I said this before and will again, Cody doesn't fit the mold. He is a lazy player. Yes he has his moments, but he needs to many plays off to satisfy this staff. He has not sold me in the games I have watched him play in.

In his current condition he would die on day one of his first practice.

See, we do agree on some things PK. I fully agree with you on fatman Cody. Ton of talent, but lazy to a fault.

We agree more times then not. And sometimes we have to call each other out. Doesn't mean we don't still agree on most things.

We need to upgrade the defense and fast. At the same time we need depth.

Playing with a list that will change before the draft I came up with a mock draft:
1 Orakpo DE
2 BJ Raji DT
3 Zack Follett LB
4 Nick Harris S
5 Ron Brace DT
6 Chase Daniel QB
7 Jorvorskie Lane RB/FB

DEs Williams, Cochran, Orakpo, Bulman, (Nading PS)
DTs Okoye, Johnson, Raji, Robinson, Brace
Lbs Adibi, Ryans, Diles, Follett, Bentley Coley
CBs Robinson, Reeves, Bennett, Molden
S Ferguson, Wilson, Harris, Barber,

Hey it's a young front 7, but they should be able to get to the RB.

Raji's projected as a first rounder as it stands.

I actually think there's a better chance that Orakpo falls to the second than Raji. Orakpo's relatively weak against the run and seems to be maxed out in potential - a get-what-you-see type of guy. That's the kind of player that you can steal in the second (see: DeMeco Ryans)

I agree with you about Raji, but I was working with the current thehuddlereport.com rankings. It is a pay list and it always starts out way out of sorts.

On most of the list made prior to December Raji was ranked in the 40's, he is just now starting to be ranked by most list in the mid 20s, closer to where I believe him to be drafted. At this time last year Adibi was a 2nd rounder, and Chris Johnson was a 3rd or 4th rounder, so needless to say the list are all in a state of flux this time of year.

The main thing I want to show is we can really go heavy Defense and make a huge difference on this team, but it makes us even younger then we are now.

Cheers to that.

I think we have to make some kind of impact FA signing on the defense, if not solely for the reason of getting some more leadership and experience in there. The list of probable FA DEs is looking pretty unspectacular, so I'm hoping a good LB hits the market. Plus, that way, we can focus our draft on DL/S.

rookie LBs and S make an impact in year 1. rookie DL rarely do. I'd rather our FA money was spent on the DL if anything is available. DL draft help won't get here in time to help this staff so I doubt we go that route.

Good point.

I just don't see any help available for the DL via FA unless, by some miracle, Suggs, Peppers, or Haynesworth make it to the market - and I still don't know how much I'd want to sign Haynesworth.

A name I started pimping last year is again on the my radar, Jovan Haye DT/DE from Tampa Bay, his number are down this year but so are his snaps, Gaines Adams has been able to move him from the DE position to the DT position. He is listed as being 285, the size I like for a RDE, this would allow Mario to move over to his natural LDE position.

Someone to look at.

Good call, he will be a FA in 2009.

1 Orakpo DE That is a 1st day pick he is beating on this video
2 BJ Raji DT Against Notre Dame
3 Zack Follett LB Last years highlights
4 Nick Harris S
5 Ron Brace DT
6 Chase Daniel QB
7 Jorvorskie Lane RB/FB

A guy I would look real hard at for round 1

I do think that Lane out of Texas A&M is a great idea for somewhere in the 6th or 7th round. Really like the idea of him on first & goal.

Why would we spend a draft pick on a 300 lb RB. He came into this year knowing he had to work hard and make an impression on NFL scouts as a FB in order to get drafted. And then with all the motivation in the world, he actually went backwards and gained weight and had his worst season. You don't draft guys with no work ethic and limited upside.

If you want to sign him as a UFA I say fine, since their is no risk. But why throw away a pick on a guy who couldn't even be committed in college.

Because he went to A&M. Duh.

I might be willing to give it a shot in the 7th round. Even as a UT fan, Lane's always frustrated the hell out of me. I wonder if he wouldn't have been batter off going to DE like Melton did at Texas. I know he was asked to lose weight at A&M and gained it instead. My guess is there will be some questions about his attitude and work ethic going to the NFL.

The more games we win the further down the ladder at draft day we are falling. What used to be 8+ has now dropped to 13 and falling. The premium players are more than likely gone by now. WalterFootball has us taking William Moore, but 2 slots following us is Brandon Spikes. He is a MLB, and could be a good one. I believe this defense is 1-2 players away from jelling.

Question: Can DeMeco move to OLB effectively? And, Do you guys think Brandon Spikes could be one of our answers?

Touche' Mon Ami

Orakpo just won the Lombardi Award. He is projected to go in the top 10, if not the top 5. Do you advocate a tradeup to get Orakpo, PK? We will most likely draft from 12 to about the number 18 spot we held last year. I know I have steadfastly lobbied against trading up in the past, but this JUST might be the exception to the rule. BUT then we wouldn't be able to draft Raji, whom I have come to covet like you do.

I would bet my house Orakpo isn't a top 5 pick. To the contrary, I would put good money that he falls to the late first or second round.

His frame is essentially maxed out, meaning he doesn't have that high ceiling potential a lot of early first rounders have. He also is relatively weak against the run. You get what you see with him, but he's not a guy that's going to put on 10 more pounds of muscle or someone who's still reaching his potential. For that reason, I think he's much more likely to fall.

I don't know if he's maxed out or not, but I have heard some people propose moving him to LB.

I don't know where he goes in the draft, but you are making this stuff up. His frame won't hurt him at all. I ask you which pass rushing DE fell after his senior season for being 260?

260 is plenty big to rush the passer in the NFL. Not to mention he is 6'4". That makes him bigger than either of the Colts great DEs Freeney and Mathis.

Orakpo may fall, I don't know enough about him to say either way, and it will depend on the combine for him like anyone else. But it won't have anything to do with being too small.

Do you want me to remember you said this after the Draft? What is your house worth?

Show me where I said he's too small. You're mischaracterizing my argument.

He's not a "natural" 260. He's very cut and bulked up, but his frame is maxed out. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I am saying that's something I think will make him more prone to falling than players who have a bigger perceived upside.

How do you figure his frame is maxed out. In addition to being heavier than the other prospects he is also taller (more room to fill out). Either way it is irrelevant if you think he is maxed out because he is already more than big enough to play the position and doesn't need to grow another pound.

Again, when has a pass rushing DE of his size ever been down graded postseason because of concerns about their frame?

Have you ever seen him? He's ridiculously muscular. Believe me, there's no more room for growth on his body.

And, again, you're mischaracterizing my argument; I never said there's concern about his frame. I said he is prone to dropping because he doesn't have the ceiling that top 5 picks tend to have. In that respect he's analogous to DeMeco; a productive college player who's very good, but doesn't have that perceived elite potential.

He and Demeco are not analagous. Demeco was small and slow (top end 40 time slow). Neither of those things can be improved. Thus the "low ceiling" argument. Orakpo is ALREADY plenty big, so nobody is going to care if he can get bigger. He doesn't need to. This would be like saying a CB is going to fall because he runs a 4.2 and they know he can't get faster.

Again, I ask for an example of a DE who got this label and fell in the postseason.

No, I would not trade up for Orakpo. Selvie is just about the same player and may be available at our pick.

I will jump in here on the side of Nero in the arguement, well kinda.

Orakpo is a one trick pony, a very desirable trick, but a specialist. At 260, he has little room to get larger, hence to be considered a normal everydown DE, Frenny is the expection.

I see Orakpo as a Merriman type, someone that goes into the 3-4 and excels because he does not have to concern himself with the run.

If I had only one hole and that was DE, then I would not have problem taking a pass rushing only DE in the 1st. Do I prefer it, no.

I would hope that Orapko would fall past #10, or #15, or even #20. But Tim Bullman, with his 4 sacks has shown that he can be the regular RDE, so Orapko could be the designated passrusher on 3rd and 4th down. Of course that is just my opinion at this moment, subject to change with events.

I think we definitely need a 3rd down specialist, but I don't know how we could justify taking one in the first when we have needs to fill on positions that play all 3 downs.

I totally agree with this. I would think a one dimensional edge rusher to field opposite of Mario could be had in the 3/4/5 round. I hope that the first two rounds address DT and S.

overall
1 and 2 - DT and S
3/4/5 - big RB, Edge Rusher, Interior OL, maybe a mobile QB if we fall in love with one

6/7 - great special teamers, one of whom plays MLB.

Agreed for the most part.

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of a safety, but I'd still rather have a LB. Who knows who Diles will come back from his injury? And he was definitely an upgradeable player as it stood pre-injury. Bentley is nice depth, as is Diles, but I think our SLB position could use a first round talent.

Where's Roy when we need him. The reason given for the drop of SAM LB in importance is because he is a 2 down player. Most teams remove the SAM for nickle packages and against team like the Colts the SAM is not on the field very often. So in turn teams do not like tie up valuable 1st money in a guy the offense can scheme off the field very easily.

Who's Roy?

Roy Pickett. The old Forum's Draft Guru.

Aaahh, you justify it by the increased number of sacks, and the intimidation of the opposing QB.

Why not let DeMeco play his natural position of WLB, and draft a MLB like Laurainitis, or Mauluga? Diles will be fine at SLB. Bentley can back up all 3 LB positions. Adibi could be experimented with at SS!

Yeah, it's about time for RP to start jumping in again with his views on rookie prospects in the Draft.

After seeing some LSU games, i'm sold on Herman Johnson. He is projected by most as a second rounder and I think he would be a steal if he could be had there.

So a draft of...

1. George Selive - DE USF
2. Herman Johnson - OG LSU
3. Shonn Greene - RB Iowa
4. Patrick Chung - S Oregon
5. Ron Brace - DT Boston College
6. Tom Brandstater - QB Fresno State

... would look nice to me.

That works for me, however I don't see Patrick Chung lasting till the 4th rnd. Gone by the second IMO.