ESPN: Vikings, Bucs favorites to sign free safety Smith

[InmanRoshi]

OK, that is a fair argument. I don't necessarily agree.

However.....who would you have preferred?

I liked Davin Joseph, Nick Mangold and Deangelo Williams. As far as the "Pick the player most likely to end up on the ring of honor" philosophy goes, I thought those were the two to three players who were available in the backend of the 1st round who will see multiple Pro Bowl trips in their careers. I'm really not liking Deangelo Williams on the Panthers, at all. Marty Hurney is one of my most admired GM's in the league. Everything he does I generally find myself agreeing with. As far as DE/OLB guys go, I liked Manny Lawson but I wasn't enamored with him by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Screw The Hall]

The Bucs apparently aren't scared off by any perceived character issues, and they know him as well as anyone.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

It also would have landed us Randy Moss over Greg Ellis.

You can find servicable hole-fillers in free agency. They aren't hard to find. What is hard to find is difference makers. They never hit the market until they are well past their prime. The best way to obtain them is early in the draft. For that reason I'm not afraid of players with boom/bust potential. 1 boom makes up for at least 2 busts, IMHO. Maybe even 3. Drafting players early just to fill holes makes never made much sense to me considering only a small percentage of rookies are even ready to play immediately. I'm not necessarily down on Carpenter, but down on the "safe" philosophy. What will really get me down on the pick is if we drafted Bobby Carpenter to fill an immediate hole and he spends most of the season behind Singleton and/or Boiman.

I don't think Carpenter was just a "safe" pick, one scout before the draft commented that he was the best pass-rusher in his opinion, over Lawson and Wimbley, and that his speed within the 1st 10 yards was great

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I liked Davin Joseph, Nick Mangold and Deangelo Williams.

I can go with DeAngelo, but we already have Julius and Barber, I don't know about Nick Mangold, he reminds me of Jeff Faine, I dont' agree with taking Olineman, who scouts weren't that high on, over a playmaking OLB, but that's just me

 

[junk]

I liked Davin Joseph, Nick Mangold and Deangelo Williams. As far as the "Pick the player most likely to end up on the ring of honor" philosophy goes, I thought those were the two to three players who were available in the backend of the 1st round who will see multiple Pro Bowl trips in their careers. I'm really not liking Deangelo Williams on the Panthers, at all. Marty Hurney is one of my most admired GM's in the league. Everything he does I generally find myself agreeing with. As far as DE/OLB guys go, I liked Manny Lawson but I wasn't enamored with him by any stretch of the imagination.

I do agree that DeAngelo Williams could be a very good player. I also agree about Carolina....however, they also drafted Shelton and Foster lately, neither of who have been able to stay on the field.

I am totally opposed to taking an offensive lineman in 1 unless its a tackle. The best lines around the league are primarily populated with later round picks and free agent signings.

I do think OLB in the 3-4 is an impact position and I think Carpenter will be an impact player. He does well in all three areas of the game (pass rush, run defense and coverage). He can play specials and nickel (at two different positions). He wasn't a reach at 18...if he hadn't gone there, he would have gone shortly after.

I think a lot of people like to degrade the Carpenter pick because they spent all offseason attempting to argue for someone else (Lawson) or believed someone that played LB wouldn't fit outside in the 3-4. In reality, he has a rare blend of skills that lend themselves perfectly to the 3-4. Not to mention a fiery intensity that is sorely lacking on the defense.

 

[AtlCB]

He fills a hole, but my philosophy in drafting in the 1st round is to draft the guy you think is most likely to end up on the Ring of Honor. I would have prefered someone with more upside with the #18th pick in the draft. I kind of think Carpenter is just going to be "a guy". He just never stood out as a dominator to me at when I watched OSU games.

Personally, I think the only guy who really fit the Ring of Honor probability and was available close to our pick was Antonio Cromartie. The problem with Cromartie is that he also has a very high probability of being a complete bust. I really like the pick of Carpenter. Bill and Jerry chose the best player available at the #18 pick. Carpenter also fills a need a strong side linebacker.

 

[AtlCB]

It also would have landed us Randy Moss over Greg Ellis.

You can find servicable hole-fillers in free agency. They aren't hard to find. What is hard to find is difference makers. They never hit the market until they are well past their prime. The best way to obtain them is early in the draft. For that reason I'm not afraid of players with boom/bust potential. 1 boom makes up for at least 2 busts, IMHO. Maybe even 3. Drafting players early just to fill holes makes never made much sense to me considering only a small percentage of rookies are even ready to play immediately. I'm not necessarily down on Carpenter, but down on the "safe" philosophy. What will really get me down on the pick is if we drafted Bobby Carpenter to fill an immediate hole and he spends most of the season behind Singleton and/or Boiman.

I might be in the minority here, but I'm still not sold on the fact that the team would have been better off with Moss over Glover. You see the great catches by Moss and the incredible numbers, but how much does he hurt the team when he runs half speed as a decoy in the passing game or refuses to block in the running game. I also don't think he has really made much of an impact in Oakland.