2012 Draft Needs?

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

They will because Mario is an outstanding 4-3 DE miscast as an OLB. He's a known quantity while any draft choice is a gamble. Because they already Barwin and Reed, the Texans can better afford to gamble and develop a first-round pick than a team which has fewer pass-rush options. Mario was far from a sure thing when he was drafted.

Ever heard of "buy low, sell high"?

BTW, listing DTs is irrelevant because losing Mario has no effect on our DTs. If you wanted a fair comparison, you would list first-round 3-4 OLBs like Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware. THAT'S Mario's present contemporaries.

First, why do you keep saying he is miscast in the 3-4? While I agree he is not in the traditional mold, he did perform exceedingly well in the short time we saw him there. In fact, through 5 games, he was on pace to have his best year ever. Serious question, what would you need to see to put this idea to bed?

As for a draft choice being a gamble, I'm well aware and it is you who seems to think that Mario is easily replaced. That was why I listed the DL drafted in the last 5 years to show that it not so easy and these guys don't always pan out. The odds that anyone we drafted at 11 (or wherever else) would be as good as Mario is quite slim in my opinion.

As for the inclusion of the DTs, when you sort the draft by position on nfl.com, it includes all D-linemen. Feel free to exclude whoever you want. Not sure why you think this changes the point. As for 3-4 OLBs, as I said, you can't sort that way, near as I can tell. However, if you have some long list of 1st round 3-4 OLBs from the last 5 years which are Mario's equal, feel free to share, you might just change my mind about how easy it is to find these guys.