inevitable injuries or to replace Gross but the idea is to get younger and more talented.

Round 2: Defensive Back. We had so many holes on D this year we looked like swiss cheese. At this spot you fill one of them with a Corner or Safety with pro speed/size. We can't fix all of our problems but we can fix one with this pick if we get it right.

Round 4: Defensive Line. This is were you need to find a sneaky good player who can fit the rotation. We are short on picks and cannot afford to use one of our higher picks on a strength. Down in the 4th round we have a chance to get a rotation guy that will work for a second contract.

Round 5: Linebacker. Hear me out, we need to bring in more lower tier talent at this position. We cannot afford to pay 4 linebackers like starters in our current 4-3 scheme. Someone needs to be traded or released. That opens a place for a special teams/reserve who will take snaps as injuries mount.

Round 6: Defensive Back. This is where you take a Corner or Safety. Depending on what you didn't get in the 2nd round. Go small school with talent and attitude or big school with carachter concerns. At this point you want high upside. High risk/reward.

Compensatory Selections: Go for special teams help. Go for a QB you believe in. Go for Brad Wing (who will probably go in the 3rd round).

A few closing remarks. As you can see I believe our offense is going to be in good shape. We have weapons. We have talent at WR/RB/TE so it's hard to justify using our limited picks on those positions. I believe you get by with what you have until the Defensive roster stabilizes. Of course this is all for entertainment purposes and best player available would overrule this framework.

[App_Flash]

I like it, agree completely

[JawnyBlaze]

I have not looked in detail at where players are expect to go but I do want to establish positions drafted by round for the 2013 draft as we work our way towards April.

Round 1 (Pick 14): Defensive Tackle. It's time to upgrade this position. Even if you keep Ron Edwards we need to bring in a blue chip defensive lineman who can be groomed into a stud. Dwan Edwards has served admirably but he won't be around forever at his age. Keep Dwan of course but the idea is to get younger and more talented.

My opinion.

[Bwood]

Yup I totally agree. I'm getting so sick of explaining to the kids on here that you just simply do not pass up on a franchise LT. Even if we choose not to cut gross yet, we'll be able to move guys around to make it work, and then when Gross is done, you have a young, proven Left Tackle.

[Jackofalltrades]

I agree with Blaze, DT is the bigger immediate need. Also, it traditionally takes DT longer to acclimate to the pro game than OT's.

Bell has been just fine at RT and I can't figure out why everyone is so eager to push him out of a position that he's earned.

Gross isn't what he was over the last decade, but he's not getting routinely beat or causing penalties. While I do agree that we need to find his replacement, the first round should be for Day 1 starters. Now if Gross becomes a cap casuality then this becomes an immediate need, but Gross is one I would expect to restructure.

I also don't understand ignoring WR, I think it's a bigger need than the secondary is with the emergence of Josh Thomas and DJ Campbell. I certainly wouldn't be upset in taking Elam or another S, or even CB in the likely event Gamble isn't here next season but our O revolves around Smith and with his age that's a concern.

Lastly, for the life of me I can't figure out how T is a bigger need than G, which didn't even make the list. It was our single biggest problem on OL this year.

[Herbert The Love Bug]

How did we have so many holes on D this year and look like swiss cheese? That doesn't make sense

[Jackofalltrades]

How did we have so many holes on D this year and look like swiss cheese? That doesn't make sense

Because we finished in the top 10 without our top CB, LB (arguably) and no household names!

It HAS to mean we suck!

[JawnyBlaze]

I agree with Blaze, DT is the bigger immediate need. Also, it traditionally takes DT longer to acclimate to the pro game than OT's.

Bell has been just fine at RT and I can't figure out why everyone is so eager to push him out of a position that he's earned.

Gross isn't what he was over the last decade, but he's not getting routinely beat or causing penalties. While I do agree that we need to find his replacement, the first round should be for Day 1 starters. Now if Gross becomes a cap casuality then this becomes an immediate need, but Gross is one I would expect to restructure.

I also don't understand ignoring WR, I think it's a bigger need than the secondary is with the emergence of Josh Thomas and DJ Campbell. I certainly wouldn't be upset in taking Elam or another S, or even CB in the likely event Gamble isn't here next season but our O revolves around Smith and with his age that's a concern.

Lastly, for the life of me I can't figure out how T is a bigger need than G, which didn't even make the list. It was our single biggest problem on OL this year.

Exactly, my ideal pattern of addressing positions (considering the strengths and weaknesses of this draft) would be DT in the 1st, WR in the 2nd, OG in the 4th, TE/OL in the 5th, K in the 6th/7th (whichever we end up not giving the Raiders).

This draft is fat with late 1st/early 2nd round caliber WRs and some are bound to fall to us in the 2nd. I'd hate to miss out on Hunter, Hopkins, Patterson, Rogers, Woods (all of whom have a reasonable chance at being available with our 2nd round pick) or a couple other guys.

OG definitely has to be addressed this offseason. Hangartner might not have been terrible when he was starting at RG, but he wasn't good. And when he had to play C, we had no NFL quality backup Gs. At the very least we need some depth at G, if not a new starter at RG.

[carolina-chuck]

Yup I totally agree. I'm getting so sick of explaining to the kids on here that you just simply do not pass up on a franchise LT. Even if we choose not to cut gross yet, we'll be able to move guys around to make it work, and then when Gross is done, you have a young, proven Left Tackle.

Who's the franchise LT we can't pass up on?

[carolina-chuck]

I agree with Blaze, DT is the bigger immediate need. Also, it traditionally takes DT longer to acclimate to the pro game than OT's.

Bell has been just fine at RT and I can't figure out why everyone is so eager to push him out of a position that he's earned.

Gross isn't what he was over the last decade, but he's not getting routinely beat or causing penalties. While I do agree that we need to find his replacement, the first round should be for Day 1 starters. Now if Gross becomes a cap casuality then this becomes an immediate need, but Gross is one I would expect to restructure.

I also don't understand ignoring WR, I think it's a bigger need than the secondary is with the emergence of Josh Thomas and DJ Campbell. I certainly wouldn't be upset in taking Elam or another S, or even CB in the likely event Gamble isn't here next season but our O revolves around Smith and with his age that's a concern.

Lastly, for the life of me I can't figure out how T is a bigger need than G, which didn't even make the list. It was our single biggest problem on OL this year.

Agreed with everything you said. Especially how Tackle is more important than OG. Can someone explain to me why we should take a tackle over Warmack, if OLINE is how we approach the draft.

[Swaggasaurus]

I'm gonna disagree with some of this, I feel like the OL should be addressed early, as well as WR. Everything else takes a back seat to me. You can win with big DT's that occupy blocks and can sign another Ron Edwards esque guy. I like our young group of DB's and after Josh "Tha Kushion" Norman was bench that swiss cheese defense seemed to fill some holes and would like to see some FA signing there as well.

[KendrickPanther]

I really don't care about statistical rankings. This is about personnel evaluation. Our defense ranked well with 2 good ends, 2 good linebackers, and an army of JAGs. Our offense didn't force the opponents to open things up for most of the season. The emergence of DJ Cambell and Josh Thomas against the likes of Carson Palmer and Nick Foles was great, no really it was. They also got torched by Brady Quinn.... I don't believe in those guys. They were the weak link in a scheme that relied on pressure. Our pass defense was poo vs the Giants, Falcons, and Broncos. We need legit defensive backs to compete with those guys.

[Swaggasaurus]

I really don't care about statistical rankings. This is about personnel evaluation. Our defense ranked well with 2 good ends, 2 good linebackers, and an army of JAGs. Our offense didn't force the opponents to open things up for most of the season. The emergence of DJ Cambell and Josh Thomas against the likes of Carson Palmer and Nick Foles was great, no really it was. They also got torched by Brady Quinn.... I don't believe in those guys. They were the weak link in a scheme that relied on pressure. Our pass defense was poo vs the Giants, Falcons, and Broncos. We need legit defensive backs to compete with those guys.

Apparently you only care about where a guy was drafted if you don't believe in Thomas. If you cannot evaluate Thomas and see that he is capable of being a starter then you need to reconsider and think of doing something else with your free time other than "evaluating"

[KendrickPanther]

I don't view DT as a major need anymore. It's a devalued position in my mind. Anyone that would take a blue chip DT over a blue chip OT is crazy in my opinion. Dwan Edwards played well when healthy. Remember we flew him to Florida like a week before the season started. We can fill that other DT spot with late picks and JAGS until the important positions are filled.