1) DE:
With the Antonio Smith signed we are unlikely to draft a situational pass rusher in the first, just to have him play one out of three downs. The pass rusher need now seems to be a target of rounds 2-4. Maybe Micheal Johnson or Paul Kruger in the second, or Sidbury in the 3rd.
2) S:
With Eugene Wilson resigned, Ferguson still on the roster, and the coaching staff seemingly liking Barber at the SS position, this need seems substantially diminshed. I am not saying that they wouldn't take Jenkins if he fell to 15 but the pressure to draft a S is lessened. My guess is that they target this in rounds 2-4 also. Louis Delmas, Patrick Chung, and William Moore are likely to be targets in the second and Rashad Johnson a target in the third. I am sure Roy knows a safety likely to be targeted in the 4th if he wants to throw someone out there.
3) CB:
This position seems pretty well set. I think Reeves did a pretty good job last year, I was pleasantly surprised. D-Rob is solid, will be better next year (another year removed from the surgery), and is likely to be reupped since we have alot of cap space. Bennett had a good season, suffered from a bit of a sophomore slump, but I think did alright. We drafted Molden in the 3rd last year, and he is a great special teamer and I think was progressing in his development.
Therefore, we have 4 corners that I believe we are committed to, and since we only carry 4 or 5 on the roster, I don't think we are going to that position early in the draft. You might see them grab a practice squader in the 5-7 range though.
4) DT:
I think the staff will give Travis Johnson another year, he was solid if not good at NT, although he offers very little as a pass rusher, Antonio Smith has been said by some to kick inside on third downs where he is extremely effective. Think a poor man's Justin Tuck. Okoye had a down year becuase of his high ankle strain but started to look like himself during the last quarter of the season. Additionally another DT showed some promise near the end of teh season, Robinson maybe.
I don't think they go DT in the first 3 rounds, maybe the 4th or 5th if a value is available. Someone like Evander Hood falling or Ron Brace being available, both of these are longshots though, and they certainly won't reach for Peria Jerry in the first.
MLB: is set and I don't think they mess around with this until they draft a project in rounds 6 or 7. I don't think they will move Dryans because he seems a much better fit a MLB, where instincts are at a premium and athleticism is slightly downgraded (as compared to the Will where athleticism is at a premium.
OLB: This is the position where I think that they go in the first. I have been calling this one for a long time, although for various reasons. Adibi was solid in limited time, as was Diles, but I am not sure that either of them is the answer at either position. For Adibi the injury is just the latest in a string that caused his draft stock to drop. Not so for Diles, but at the Sam he has Bentley to back him up anyway. The depth here as well as the increased premium (presuming that is true) on the Will as opposed to the Sam (The will is where everybody puts thier impact players now, or so Barrett tells me
), leads me to believe that we are going to draft an OLB, specifically a Will LB.
Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews, and Laurinitis are options. Yes I know, Laurnitis is an ILB, yet he projects to be a good fit at the Will because of his athleticism. There are questions about Cushing because he is a workout warrior and seems a better fit at Sam, there are questions about Laurinitis because he declined the senior bowl invite.
There were questions about Clay Matthews' athleticism until he lit up the combine. He can pass rush, he can tackle, he can run, and his being a former walkon says something about his abilities, and for a defense that wasn't on the field all that much he scored some pretty good production. Oh and lets not forget his bloodlines. Bruce Matthews, etc. I found the following excerpt from a Scouts review of his performace against stanford, and it really seems to capture all that we want in a Will:
The most impressive thing about Matthews against Stanford was his overall range. He was able to wade through traffic without taking himself out of the play, and on a second-quarter toss play Matthews was able to shed a bigger blocker and go down low to make a tough open-field tackle on RB Toby Gerhart. He also showed good closing speed as he was able to run down ball carriers from the backside. Matthews was fluid in man coverage and ran step-for-step with backs on wheel routes out of the backfield. Matthews did struggle, however, when forced to play in a phone booth against bigger offensive tackles and failed to hold the edge consistently when Stanford ran straight at him.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/...=news&id=24669
I focused on defense but I will go through the offense later.
In sum, here is what I think:
1) Clay Matthews, OLB
2) Louis Delmas, S
3) Lawrence Sidbury, DE
4) Rashad Jennings, RB
4) Brandon Tate or Austin Collie, WR
5) Myron Pryor, DT
6) Ryan Stanchek, OL
7) Kawika Maiva, LB
For the record McClain agrees with me, but I pretty sure that is a strike against my credibility.
http://blogs.chron.com/nfl/2009/02/s...exans_mig.html