Position Breakdown week 3

I think in the first round we should go either stud safety (Mays or Berry) and if neither is available, pick up a stud pass rushing OLB. If we do something like trade down in the first round, maybe use a lower 1st to get an OL and then go OL and MLB in the second round.

And cause I’m a huge Penn State fan…I say Navorro Bowman for OLB and Sean Lee for MLB. But…I know that’s just a dream :(

Good post. While we are much improved on defense, I still think it will take into 2011 to compete for a playoff spot. Just too many holes. Either Herm and Carl left the fridge empty or Haley just does not like the players. Probable the former as only McBride received any quick interest and that was from Gunther.

I do believe that we a true second WR to complement Bowe. It is amazing the difference it makes when a team has two stud receivers. As receivers take two to three years to develop, I wouldn’t mind taking a risk on Braylon Edwards here. At RB, Larry is a hard one to predict. I believe that we gauranteed the rest of his contract by keeping him this year. I could see us holding onto him and picking up an RB in the 3rd or 4th round.

I would really like to see us firm up the right side of the line/center in rounds 2 and 3 next year. Maybe the best center in the draft with our early second, a LB either outside or middle with our second pick in the second, a guard or tackle in the third and either Mays or Berry in the first. I think, we need to wait on DL or pick someone up in FA.

Thanks for the good post.

QB – Thigpen is likely much better than he looked the other day. Also, Thiggy in shotgun is equivalent to Wildcat, without changing anything. So we have our Wildcatter (and great guy to run the scout team before tomorrow’s game).

RB – I don’t think LJ has lost a step. He’s a good bellweather for the offense, because the other guys are fast ‘n’ quick enough to make something positive even when the O-Line is outmatched. But when LJ starts clicking, it will mean that the O-Line is fundamentally sound, at which point, he’s a guy who can BLUDGEON opponents into submission, breaking tackles, and, surprising to me, he’s looking better and better as a receiver.

WR – Good, but not great. Bobby Wade might signal the tipping point toward the unit being EFFECTIVE as a group. I think Bowe’s injury this week might be the result of a leg bruise sustained by that SICK play he made last week.

OL – “The one spot I can point to Pioli and say foul.” I have to agree, here, especially with more and more folks mentioning Jason Brown.

DL – I don’t see Dorsey as NT. I think he’s a penetrating 4-3 DT who’s athletic enough to play a convincing RDE/RDT in the hybrid they’re running. They’re just going to get better and better up front, and are already pretty good, even though it’s neither 4-3 nor 3-4. I think this personnel set and the way they’re starting to play off one another will pose some very difficult problems for offenses this season and beyond. It’s just hard to judge this group by normal 3-4/4-3 measures. I like what they’re doing, but long term, I think they’re going to morph toward a more traditional 3-4, with the addition of a true NT. OTOH, they may just like what they have and try to replicate this hybrid thing for a few years.

LB – I’m not sure the “back 7” have found their identity. I don’t think they’re soft up the middle against the run, but I think they’re still looking for a secondary that can play press more convincingly and free the ILBs to attack more. I’m the only one saying this about our corners, at this point, but I still see a cover-2 hangover that’s leaving the LBs in limbo, short term.

CB – “no complaints at all from moving from cover 2 to man to man.” See above. I think the development of Washington THIS season would be VERY beneficial to the LBs we’re dissing, at this stage.

S – “I like what Brown has brought with leadership and consistency but he has lost a step.” There was also an easy TD catch that was simply dropped by Brown’s man earlier in the game. The biggest plays Brown does make are the ones nobody seems to notice or remark upon, because by playing smart, he funnelled the play to others. That’s smart play at a level most can’t manage. But it’s hard to make the case that he won Pollard’s job because he’s better as a pure coverage guy.

K – “Succ(o)p has been amazing no complaints so far.”

P – “Colquitt see above.”

KR and PR – “(W)e have done nothing.” It’s not that nothing has been done. It’s that nothing decisive has been accomplished. Oh. Yeah. We have done nothing. I get it.