Ahhh… traded to the Bills
This is the part of the draft broadcast that I hate, when the ESPN guys stop giving a shit about what happening, missing and not announcing picks while they talk about the guys taking in the first 10 picks. Shortsighted and stupid move by ESPN.
Time to switch to the web broadcast on NFL.com. Thanks NFL, nice work.
Tons of DBs, especially Safeties coming off the board. It’s going to be hard to wait until tomorrow morning to see who we get.
Don’t worry about us. We always go for the fastest guy regardless of whether you have heard of him. Al is targetting Usuan Bolt in the 3rd round.
Aww crap Bolt. With the Raiders ability to evaluate talent I was waiting to see if they might pick me in the third.
I would like nothing more than the Bears picking a poor tackling rookie who can’t cover quick receivers and still has to learn the position. At last, we agree.
And, while I was at dinner, the Packers trade up from 41 to 26 to grab Clay Matthews.
Wow.
They gave up one second rounder and two third round picks to move up to grab him, so it was costly. But they got a mid fifth back. Still, they must really like Matthews quite a bit to pay that price. It’s a shocker, I’ll tell you.
I like that he’s versatile enough to play either as a pass rusher or a TE cover guy, and his versatility will make Capers very happy. I also like his work ethic, his bloodlines, his motor, and his speed. But he has only one year of starting experience, and I’m concerned he’s an overachiever.
I admit, I’m quite suspicious of this choice, and I would have much rather the Packers hung around while Everette Brown or Clint Sitnim fell to them in the second round. But according to the draftniks, Matthews was worth the pick.
As with all draft things, we will see. We will see.
Looks like they got the exact same deal as the Bears. 3rd and a 4th tomorrow. Though the Bears got higher picks.
At what position? If the Bears take him he’ll be playing FS in a Cover 2. That’s a perfect fit for a Big, fast, durable with excellent ball skills and can move up into the box. We probably won’t be asking him to play CB, but the fact that he’s done it before means we could use him there in a pinch.
I worry that he’s a little stiff in the hips, but the other options all have serious size and durability concerns and after the Mike Brown rollercoaster I’ll take a pass on that.
His flaws are protected in our Cover 2.
Ummm, any of them? He’s still learning the CB position, and now you’re talking about moving him to yet another new position. By all means, stick him in there as a starter and watch Jennings, Nelson, Jones, and Lee walk through is poor tackling and blown coverages.
Seriously, though, he’ll be a fine pick in the third round. He’s got the size/speed combination that defenses covet, it’s just that he’s a project and hasn’t played any position long enough to excel at it. He’s a good project who may develop into a solid safety in the NFL. I’d grab in the mid to late third no problem.
Holy Fuck. One of the guys I had targeted for the Packers to grab as a sleeper in the later rounds just went in the second to the Pats. Sebastian Vollmer, we hardly knew thee.
The fact that he’s still learning the CB position doesn’t matter since the Bears (and lots of other teams) project him as a Tampa 2 Safety. He played Safety in a Cover 2 in college as well as spending some time at CB. If the Bears get him and teach* him to play FS in our system and maybe, someday, transitioning him to CB to replace Tillman or Vasher it’s pure gravy. We need the FS, not the CB.
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- I use “teach” loosely, playing FS in our system is about as simple a position as there is. See ball, get ball. See back, tackle back.
Yes! Rey Maulauga (however you spell it) is going to play alongside Keith Rivers!
What a steal at #38!
We are quietly building a defense here in Cincinnati.
Ugh, there he goes.
Another disastrous draft for Angelo. Idiot. We come out of this without Sean Smith, without Massaquoi, without help at OT or DE. And we gain a fucking 3rd and 4th round pick for our troubles. Fuck me.
Davis and Smith will make that Dolphins secondary really good really fast.
Damn this is depressing. Half the Highlight clips are against Michigan.
I guess maybe Jamon Meredith for the Lions?
He’s atop my board of the best players available. Along with Jarron Gilbert. Tomorrow will be an interesting day. Well, except for us Packer fans who traded away two third round picks. Maybe I’ll sleep in.
Put a bow on Day One. I kinda miss having 3 rounds on Day One, tomorrow is going to be a grind fest.
Not sure what the heck the Bears need to do on Day Two to salvage this mess. We desperately need a FS and a WR. We have depth issues all over the place.
Players I expect them to look at in the 3rd round:
Michael Johnson, DE, Ga Tech
Rashad Johnson, S, Alabama
Juaquin Iglesias, WR, Oklahoma
Ramses Barden, WR, Cal Poly
Chris Clemons, S, Clemson
Aaron Kelly, WR, Clemson
Patrick Turner, WR, USC
I’m especially high in Turner if we can get him in the 4th round or at the end of the 3rd. Both Johnson’s would be welcome additions with Seattle’s pick at the top of the 3rd. It’ll be tough to tell which guy belongs at #68, #99, #105 and #119. I’m thinking Michael Johnson at 68, and then Turner, Clemons and then maybe a backup LB or CB.
Fine, but that isn’t what they did. They got a third good receiver, and possibly a second real plus at the position. This isn’t basketball; there’s plenty of room on the field for receivers with similar builds. Kevin Curtis and DeSean Jackson isn’t enough, Reggie Brown is garbage, and they already have a very useful intermediate possession guy in Avant. It’s kind of ridiculous to question the pick by saying "What will they do with him??? when you have multiple receivers on the field all the time. He only needs to catch four balls a game to make a huge difference.
Curtis and Jackson aren’t even similar players anyway, and I can’t even imagine who the third “small, fast WR” the Eagles already have might be.
My quick list of the BPA after the first two rounds:
Michael Johnson, DE,
Jamon Meredith, OT,
Jarron Gilbert, DT/DE
Lawrence Sidbury, OLB/DE
Rashard Johnson, S
Andre Brown, RB
Of those, I think Michael Johnson is the biggest surprise. He’s got the size and athleticism of a first round talent, but has only one great year under his belt. With his skills, he could play OLB in a 3-4, but is better suited to bulking up a bit and being an end in a 4-3. I expect he’ll be gone quickly.
Since the Packers don’t have a round 3 pick, I’ll be grinding my teeth as these players are picked and hoping and praying that Clay Matthews ends up being worth it. But, with a DT/DE (Raji is flexible and good enough to play either, which is excellent), and an OLB, the Packers have some flexibility moving on from here. They really need to address their need for an offensive tackle, though, and I would love a guy like Mitch King or Alex McGee to solidify the D Line. Another LB (Victor Butler would be nice), a TE, and a CB would be nice too. And a pony. I want a pony.
Shannon Sharpe is a little past his prime.
Curtis and Jackson are very similar players; all three are small speed guys: Curtis is the biggest at 6’, 186. Reggie Brown is not, IMO, “garbage;” he’s a decent 3rd WR. The only big target they have is Baskett.
It’s not a matter of asking “What will they do with him???,” which is why I didn’t. They’ll run him on the same kinds of patterns they already run for DeSean Jackson. What they won’t do, I hope, is run him on fade patterns, or ask him to use his body to box out defenders on curls. To run those patterns they’ll have to bring in Baskett, or just forego running them.
Or to put it another way: Remember the 2003 NFC championship game? We lost to the panthers because they physical CBs that came up the the line and jammed our WRs hard. Pinkston and Thrash couldn’t get off the line, and the offense was dead. part of the reason they got T.O. was because they needed a strong WR who was capable of fighting out of the press. If a team decides to play big, strong CBs and try to jam the Eagles at the line this year, which of our WRs do you count on fighting through that jam?
It’s not that Maclin is a bad player; I don’t doubt that he deserves the first-round grade the draftniks gave him. But
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I’d prefer a guy who is good in different ways than the good players we already have. If I already have a sports car, I’d like my other car to be a pickup. Flexibility.
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half or more of first-round graded WRs are busts. That’s just a fact. If the Eagles had traded down, they could have had a sure thing in Boldin, AND taken a WR in the third round or so.