visionary;5045612 said:
i agree with most of what you are saying but..
this is the mistake people make every year around draft time
they fall in love with the wow factor of a player and lose sight of their board
you know how NFL DCs will take care of the 3 WRs?
they will go right through our porous OL with their front 7 and hit /hurry tony
then it wont matter that there are "playmakers" on the outside with tony on his back
how many 5-8, 175 lb WRs have been true difference makers justifying the 18th pick in the NFL?
lets build a team
Well one thing is I don't really think Miles is going to be around much longer so I see WR as a bit of a need in the near future.
The second thing is that I'm not advocating taking Austin over an OL who is worthy of the pick. I think the bigger problem is there will not be an OL worthy of that pick available. I actually think there is no OT who will be available who can outplay Parnell next year. Fluker's feet are way too slow to play against NFL DEs and the other 3 Tackles will be gone. Only special OGs are considered here and the only one I really like for our team, Cooper, is likely to be gone. I also think all the really good DL will be gone by then (Star, Sheldon Richardson and Sharif) and none of the DEs really jump out at you there either.
So I think we are going to be left with Vacarro and Tavon Austin as the top players on the board. I just happen to think that even though Vacarro is a bigger need, Austin is a much, much better player. We could trade back if there is a willing partner and in such a scenario that is what I would prefer to do. However, taking a top 10 player at #18 isn't a bad deal.
I think people are a little too caught up with his size. He is 5'8 and 180 pounds and that is a bit smaller than Barry Sanders who managed to play many years in the league relying on unreal moves, speed and the ability to avoid getting hit. The same things that jumped out at me with Sanders also jump out at me with Tavon Austin. They flexed him to RB against Oklahoma and he put up 344 rushing yards. I relish the idea of being able to run spread offenses but then bring him into the backfield, pull the TEs inline and then run it to the outside towards Dwayne Harris' side. I think this kid can be a real difference maker in the league with an incredibly unique skill set. He will be able to handle the ball probably 15-20 times a game for us which is probably more than even Murray will get.
I think we are probably better off building our OL with vets for now and drafting some guys in the second to fourth rounds rather than reaching for players who are not worthy of the first rounder. I just think you end up building a better overall team that way.
We don't know how relevant any of this discussion is until draft day starts and we get a sense of who might be left for us when they get to pick #13 or so. If Cooper is still up there he is the one player I think may be worth trading up for. I would be willing to give up a 4th for him but would have to pause about a 3rd because I still think we need to come away with 3 starters this year after the trade-up (ill-advised trade-up) we made last year.
The bottom line is Cooper and Austin are the only special players who might fall to us. Cooper because he is an OG and Austin because he is small. I think properly used they will be stars. Drafting for need is how you end up with Shante Carver Taking any OG not named Cooper or Warmack (and I don't want Warmack or Fluker) at #18 is the equivalent of us drafting Carver in the first round back in 1997.
If we insist on using our first pick to get an OL and Cooper isn't there the decision should be to trade down to the middle of the second which is when there may be worthwhile OL available again worthy of the pick.
