If Caldwell is not sold on any of the top QB's at #3 (or the one he wants is gone), and Clowney is gone, how about this draft and defensive line-up? Switch to a 3-4?
Rd1 OLB/DE Khalil Mack, Buffalo (talk as a top 5, maybe top 3 pick heating up, might pass Clowney)
Rd2 QB Derek Carr, Fresno St (not in love with him, but franchise QB does not have to be high 1st rounder)
Rd3 WR Davante Adams, Fresno St (Insurance if Blackmon cannot contribute, played with Carr)
Rd4 ILB Shayne Skov, Stanford (rising up boards, pair with Poz inside for new scheme)
Rd4 RB Lache Seastrunk (even if MJD does return, need more talent at RB)
Free Agency: C Alex Mack (pay the man, we have the cap space!), and a starting a starting 3-4 DE
New 3-4 Defensive Line-up
DL: DE Alualu (or FA replacement hopefully), NT R. Miller, DE S. Marks
LB: OLB/LEO K. Mack, ILB Poz, ILB Skov, OLB/LEO Branch/Babin
DB: CB Gratz, SS Cyprien, FS Josh Evans , CB Ball
I know the 3-4 talk has been hushed before, but Bradley is here now, and drafting K-Mack at #3 would be a good excuse to change. Just a fun idea to ponder in the off-season.
Mods, move to College Football if you see fit. Just realized I probably should have put this there with draft predictions included.
No 3-4 Bradley just 're tooled our defense a bit, not gona change this year
I guess K -Mack could be used as LEO in our current defense, and would not necessarily mean a full switch to 3-4 would be in order. Like I said, just an idea to ponder and a look at what the line-up could be with the appropriate draft. Offense could be:
LOT - Joeckel, LG Rackley (upgrade?), OC Alex Mack, RG Nwaneri, RT Pasztor
QB - Henne (1st half) Carr (2nd half of season)
RB - Combo of Todman and Seastrunk
WR - Shorts, Blackmon/Adams, Sanders (slot)
TE - Lewis or upgrade
Don't think Seastrunk will be there. We have money to spend in FA, but I don't see us signing a top tier FA. Mack would be our LEO and sometimes drop into disguised coverage similar to Irvin
By the way, the top of the draft in my scenario that would cause Caldwell to take K. Mack might look like this.
1. HOU - QB B. Bortles (who I think is the one QB Caldwell would want - just a guess)
2. STL - DE J. Clowney (or whoever trades up for him)
3. JAC - DE/OLB K. Mack (pass rushing beast with fire we need if QB not selected)
4. CLE - QB J. Manziel (they can have him)
5. OAK - OT J. Matthews
6. ATL - OT G. Robinson
7. TAM - WR S. Watkins
8. MIN - QB T. Bridgewater (may fall slightly, Geno Smith comparisons coming?)
9. BUF - WR M. Evans (rises to top 10 with that 4.4 40 time)
10. DET - OT T. Lewan or CB D. Dennard
Why can I not edit my original post any longer? Grrrrrrrrrrr.
I do not want a QB from this class..
Honestly it's pretty mediocre. I think our best option is to trade down.
-Clowney came out and said he wants to play for ATL. I do not want a player with character concerns who doesn't want on our team especially during a rebuild. I would see it leading to character problems, then him running off to who ever will pay him or ATL.
-Qb's this year are starting to seem less and less impressive. I don't see the return value in selecting any of them top 5 then we will just deal with having to see if a qb will pan out and be in this position in 3-4 years from now.. I wouldnt mind gambling on Thomas out of VT and seeing if he can develop over a year behind Henne.
In my opinion these are my top 6 power rankings for this draft
1-Robinson; He's a beast. Hell i would take him at 3 and build the best O-line in the NFL
2-Trade down. Yeah.. this is the best option after those two.. With the amount of starters and underclassmen who declared.. This is the deepest draft we probably will see in our lives... You can get players in the 2nd round who would be first day selections next year.
3-Matthews; Great tackle, you know you are getting a pro-bowl player
4-Watkins; Physical, great burst gets the ball
5-Clowney; He can be a beast.. but does he want to play.
6-Mack; We will see how he pans out.. i'll have to watch more film but i think he is a great well rounded player that we could build our defence around.
Quote:8. MIN - QB T. Bridgewater (may fall slightly, Geno Smith comparisons coming?)
.
Because black>
No thank you to anything you said, I do like Mack only if Clowney or Bridgewater is off the board, but would rather Manziel
If Teddy fell to 8, why would he be compared to Geno? Geno fell to the 2nd round
I don't understand why people want us to pay $9 million a year for a center.
Quote:I don't understand why people want us to pay $9 million a year for a center.
We want a really nice butt for our new QB to enjoy.
/sarcasm
Quote:I don't understand why people want us to pay $9 million a year for a center.
Nobody said we should do that. We are just talking about draft picks, not salaries.
Well for the sake of this, the LEO would essentially be eliminated. You'd have to make both of our outside linebackers be studs at coverage as well as pass rushing. In that vein I think Mack would fit but I'm not so sure about Branch. Versatility combined with effectiveness is really hard to find. If we were to go all in on this,at least draft wise, my top two rounds would be
1. Mack
2. Van Noy
Doubling down on the outside backer spot with Van Noy would be my favorite. Get two playmakers who can rush the passer as well as cover and be stout against the run.
Of course they'd have to play like studs to account for letting Allen and Hayes out the door.
Fun hypothetical but i doubt it.
If we pass on QB at 3...then pray like mad that Carr is there at 39 (highly unlikely) or Logan Thomas is taken in the 4th or 5th as a long term dev prospect. Every other QB after the 1st round will merely be a stopgap until we find a real franchise QB or will get us stuck in the dreaded QB purgatory range at best.
We could pick Mack even if Bridgewater and Clowney are on the board. The best players are the tackles, Clowney, Mack and Watkins. We don't need a tackle, Clowney has questions and WR is deep in the draft. Mack might very well be number 1 on our board.
As far as hoping for Carr, how about no? We may be a smart enough organization to bring in a guy from anywhere from #3 to UDFA and the journey remains the same. he needs to compete for the job and then win it to start. The journey will be the same.
Looks like Teddy is beginning to sink. It was pointed out before the Combine that Bridgewater declined to play football at the major college level where the level of competition is fierce just to get on the field as the starting quarterback.
Nothing worse than making a promise then not living up to it.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdo...--nfl.html
Is this a big deal? Let's put it this way: Bridgewater isn't getting drafted for his long-sprint speed. He's a good athlete and can move around the pocket, but he's not really a scrambler, so the number he would have posted likely isn't going to move the dial much.
But from a competitive and accountability standpoint, it's disappointing. Four times in his media session on Saturday, Bridgewater called himself "just a competitor," but this is one competition he chose to sit out.
Bridgewater is looking more and more like a back-up NFL quarterback by the day. If he thinks the pressure to compete at the NFL Scouting Combine is too great, he's not going to make it on his own as a starter. His agent can't hold his hand on Sunday.
Quote:Looks like Teddy is beginning to sink. It was pointed out before the Combine that Bridgewater declined to play football at the major college level where the level of competition is fierce just to get on the field as the starting quarterback.
Nothing worse than making a promise then not living up to it.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdo...--nfl.html
Is this a big deal? Let's put it this way: Bridgewater isn't getting drafted for his long-sprint speed. He's a good athlete and can move around the pocket, but he's not really a scrambler, so the number he would have posted likely isn't going to move the dial much.
But from a competitive and accountability standpoint, it's disappointing. Four times in his media session on Saturday, Bridgewater called himself "just a competitor," but this is one competition he chose to sit out.
Bridgewater is looking more and more like a back-up NFL quarterback by the day. If he thinks the pressure to compete at the NFL Scouting Combine is too great, he's not going to make it on his own as a starter. His agent can't hold his hand on Sunday.
Blah blah blah.
Year after year, players elect not to do drills, etc. at the combine.
It's a non story.
Do you think whatever gold stars Alabama T Cyrus Kouandjio earned for competitiveness by participating in drills is going to offset the disastrous results?
http://www.nfl.com/combine/story/0ap2000...io-fizzles
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/19698...es-3rd-day
Get the qb at 3 and be done with it.
Quote:I do not want a QB from this class..
Honestly it's pretty mediocre. I think our best option is to trade down.
-Clowney came out and said he wants to play for ATL. I do not want a player with character concerns who doesn't want on our team especially during a rebuild. I would see it leading to character problems, then him running off to who ever will pay him or ATL.
-Qb's this year are starting to seem less and less impressive. I don't see the return value in selecting any of them top 5 then we will just deal with having to see if a qb will pan out and be in this position in 3-4 years from now.. I wouldnt mind gambling on Thomas out of VT and seeing if he can develop over a year behind Henne.
In my opinion these are my top 6 power rankings for this draft
1-Robinson; He's a beast. Hell i would take him at 3 and build the best O-line in the NFL
2-Trade down. Yeah.. this is the best option after those two.. With the amount of starters and underclassmen who declared.. This is the deepest draft we probably will see in our lives... You can get players in the 2nd round who would be first day selections next year.
3-Matthews; Great tackle, you know you are getting a pro-bowl player
4-Watkins; Physical, great burst gets the ball
5-Clowney; He can be a beast.. but does he want to play.
6-Mack; We will see how he pans out.. i'll have to watch more film but i think he is a great well rounded player that we could build our defence around.
stop posting please because your point sounds ignorant.
Quote:If Caldwell is not sold on any of the top QB's at #3 (or the one he wants is gone), and Clowney is gone, how about this draft and defensive line-up? Switch to a 3-4?
Rd1 OLB/DE Khalil Mack, Buffalo (talk as a top 5, maybe top 3 pick heating up, might pass Clowney)
Rd2 QB Derek Carr, Fresno St (not in love with him, but franchise QB does not have to be high 1st rounder)
Rd3 WR Davante Adams, Fresno St (Insurance if Blackmon cannot contribute, played with Carr)
Rd4 ILB Shayne Skov, Stanford (rising up boards, pair with Poz inside for new scheme)
Rd4 RB Lache Seastrunk (even if MJD does return, need more talent at RB)
Free Agency: C Alex Mack (pay the man, we have the cap space!), and a starting a starting 3-4 DE
Alex Mack is going to be too expensive for a center, and the Browns have now publicly stated that resigning Mack is a very high priority. I am not sure he ultimately hits free agency. It would not shock me to see him get a new deal with the Browns, or the Brrowns bite the financial bullet and tag him for a year to continue working on a deal.