2012 Draft Needs?

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Another option is to franchise Mario and then trade him for players/picks. Barwin/Reed were outstanding replacements and Mario isn't a huge upgrade over that for what he will cost.

How nice is it to have enough talent to where this is not a ludicrous thing to be talking about? I love Mario but the team definitely needs to ask how much better will he make the defense? The answer might be a whole hell of a lot, you know, I don't know.

[barrett]

Unless Mario brings us something immediate in return I want him in a Texans uniform.

I agree that a WR with return skills is a good fit. Just make sure he is not a guy with a big ego because he may not see that many balls in our offense. The #2 WR in our offense is seal blocking the back side or cracking the DE more than he is making big plays. And we go 3 TE as often as 3 WR and it works very well for us. So I like WR, but want a guy who will have a big impact and can justify his draft status with return production.

After that we have no clear needs. I don't mind an OL upgrade but those guys played awesome as a unit today. I have thought a MLB upgrade would be good, but Demeco was out of his mind today. Hopefully that is a sign that he is healthy finally and earlier wasn't. Plus I will be a Dobbins fan for life. And I don't mind a QB at #1 if we see him as a star down the road, but I have no interest in a mid to late round QB, Yates is a sollid backup.

So how about Kendall Wright, a big NT, a RG/RT to be named later, Safety depth, a cheaper #3 RB who contributes on ST coverage, and a young #4/5 WR who plays ST.

[Nconroe]

Originally Posted by barrett

So how about Kendall Wright, a big NT, a RG/RT to be named later, Safety depth, a cheaper #3 RB who contributes on ST coverage, and a young #4/5 WR who plays ST.

Agreed, have to see what happens with FA, trades, and keeping Wade Phillips.

[NBT]

And what about replacing Jacoby Jones with a receiver with decent hands and PR ability.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by NBT

And what about replacing Jacoby Jones with a receiver with decent hands and PR ability.

That is Wright. Think JJ if he was fast and made lots of plays.

[Warren]

A couple of these positions might be able to be addressed with guys already on the roster:

ILB: Sharpton was alternating with DeMeco before he got hurt and looked like the heir apparent there.

CB: They traded up into the 2nd round to get Brandon Harris, supposedly stealing him from the Steelers, but the fact that he spent most of the year inactive despite being healthy isn't real encouraging. Hopefully he'll make big strides with a full offseason. Roc Carmichael went on the IR early and may also be able to contribute next year.

[HPF Bob]

Thinking outside the box, what if a stud TE is available late in the first? More teams, particularly the Patriots, are using tight ends in various ways and formations to create mismatches. Perhaps instead of a #2 wide receiver, we might look for another Aaron Hernandez and run more 2 TE sets with Daniels.