Official Draft Thread
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By the way, it does sound like the Raiders are close to giving up on Huff:
The Raiders decided to bench FS Michael Huff in favor of backup Hiram Eugene, who will get the start for Oakland in Week Seven. Sources in Oakland say Huff is not being physical enough and he has not shown any improvement in his third season, even though the team moved him from strong to free safety, where it was believed he would be a more natural fit. Insiders would not call the decision to demote Huff a permanent one, but he’s on the cusp of falling into the category of draft busts. Drafted seventh overall in 2006, Huff has been a major disappointment after entering the league with high expectations. Eugene had an opportunity to start five games late last season when he replaced Stuart Schweigert, but he didn’t do enough to convince coaches he should hold on to the job heading into this season.
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davis picking mays is always a worry. he's gone DB in the first five times since 2001, with the majority of those picks being because he thinks fast guys are always the answer. let's hope he acknowledges one of his more glaring needs and picks michael crabtree or a d-lineman with actual talent.
mays is a prototype al davis pick, though. at the same time, the raiders are only one win behind us and could still improve whereas we've sunk into a deep, deep valley.
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Aaron Curry's great & Everette Brown's pretty good, but neither of them is ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Who is? This guy:
Boston College junior linebacker Mark Herzlich has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, the league's sports media organization, ACSMA, announced Wednesday. Herzlich, a finalist for the Butkus Award, was named to the All-ACC first team earlier this week. On a team that leads the nation in interceptions, Herzlich leads the team with six picks and has returned two of those for touchdowns. He leads the Eagles in tackles with 98 (74 solos) and has notched 10 tackles-for-loss (35 yards), three sacks (14 yards), seven pass break-ups and two forced fumbles. Herzlich will receive his award at Friday's ACC Coaches' Luncheon in Tampa, a day before the Eagles take on Virginia Tech in the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium.
Herzlich says that he'll be staying at BC for his senior year. But if he changes his mind, he'll be one of the top 3-4 OLB prospects in this year's draft.
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And if the Browns end up drafting Herzlich, Stan's gotta recruit his dad.
From a NY Times interview of Herzlich:
I heard [your dad] is a message board poster?
Yes, he is a message board poster.
Is that good or bad?
To be honest, it’s good. It’s funny because I was a little nervous in the beginning for myself and the coaches. Ryan Mattison is one of our graduate assistants who does a lot with recruiting. He actually came up to me the other day, and my dad’s user name is herzylax22, and called me “Herzylax.” I was like, ‘Huh, where did you get that from.’ And he said, ‘Your dad’s posts.’ He said, ‘It’s really great to have him on there because he keeps everyone in perspective.’ He keeps everything under wraps that needs to be under wraps and he defends Boston College when need be. He enjoys it a lot. You can ask the guys on the team, he’s a die-hard B.C. fan. He loves it. He tailgates before every game. He’s been to every game except the Florida State game my freshman year. He loves it.
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Switching gears for a second - Is Joe J. coming back next year? Might change our WR needs a bit, at least temporarily (in a draft where we are currently missing picks in rds 3, 5, & 7).
Also, getting some looks at Rucker is a necessity, and might change my mind about letting Winslow go for draft picks (right now I'm against). Also, Joey J.'s healthy hands on the field would play a role in that.
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JJ's done after next year, so we need to look into replacing him. his coming back for one more year doesn't change our situation that much. we still need a reliable, sure-handed receiver who's willing to go over the middle and can block downfield. JJ is a stopgap solution at best.
rucker could be that guy, but we haven't seen him play enough. he's not a great blocker, but his speed and size should be comparable to JJ. we should give him a shot on the outside in the offseason and see how he does.
either way, we shouldn't go WR in this draft. we have too many other needs and already have developmental WRs. plus, it'll be good to see what steptoe can do with another offseason under his belt. he made dramatic strides coming into this year and looks like a reliable slot guy.
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A lot depends on whether we trade Winslow.
If we do, then we'll probably have two additional picks, giving us the luxury of expending one on a receiver (probably on Day Two).
And that would also mean that Rucker would assume more TE responsibilities, which leaves us in need of another receiver. That could be Joe J with a pay cut ($3.562 M is a lot for a veteran on his last legs), or it could be a medium-level FA option.
But JewDago's right: we shouldn't give up on Steptoe, who could turn into our own version of Lance Moore. And it'd be nice to see Paul Hubbard or Lance Leggett show enough to make our 53 man roster next season.
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A lot depends on whether we trade Winslow.
If we do, then we'll probably have two additional picks, giving us the luxury of expending one on a receiver (probably on Day Two).
And that would also mean that Rucker would assume more TE responsibilities, which leaves us in need of another receiver. That could be Joe J with a pay cut ($3.562 M is a lot for a veteran on his last legs), or it could be a medium-level FA option.
But JewDago's right: we shouldn't give up on Steptoe, who could turn into our own version of Lance Moore. And it'd be nice to see Paul Hubbard or Lance Leggett show enough to make our 53 man roster next season.
Aloysius said:
A lot depends on whether we trade Winslow.If we do, then we'll probably have two additional picks, giving us the luxury of expending one on a receiver (probably on Day Two).
And that would also mean that Rucker would assume more TE responsibilities, which leaves us in need of another receiver. That could be Joe J with a pay cut ($3.562 M is a lot for a veteran on his last legs), or it could be a medium-level FA option.
But JewDago's right: we shouldn't give up on Steptoe, who could turn into our own version of Lance Moore. And it'd be nice to see Paul Hubbard or Lance Leggett show enough to make our 53 man roster next season.
Al, please stop. You know how I feel about that guy LOL.
I think we should institute a moratorium on anybody even mentioning him as a future player.
Leggett shows a little, but needs to get stronger.
Steptoe is what he is, which is a dependable guy out of the slot with steady hands. He should not be playing much at this point though, total product of the lack of depth we have there. I still think Kevvy Kasp hurt us, they were really planning on him taking JJ's spot.
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Ha. Hubbs is the future of the franchise, Russ. We're going to go with a bunch of long-striding gazelles who can jump really high but always juggle the ball. Our QB's completion percentage will be in the mid-30's, but we'll get a lot of "great" catches on SportsCenter.
About Steptoe: though I think he deserves to compete for the slot receiver job next year, it definitely was a crime for him to be starting outside early this season.
To me, that was one of the most grievous examples of Savage swinging for the fences this offseason. Despite knowing that JJ may not be able to play, he signed a very flashy but not very durable receiver, hoping that he'd make our offense dominant.
Instead, the Human Hamstring Pull got hurt in training camp, and we ended up starting the season without a legitimate #2 receiver.
Not a good move...
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while stallworth hasn't worked out at all, you have to look at the crop of free agent wide receivers this past year. who else was there that would have made any significant contribution?
bernard berrian also went for a ton of money. marty booker kinda sucks and is also old. isaac bruce is on his last legs. reche caldwell? no. drew carter, devery henderson and keary colbert are the same shitty player. dj hackett is solid but can't stay on the field. mushin muhammad is ancient. moss was never leaving new england. ernest wilford was frighteningly overpaid. there really weren't any great options.
however, two names stick out to me: justin gage and justin mccariens. neither is spectacular, but both are serviceable. they're number two guys who are, to the best of my knowledge, fairly durable. however, hindsight blah blah blah.
still no need to go WR in this draft, though. even if there's no clear-cut number two on the team right now, i'd rank our needs as OLB, ILB, OL, CB, S, DL, RB, WR then TE. plus, in the coming FA, there's housh, anquan boldin and shaun mcdonald, so we'll have options once we cut stallworth.
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while stallworth hasn't worked out at all, you have to look at the crop of free agent wide receivers this past year. who else was there that would have made any significant contribution?
bernard berrian also went for a ton of money. marty booker kinda sucks and is also old. isaac bruce is on his last legs. reche caldwell? no. drew carter, devery henderson and keary colbert are the same shitty player. dj hackett is solid but can't stay on the field. mushin muhammad is ancient. moss was never leaving new england. ernest wilford was frighteningly overpaid. there really weren't any great options.
however, two names stick out to me: justin gage and justin mccariens. neither is spectacular, but both are serviceable. they're number two guys who are, to the best of my knowledge, fairly durable. however, hindsight blah blah blah.
still no need to go WR in this draft, though. even if there's no clear-cut number two on the team right now, i'd rank our needs as OLB, ILB, OL, CB, S, DL, RB, WR then TE. plus, in the coming FA, there's housh, anquan boldin and shaun mcdonald, so we'll have options once we cut stallworth.
however, two names stick out to me: justin gage and justin mccariens. neither is spectacular, but both are serviceable. they're number two guys who are, to the best of my knowledge, fairly durable. however, hindsight blah blah blah.
Toop & I had a similar discussion a while back. IIRC, Bryant Johnson and Jabari Gaffney were a few other names mentioned.
In the spring, I preferred signing Gaffney & drafting a receiver. Gaffney's not a world-beater by any means, but I thought he was good enough to be JJ's backup (& possible replacement).
We probably could have gotten 40 catches out of him, and he would've come cheap (he's making $1.275M this year).
He'll be an FA after this season. I wouldn't mind us bringing him in for depth.
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while stallworth hasn't worked out at all, you have to look at the crop of free agent wide receivers this past year. who else was there that would have made any significant contribution?
bernard berrian also went for a ton of money. marty booker kinda sucks and is also old. isaac bruce is on his last legs. reche caldwell? no. drew carter, devery henderson and keary colbert are the same shitty player. dj hackett is solid but can't stay on the field. mushin muhammad is ancient. moss was never leaving new england. ernest wilford was frighteningly overpaid. there really weren't any great options.
however, two names stick out to me: justin gage and justin mccariens. neither is spectacular, but both are serviceable. they're number two guys who are, to the best of my knowledge, fairly durable. however, hindsight blah blah blah.
still no need to go WR in this draft, though. even if there's no clear-cut number two on the team right now, i'd rank our needs as OLB, ILB, OL, CB, S, DL, RB, WR then TE. plus, in the coming FA, there's housh, anquan boldin and shaun mcdonald, so we'll have options once we cut stallworth.
still no need to go WR in this draft, though. even if there's no clear-cut number two on the team right now, i'd rank our needs as OLB, ILB, OL, CB, S, DL, RB, WR then TE. plus, in the coming FA, there's housh, anquan boldin and shaun mcdonald, so we'll have options once we cut stallworth.
Funny: when I ranked them earlier this week, I put them in this order: ILB, OLB, CB, WR, DL, S, OL.
None of our position rankings are the same. Apparently, great minds butt heads a lot
I wouldn't mind a receiver in Round 4, maybe a TE. Heck really likes Bear Pascoe of Fresno State; he may be a good option.
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what'd you think about mario urrutia? his route running is suspect, but his hands aren't terrible and he's monstrously huge albeit a bit slow. i thought he was a guy that could be coached into someone uncoverable, but other NFL people obviously didn't.
i put OLB before ILB because i think two decent guys in the middle can stop the run, but you need a stud to rush the passer if you're not going to scheme pressure. if we scheme pressure, you can switch ILB to top priority. OL's third because fraley's done, hadnot's been ineffective for some reason, and shaffer's been just plain bad.
we almost agree on CB. i have safety high because i'm not sold on jones staying nor being the player he could have been without being hurt and i don't think pool will stay consistently healthy.
we have a couple decent WRs, so WR is low on the list, but we need someone to complement harrison. lewis is pretty much a goal-line/4-minute offense back at this point.
i wouldn't mind a round 4 receiver, either. i'm not sure about who's who in the class, though. need to get on that.
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We brought Urrutia in for a draft visit, right?
He was red-flagged because of character issues, so I didn't really consider him. A lot of people were comparing him to Plaxico Burress, which seemed like a complement at the time. Now? Not so much.
I think that's a great point about scheme determining which LB spot is the greater need. Agree 100%.
Wasn't paying very close attention, but Sean Jones seemed to play pretty well on Sunday. Sure, the whole defense did, but it fits a pattern of him playing better the further he gets from his knee surgery. I think the franchise tag is going to be a serious possibility with him, especially since we have so many other pressing needs.
Not sure I've seen this mentioned anywhere before, but Jamal has a $4M roster bonus due in March. If we cut him, then RB definitely becomes a big need - guys like Shonn Green and Rashad Jennings in Round 2 could be worthy replacements.
Man, we set up a ton of bonuses for '09. It only adds to the sense that Phil thought he was assembling a Super Bowl team for this season. No way you set up so many of these deals if you're planning on these guys being the core of your team for the next 2-3 years.
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jamal's bonus definitely pushes RB up the need list, especially with pretty much nowhere to turn in FA.
and urrutia's on the bengals' practice squad. they took him in round 7. scouting reports all said he has questionable hands, is a long strider and lacks focus. good thing we didn't take him. he's paul hubbard. but maybe we didn't have to trade into the fifth to nab essentially the same player we could've grabbed when he was placed on the practice squad.
we did bring him in for a visit, though.
i'd love to see jones franchised if we can't re-sign him. still want mays no matter what, though.
and the contract structures could also be an out that savage built if the team he put together didn't succeed. we could blow up part of the team and replace people without too much of a cap hit.
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jamal's bonus definitely pushes RB up the need list, especially with pretty much nowhere to turn in FA.
and urrutia's on the bengals' practice squad. they took him in round 7. scouting reports all said he has questionable hands, is a long strider and lacks focus. good thing we didn't take him. he's paul hubbard. but maybe we didn't have to trade into the fifth to nab essentially the same player we could've grabbed when he was placed on the practice squad.
we did bring him in for a visit, though.
i'd love to see jones franchised if we can't re-sign him. still want mays no matter what, though.
and the contract structures could also be an out that savage built if the team he put together didn't succeed. we could blow up part of the team and replace people without too much of a cap hit.
jamal's bonus definitely pushes RB up the need list, especially with pretty much nowhere to turn in FA.
Interesting stat on Lewis: everyone's always said that JLew's the kind of back that gets better the more carries he gets.
Last year, that certainly seemed to be the case:
- Carries 1-10: 3.9 YPC
- Carries 11-20: 4.4 YPC
- Carries 21-30: 6.0 YPC
- Carries 1-10: 3.9 YPC
- Carries 11-20: 3.3 YPC
- Carries 21-30: 2.8 YPC
Either way, the stats seem to indicate that he's only good for about 5-10 carries a game, RBBC style. But his contract may be too big to justify keeping him for such a small role.
So you're right: RB definitely needs to get pushed up the need list.
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The only positions IMO where we don't need anybody is NT, Kicker,Punter.
After that, there really isn't anybody good enough or where we have so much depth we could rule out drafting someone.
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Wow we need to add some pieces through the draft and we don't have a third or a fifth. Brilliant strategy Phil.
Hopefully a trade for DA or KW can get them back.
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I think Phil was expecting this to be a better year....LOL
We are going to pick up something for 1 or both of those guys....Winslow seems like a solid 3rd round value.
DA.....you never know with qbs and how another team might value him. One side of me says a 6th would be great, another says some team is going to want him and might give up as much as a 2nd......I think in the end with DA, it will be some conditional deal...a 6th now....possibly as high as a 2nd the following year depending on how he plays with his new team.
I don't think he is going to being any immediate draft help, but may in 2010
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