According to you, what is our most glaring need?

[Cowboy Brian]

We have a ALL PRO DEFENSIVE TACKLE

WHY THE **** WOULD WE GET A DT IN THE FIRST ROUND


Now let me explain the importance of this to all you who are going to say your 16 you dont have an opinion or a soul:
Jay Ratliff was the best Defensive Tackle in the NFL this season, it is ******** to even think replacing him in the starting lineup is a good idea, and you dont take a backup DT in the first round.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Resigning Miles Austin to a long term contract...

Agreed


Then:
1st round OG/C/OT
2nd round FS
3rd round a WR who can KR/PR
4th round depth
6th round depth
7th round Hunter Lawrence
our 6 picks, I wouldn't be against trading down in the 4th to add 2-3 more picks (i mean keep trading like trade out of the 4th to get a earlier 5th and a 7th and then trade down the early 5th to a mid 5th and get another 7th stuff like that.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

We have a ALL PRO DEFENSIVE TACKLE

WHY THE **** WOULD WE GET A DT IN THE FIRST ROUND

You think Ratliff is that durable? Do you understand how important having a guy like him is to the 3-4? Why? Because we've been lucky that he hasn't been injured. If he gets injured, we're screwed. And, youngin, I'm not saying we have to go after a DT with the "FIRST ROUND" pick, but I wouldn't be upset if we did.

 

[Tractor1]

I'll be happy if a quality player is chosen. Whoever, he needs to be able to contribute on a regular basis next year.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

You think Ratliff is that durable? Do you understand how important having a guy like him is to the 3-4? Why? Because we've been lucky that he hasn't been injured. If he gets injured, we're screwed. And, youngin, I'm not saying we have to go after a DT with the "FIRST ROUND" pick, but I wouldn't be upset if we did.

I edited the post to include more detail, if we move Ratliff from starting DT I will be insanely pissed, ya he may not last too long at the position maybe only another year or two, 3 or 4 if we are lucky at his insanely high level of play. but if he has another 3 years of play like this at the DT position and then puts in 3-5 years of good DE he is a hall of famer.

Do not change his position until we need too. Get a DT in the 3rd. or 4th, actually i'd take one in the 7th worked last time!

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

I edited the post to include more detail, if we move Ratliff from starting DT I will be insanely pissed, ya he may not last too long at the position maybe only another year or two, 3 or 4 if we are lucky at his insanely high level of play. but if he has another 3 years of play like this at the DT position and then puts in 3-5 years of good DE he is a hall of famer.

Do not change his position until we need too. Get a DT in the 3rd. or 4th, actually i'd take one in the 7th worked last time!

I don't want to replace him. I want to draft for depth, to develop a guy just in case he gets hurt. So far he's been durable, but I'm not satisfied with who we have playing behind him.

 

[Muhast]

And if Ratliff gets hurt who do we have? It's a genuine concern.

I agree but that is something you address in round 4 and beyond, or FA as there are worthy candidates available.

OL depth,K and FS are much more glaring holes for now and we have no way to address them except drafting. Except maybe Kicker(stover?)

 

[Cowboy Brian]

I don't want to replace him. I want to draft for depth, to develop a guy just in case he gets hurt. So far he's been durable, but I'm not satisfied with who we have playing behind him.

depth at the DT position is not our most glaring need, i'd rather send the 1st rounder to Oakland for Janikowski over that (im not serious.)



This draft is too deep in Safetys and OLine for there not to be a great value pick at 27.

 

[Gzus]

youth @OL, FS, DT depth, youth @ ILB, WR, oh and Kicker

(Red more urgent)

 

[cowboyjoe]

Our most glaring need is speed WR. I am talking about a wr with deep blazing speed, like 4.34 or better that can stretch the defense, and that will open up more receptions for Witten, Bennett, Austin and Crayton with Ogletree in the mix. I have doubts about Roy Williams Wr from TX, who is living off of his legends from being a Texas WR for the Longhorns.

At the same time, this speed WR, should also be a super kickoff and punt returner. How many times last year did we see Felix Jones tippy toe on kickoffs. Or like Crayton who got demoted as 2nd wr and punt returner, then he got his job back, but crayton just doesnt have the deep speed to stretch the defense.

I agree with you about offensive line, need for quality backups and the need for a top free safety, but think about this, our pass defense suffered till Ken Hamlin got back from his injury. It is true that Hamlin didnt hardly get interceptions or force fumbles or big tackles, but he did direct the secondary of where everyone should be, etc...

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Our most glaring need is speed WR. I am talking about a wr with deep blazing speed, like 4.34 or better that can stretch the defense, and that will open up more receptions for Witten, Bennett, Austin and Crayton with Ogletree in the mix. I have doubts about Roy Williams Wr from TX, who is living off of his legends from being a Texas WR for the Longhorns.

At the same time, this speed WR, should also be a super kickoff and punt returner. How many times last year did we see Felix Jones tippy toe on kickoffs. Or like Crayton who got demoted as 2nd wr and punt returner, then he got his job back, but crayton just doesnt have the deep speed to stretch the defense.

I agree with you about offensive line, need for quality backups and the need for a top free safety, but think about this, our pass defense suffered till Ken Hamlin got back from his injury. It is true that Hamlin didnt hardly get interceptions or force fumbles or big tackles, but he did direct the secondary of where everyone should be, etc...

I've been wanting to post this somewhere and heres as good as any, but when Hamlin retires I want to see him as a coach in Dallas

 

[Clove]

I will echo everyone that said offensive line. We've been ignoring the most important area of an offense and that needs to end.

Flo's replacement needs to be first on the list (he can learn over the next year or two behind Flo). Free can battle Colombo for RT, and I'd consider either asking Gurode and Kosier to swap positions, or find an upgrade for Kosier.

Lastly, I'd get some depth on the offensive line. After that, I'd look at kicker and kickoff return.

Address everything else in free agency, which should'nt be much.

 

[jobberone]

First-Allen at S
Second-OL unless McCluster falls or we can move up enough
Third-Williams at WR

 

[TheSport78]

Would anyone be opposed to Vladimir Ducasse at #27? I just watched Senior Bowl highlights of this kid and he was dominant. One guy I want to stay away from after watching some tape is Bruce Campbell; the guy isn't physical enough to play tackle in the NFL. How about this?

Vladimir Ducasse in the 1st round (or trade down, pick up an extra 3rd and draft him in the early to mid 2nd)

Morgan Burnett or Nate Allen in the 2nd

 

[burmafrd]

Gurode was at best an average guard.

We need to spend two high picks on O line. Get a tackle and a guard, or better yet a combo G/C.

 

[Eskimo]

OL is by far our number one need. We are quite good at the skill positions outside of #2 WR where we are no better than average. We also are fairly young. However, the OL is the weakest unit overall after safety and the hogs are old and starting to slip badly against upper echelon units to the point where our the whole game is dictated to us. We cannot impose our will on anyone in the trenches right now. We are all smoke and mirrors and have a hard time gaining a single yard in short yardage against even mediocre defenses.

Right now we are only 6 deep with 5 guys over 30 years old and I would argue all those starters have declined over the last 3 years and this is the biggest difference between the offense of 2007 and the offense of 2009. I wouldn't mind it if we could bring in a FA and use 2 of our first 3 picks on the OL - any position would be a bonus but one Tackle and one Guard or Guard/Centre would be nice.

The defense is already very good. While it would be good to get a few more TOs and set up short fields, without an OL that can execute better in the Red Zone it won't turn into as many points as it should. Besides, the group of Hamlin, Sensabaugh and Ball weren't that bad last year. I wouldn't mind Rolle for a cheap contract and I wouldn't mind it if we pass on him and take one of the highly coveted safety prospects who fall, but OL needs to be a big priority this year so we have a couple of extra bodies beyond Free who are ready to go in 2011.

I would rate the needs:

1. OL (pick a position)
2. FS
3. ILB (due to age of Brooking, Bradie James poor ability in coverage and the giant unknown project that is JWill)
4. #2 WR

 

[jobberone]

Would anyone be opposed to Vladimir Ducasse at #27? I just watched Senior Bowl highlights of this kid and he was dominant. One guy I want to stay away from after watching some tape is Bruce Campbell; the guy isn't physical enough to play tackle in the NFL. How about this?

Vladimir Ducasse in the 1st round (or trade down, pick up an extra 3rd and draft him in the early to mid 2nd)

Morgan Burnett or Nate Allen in the 2nd

You won't get Allen at 59. You could probably drop down from the first and pick him up at the top of the second.

 

[Bluefin]

Gurode was at best an average guard.

I don't even think Andre Gurode was average at that time in his career.

But he was an unfocused player who could dominant one week and then go in the tank the following four.

If Gurode was to play guard now, I see no reason he wouldn't play there just as well as he has at center (2nd team AP All-Pro, Pro Bowl).

He might even be better not having to worry about snapping the ball.

 

[BubbleScreen]

Glaring need and draft position do not necessarily align.

Three players we need to replace/augment were not first rounders- Flo, Gurode, Ratliff.

(Obligatory: Flo can play another year or two, we can use injury insurance, Gurode should have many years but he was banged up vs. Minn, Ratt wears down b/c he has to play too many snaps)

Flo and Gurode were second rounders. Ratliff was a 7. Quality players can be had at every round if you know what you're looking for.

The needs are obvious: OL depth, S, kicker, DT, ILB, CB depth.

Would anyone have a problem drafting another Mike Jenkins at 27? Surely not, even though he's not an OL or safety.

There will be a player there, count on it. I don't care which position is chosen as long as the player contributes mightily. No more Carpenters.

 

[TheSport78]

You won't get Allen at 59. You could probably drop down from the first and pick him up at the top of the second.

You're probably right. Assuming we can trade down in the 1st, pick up a 3rd and a 5th for example, draft Ducasse, then 3rd rounder and our 2nd rounder to move up to pick Nate Allen. It gives us a lot of flexibility with who we want.