Gosselin's 1st Mock

[Hostile]

Bingo. Defense is fine now, and maybe a SOLB (which would be saying that your last years #2 is a bust) or a FS would be great #1 picks, which would make the D better.

Regardless though, if the OL is not fixed, it won't matter.

I don't think the defense is fine right now at all. We lost Dat, La'Roi (5 consecutive Pro Bowls gone), and Fujita as guys who started last year at one point or another. In addition Burnett and Singleton are returning from injuires, Shanle did not play well at all, and Fowler is a fill in. Add the fact that we still need a FS and Henry was hurt much of the year and I'd say the D still needs fine tuning.

If we focus on O in this draft at all I hope it is OG and Center. You don't do that in round 1.

 

[dbair1967]

I don't think the defense is fine right now at all. We lost Dat, La'Roi (5 consecutive Pro Bowls gone), and Fujita as guys who started last year at one point or another. In addition Burnett and Singleton are returning from injuires, Shanle did not play well at all, and Fowler is a fill in. Add the fact that we still need a FS and Henry was hurt much of the year and I'd say the D still needs fine tuning.

If we focus on O in this draft at all I hope it is OG and Center. You don't do that in round 1.

we have some issues on defense, but there are more issues on the offense

the main reason we didnt make the playoffs last yr was because this OL couldnt block their way out of a wet paperbag...the two guys who started at T the majority of the season were probably the two worst starters at their position in the NFL...fortunately one of them is gone and the other is hopefully being replaced....you dont win in this league when your starting tackles finish 1-2 in the NFL in sacks allowed...you dont win in this league when your offense is constantly facing 2nd and 12 or 3rd and 13, and we did that week after week last yr

I dont have much faith in 30-something yr OL OL's who are coming off injuries (Adams, Fabini and Rivera)...I havent seen much of anything from either guy at C to make me feel good...and the other starter is a guy who has never been good enough to start at one position year after year

fix the OL, and we are in the playoffs...dont fix it, and we sit home again...

David

 

[zrinkill]

If we would have had a good kicker .... we would have been 12-4

I can not believe NO ONE remembers this.

 

[dbair1967]

If we would have had a good kicker .... we would have been 12-4

I can not believe NO ONE remembers this.

its scapegoat reasoning in explaining our mediocrity

the kicker wasnt on the field when we lost to Washington at home or at Seattle, the kicker had nothing to do with losing to the lowly Raiders...the kicker had nothing to do with nearly blowing the Giants game at home...the kicker had nothing to do with being humiliated at Washington, losing at NYG or being embarassed at home to finish the season vs the Rams

more blame should be directed at an OL that was arguably the worst in the NFL and a defense which continues to invent ways to blow leads in the 4th qtr...if you cant prevent a team from converting 3rd and 27 and 4th and 15, you dont deserve to win

David

 

[zrinkill]

But we missed fieldgoals that would have given us the Win in each of those games .......... How is that anymore "scapegoat reasoning" than blaming our O-line?
with your reasoning we could blame the Defense for allowing the other teams to score.

Facts are that our Offense scored ...... our Defense kept teams close ...... our kicking team failed time and time again.

FACT

 

[Hostile]

we have some issues on defense, but there are more issues on the offense

the main reason we didnt make the playoffs last yr was because this OL couldnt block their way out of a wet paperbag...the two guys who started at T the majority of the season were probably the two worst starters at their position in the NFL...fortunately one of them is gone and the other is hopefully being replaced....you dont win in this league when your starting tackles finish 1-2 in the NFL in sacks allowed...you dont win in this league when your offense is constantly facing 2nd and 12 or 3rd and 13, and we did that week after week last yr

I dont have much faith in 30-something yr OL OL's who are coming off injuries (Adams, Fabini and Rivera)...I havent seen much of anything from either guy at C to make me feel good...and the other starter is a guy who has never been good enough to start at one position year after year

fix the OL, and we are in the playoffs...dont fix it, and we sit home again...

David

I don't want to just make the playoffs, I want to go somewhere when we get there. To do that we're going to need a dominant D. I said address the OL in the 2nd and 3rd rounds would be fine with me. This needs to be OG and C, IMO. Though we'd be neglecting FS again unless we did that in round 1. I don't want to do that.

To me, the best solution (unless we can add a day 1 pick) is OLB in round 1, OG or C in round 2, and FS in round 3.

We had 4 LBs go down last year to injury. Dat, Barrow, Singleton, & Burnett. That doesn't even count Thornton in TC. On top of this Dat's loss is by far the biggest on this team. Not only was he the QB of the Defense, but the Captain as well.

My biggest fear on O is that we goofed in letting LA go. That's why I want us to address OG or Center. Not sold on AJ but not giving up either.

 

[Jaxonsdaddd]

Before free agency started everyone acknowledged we needed help at WR because of age and we were only two deep at the position.

As of today, we are old at the position and only two deep. So why is this no longer a need area??

 

[dbair1967]

But we missed fieldgoals that would have given us the Win in each of those games .......... How is that anymore "scapegoat reasoning" than blaming our O-line?
with your reasoning we could blame the Defense for allowing the other teams to score.

Facts are that our Offense scored ...... our Defense kept teams close ...... our kicking team failed time and time again.

FACT

no its not a fact...you assume that an added field goal would have won the Washington game, but the missed fg WAS NOT the last play of the game...how do you know Washington wouldnt have simply scored again to win? also, Washington's TD didnt END that game either...we had the ball on THEIR side of the field with just under two minutes to go, and we couldnt net a single first down....

in Seattle, maybe the additional field goal wins the game, maybe it doesnt...again, you dont know how the rest of the game pans out because IT WAS NOT THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME...the FACT is we had the lead 10-3 with around two minutes to go against a team missing two or three of its top WR's, and our defense allowed them to drive 80+ yds almost uncontested to tie the game...the DEFENSE allowed the Giants to drive 50+ yds in 2 plays to tie the game we won at home in OT...the defense nearly blew the KC game (who by the way, missed a gimmee FG themselves)

again...scapegoat thinking...we were 9-7 because the OL was terrible and the defense wasnt good enough to close out opponents...those are facts

David

 

[ravidubey]

Matt Leinart to New Orleans? Gotta be a trade, right?

 

[zrinkill]

So you have to make up scoring that didnt happen to back up what you are saying?

Well heck if Washington had scored 3 more touchdowns they would have killed us instead of winning by 1 point .....

How is that the O-lines fault again?

 

[dbair1967]

So you have to make up scoring that didnt happen to back up what you are saying?

Well heck if Washington had scored 3 more touchdowns they would have killed us instead of winning by 1 point .....

How is that the O-lines fault again?

they scored two tds in less than 4 minutes didnt they? and they did it after converting a 3rd and 27 and 4th and 15 on the same drive...again, if you cant stop those kinds of plays (especially at home) with the game on the line you dont deserve to win

as for the OL, if you think they didnt contribute to why the offense couldnt score more pts then you need to go back and look at some game tapes

and finally for your kicker argument, did every other team in the league have kickers who NEVER missed a fg? kickers are going to miss some field goals during a course of the season...however, other than Houston we clearly had the worst OL in football

David

 

[Dale]

Goose's first mocks are always pretty useless. I'm sure his past ones are archived -- I seem to remember a similar uprising with our projected picks in his initial mocks over the last three or four years.

With that said, I'm in the minority that I wouldn't mind Holmes. Doesn't fill a huge hole, but he'd provide further versatility and youth to our offense. If he's atop our board, we should take him for the value. For those that don't like the pick, is it Holmes as a prospect that you question or the selection of a receiver in general?

 

[Dale]

Before free agency started everyone acknowledged we needed help at WR because of age and we were only two deep at the position.

As of today, we are old at the position and only two deep. So why is this no longer a need area??

I agree. One injury and we're in trouble there. I don't consider receiver our biggest need by any stretch of the imagination (FS, OLB, offensive line), but it's still in the top five if you ask me.

I like Crayton as a third threat, but am not convinced he's a guy that could plug into that #2 hole and still produce.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

we have some issues on defense, but there are more issues on the offense

the main reason we didnt make the playoffs last yr was because this OL couldnt block their way out of a wet paperbag...the two guys who started at T the majority of the season were probably the two worst starters at their position in the NFL...fortunately one of them is gone and the other is hopefully being replaced....you dont win in this league when your starting tackles finish 1-2 in the NFL in sacks allowed...you dont win in this league when your offense is constantly facing 2nd and 12 or 3rd and 13, and we did that week after week last yr

I dont have much faith in 30-something yr OL OL's who are coming off injuries (Adams, Fabini and Rivera)...I havent seen much of anything from either guy at C to make me feel good...and the other starter is a guy who has never been good enough to start at one position year after year

fix the OL, and we are in the playoffs...dont fix it, and we sit home again...

David

the problem for which you are proposing a fix, simply, can't be rectified with a rookie OT, we all saw Pettiti's struggles, and even the 1st OT off the board last year, Alex Barron, was struggling late into the season, remember Ware blew him up to get his 8th sack on the year? OT is one of the hardest positions, 2nd to QB IMO, to transition to, college to the pros, while a position such as OLB, not so much, Ware was hella inexperienced as an OLB, but he did fine, get another opposite him, or FS, and we'll see quicker returns and production this year

 

[Dale]

the problem for which you are proposing a fix, simply, can't be rectified with a rookie OT, we all saw Pettiti's struggles, and even the 1st OT off the board last year, Alex Barron, was struggling late into the season, remember Ware blew him up to get his 8th sack on the year? OT is one of the hardest positions, 2nd to QB IMO, to transition to, college to the pros, while a position such as OLB, not so much, Ware was hella inexperienced as an OLB, but he did fine, get another opposite him, or FS, and we'll see quicker returns and production this year

I hope we're not just drafting for "quicker returns," though. I question whether an OT will be the best value on the board at 18, but if he is, we should by all means take him. The same can be said for a CB/FS, OLB, or WR if you ask me.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

For those that don't like the pick, is it Holmes as a prospect that you question or the selection of a receiver in general?

it's both, Holmes doesn't wow me as a prospect, neither does he anyone else, draft prognosticators say he's the best WR prospect, but all admit that this class for WRs is as weak as it's been the past 10 years, plus we already have our WR starters entrenched, we need a starter with our 1st 3 picks, which Holmes won't be

 

[zrinkill]

Ok how many teams in the league can lose their probowl tackle for the year and still have a good o-LINE?

 

[Bob Sacamano]

what you dont do on draft day is blatantly reach for a player because of perceived "need"...I'd argue that the team itself would be more improved adding a player like Holmes than drafting a guy you "think" might be starter at say, FS or OLB...then come TC and preseason find out said player isnt capable of starting or playing a role because they arnt ready...

I see what you're saying, but can't agree, who's to say Holmes will be ready? and isn't finding our future WR a "need" in a sense also?

 

[Dale]

I don't think the defense is fine right now at all. We lost Dat, La'Roi (5 consecutive Pro Bowls gone), and Fujita as guys who started last year at one point or another. In addition Burnett and Singleton are returning from injuires, Shanle did not play well at all, and Fowler is a fill in. Add the fact that we still need a FS and Henry was hurt much of the year and I'd say the D still needs fine tuning.

If we focus on O in this draft at all I hope it is OG and Center. You don't do that in round 1.

I'm hoping the value at our picks is such that it allows us to get major upgrades at OLB and FS (be it a corner, allowing us to move Henry to FS, or a true FS). To me, those are, without a doubt, the most neglected positions of this off-season. At least there are some new bodies that we invested time and money into to start along the offensive line. There's a glimmer of hope that a guy like Fabini can improve our line. We have no such players at safety and linebacker, though.

But, I don't want us passing on superior talent just to fill these holes.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I hope we're not just drafting for "quicker returns," though.

why not? your 1st 3 picks should all be 1st day starters, and to get a 1st day starter with great potential, such as Lawson, Carpenter, Wimbley, Cromartie, that's a win/win proposition, or as close as you can get to one in the crapshoot that is the NFL draft