beanfigger

Must be one of those indie bands.

Been around less than a year. Rare concerts, but when they wail, they really wail.

Most of you guys never heard of brooks before we drafted him now all of sudden you dudes are ranking him higher than pryor and ha ha. Please stop being blinded by fandom and let this thing play out before we judge any player.

Who never heard of Brooks?  Star player from the National Champion Seminoles.  Probably one out of every two guys on this board had us picking him in at least one mock this year.  Just because you haven't heard of someone, don't act like that's the case for everyone.  How could you say most people never heard of Brooks?

My ten-month-old crying all night right before I start a new gig tomorrow morning.

Josh Bynes started much of last season at ILB next to Smith and there is a reason why we traded up to take Brown last year.  I thought it was a position that could have used a late round pick or UDFA to compete for a last roster spot, but using a first round draft pick was a poor decision imo. 

 

Taking HHCD in the first round would have allowed for the addition of a much better player at a position of serious need like CB. 

That's a fair argument, and it makes sense.  For me, I believe the gap between Mosely and some late round or UDFA is far bigger than Dix and Brooks, who we got.  I do really wish we would have drafted a CB, but I don't think the Mosely pick prevented that.  I had a much bigger problem with the middle of our draft, but even then I don't think it was horribly bad.  I just wish a CB was in there.  Desir was hanging around for a while waiting to hear his name called, and we had a comp 3rd that I felt had his name on it.

Yeah, normally resigning the starting MLB pretty much covers the need there. Mosley was not obviously the best player available. It's justt how our team had him ranked.

I thought he was. He was the highest rated player left on NFL.com and ESPN and our board. It's okay that he wasn't on yours. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. And getting back one of your two starting MLB doesn't necessarily cover the whole position. I do agree it wasn't our biggest need, but I completely disagree that it wasn't a need. There were very few positions that weren't a need at all for us.

Because Daryl Smith, Arthur Brown, Josh Bynes, and Albert McCellelan are all on the roster. They have all played well at ILB. Now, Smith is getting older so a future replacement was needed at some point but good ILBs do not have to be drafted in the first round.

It's a lot of resources to invest in a position that is not a premium defensive position, especially considering the glaring needs on the roster that weren't addressed.

Entering the offseason, MLB was possibly the biggest need. Then, we re-sign Smith and the position can just be considered covered? Maybe if we ran a 4-3. And about the first round part, I remember nearly the entire board rooting for us to grab one in the first last year. We got lucky to get a guy we wanted in the second. I believe that happened this year regarding safety. I'm glad we have a host of players that have played "well" in spot duty, too. I'm also glad we got a guy who will do that next to Smith in a starting role now. We got the guy who was obviously the best player available, and it isn't like he's gonna sit on the bench behind a stacked position hoping to get on the field.

exactly

I was partial to Te'o. I thought he'd be decent in our scheme, but looking back on it he couldn't shed a block to save his life. Something Mosley can do and is good at doing.

I don't think we hate Mosley because we think he's bad(he's actually pretty good).. He wasn't a need though, and Dix was on the board.

I still don't understand why this wasn't a need as people say. An argument could definitely be made that other positions were "more" of a need, but I see one established starting MLB on the entire team. One. Spending a third on Brooks will wind up being a bigger gain relative to cost than a first on a safety who is a little better, and Mosely has the makings of a stud more than any safety in the draft. And I believe it is a position of need.

The way I see it, I would rather have 2-3 years of Andre playing at a high level than 5 years of Torrey who may never be anything more than he is right now. The disparity between them is quite large imo, and while AJ will no longer the speed threat on the outside that Torrey is, he does so much better on the short to intermediate range it's not even close between them. AJ takes over games in a way that Torrey has rarely been able to do.

Anyone who questions this is kidding themselves. The thing people have to decide is how much more money that production disparity is worth because that difference will be nearly as much. I would love AJ if we could afford him.

I remember when I had Andre Johnson and Steve Smith on the same team, and I dominated my league.  However, that was fantasy, and about six or seven years ago.

I would certainly rather have AJ than Torrey as my number one, but I don't think that's the trade.  If Houston were to field offers for Johnson, I'd bet they would end up giving him up for a pick (probably 2nd or better).  I don't want to trade Torrey, and I think that isn't relevant in this scenario anyway.

I think if we would have drafted Jared Abracadabra instead of Urban in the 4th, this would have been my favorite draft of all time.  I liked just about everyone we did end up with, and I hope Campanarocadabra will be a serviceable slot guy for us within the next couple seasons.

Not really. Its more than just tape. You have to factor on/off the field behavior, were he would fit in your schemes, injury history, leadership qualities etc. You have to evaluate hundreds upon hundreds of college superstars. You know that some of these picks could make or break your job. Remember, if you get a first round bust, its not "oh, my bad", its you're canned. How mayn times have you been extremely right/wrong about players? There could go your job.

Not to mention it isn't just the draft. You have to balance a salary cap, negotiate with players, agents and coaches non-stop, and run a while organization. Do people think all the GM does is choose draft picks? They are responsible for hiring/firing/negotiating with at least a hundred people at a time, all while working within ever-changing league rules and bylaws and trying to build a championship caliber team over and over again each season. Manager at a Wal-Mart? C'mon, man.

You watch tape and grade people for traits that you know that you're looking for. The hours are worse for sure, but someone can learn how to appropriately scout players very quickly and the rest of the skills a GM needs are the same as those utilized by any manager of a Walmart.

Really? I managed a Rite Aid when I was in High School. So, you're telling me I should just apply for Ozzie's job next? Who knew?

I think we got a load of talent, and I believe we landed a handful of future team leaders in the locker room. I think all the picks make the roster, three or four wind up starting some games, and all, aside from Wenning, compete for playing time throughout this year.

Once the top three tackles went off the board, this was my guy.  I heard someone earlier say this was arguably the lowest priority position on our team.  Someone needs to explain that one to me.  We have ONE proven starting ILB on the team, and he is already in the second half of his career.  Mosley is the best ILB in the draft, and we got him at 17.  This pick will benefit us immediately in terms of depth, competition and talent on defense.

If we someone managed a way to get Jimmie Ward, as well, I might not even have to watch the rest of the draft.  We win automatically at that point.

/thread

The long and short of this while debate is, we will end up with 3 comp picks if no other significant signings occur before June. Digs and Stewart have similar value contracts, so they will either be ignored or cancel each other out. It doesn't matter unless Digs goes to the Pro Bowl or Stewart gets cut before the season or something like that.

It's curious that after 3 years Blount hasn't stuck anywhere. I don't know that much about him and wonder what the issue is(?).

The problem is he's a halfway decent RB. No one wants to pay someone like that at that position.

I don't think it's necessary for us to put on a billboard every player we are interested in possibly signing.  I haven't heard the names of some of these centers come up as part of anyone's radar.  Why would we show our hand and give agents a bargaining chip to work with in negotiations with other clubs?  Remember all the talk last year about how we were interested and pursuing Daryl Smith?  No?  That's because there was no talk about it.  Look how that worked out.  Free Agency period last like another 150 or 160 more days.  Take a breath.

Now that Alex Mack is looking to visit teams, we'll find out soon how serious we are about him.

Money would be better spent on Alex Mack or a FS. Nothing against Wilfork but he's not a fit here.

Fat joke?

49ers are bringing in Edelman for a visit tomorrow, and Sanders is visiting KC if I remember correctly. Steve is clearly the top priority, but if things don't work out and we want one of them, our two backup options could be gone.

I prefer to think of it as our competition for Steve Smith is dwindling and we won't need a backup plan. Gotta give everything a positive spin.

If Smith signs, instead of Q&A for the press conference, it will just be a dance off between Jacoby and him to announce their new deals.

With the transition tag applied to Alex Mack, is there a deadline for us to have offered a qualifying contract? If so, what is that deadline and would the contract have to offer more money this year, or long term? Also, does the transition tag require us to give up any picks?

Teams have until sometime in late July to offer contracts to players that have been transition tagged. There are no specifics, I believe, in terms of what another team offers, but since the tag itself would be worth around 10.3 million or so if Mack stays with Cleveland, another team would have to offer something big enough or long enough to entice him to turn that down. Teams would not have to give up any pick compensation to Cleveland if they don't match the offer within seven days. I'm unclear if this affects compensatory picks for next year, however.

Here is the scenario, the Ravens have signed Steve Smith, they are on the clock, the only team need is at free safety, Clinton Dix is off the board, and the highest rated player on their board in Mike Evans, do you take Mike Evans or Calvin Pryor who has a late first round grade on their board?

Are you stating that if we sign Steve Smith our only remaining need would be free safety? What about ILB, C, RT, TE?

However, if we do have a magical FA period before the draft and really do only need a FS at that point like your scenario states, then I say the clear answer is to look to trade down and recoup more mid-round picks to make up the ones we gave up for Monroe. Then, we can look to get Pryor later, hopefully. But since the draft rarely goes the way all the "experts" expect in terms of where people are actually taken, Pryor wouldn't be a terrible pick mid-first where we are. Mike Evans would be a major steal there, though. I doubt he's staring us in the face that late in the round.

That report makes it seem like nothing can actually happen between us and Smith until 4pm. I guess we can relax for a few hours.