"why should we pass up the higher-rated (offensive) prospect?"-Rick Smith

[barrett]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Roy, I do not see how Maclin helps this team as much as one of the 1st round RBs.

1st the obvious, few WR much less #2 WR get 15 touches a game.

2nd Walters and Davis added up to a pretty solid WR. The Denver offense has not ever been a slot receiver offense. Two WRs, one with superstar numbers and a second solid WR and a TE have always been the passing game. I doubt Kubiak alters his system.

Give me a OL or RB in the 1st if you must but do not waste a pick on a WR who will not have a strong impact on this team.

I'm not a fan of going WR (or offense in the 1st round). I think the only way you do it is like Smith said, "If you rate the prospect MUCH higher."

But Maclin is hardly a wasted pick just because we are good at WR already. When comparing him to a 1st round RB, he probably has just as much impact. Any RB we take is going to be our #2 back and will do little more than spell Slaton and hopefully take the goalline carries. The problem though is that you don't play two RBs at once.

Maclin fills far more roles for our team. The biggest is that he helps a return game that struggled mightily last year. He returns punts and kicks for us. He plays the slot for a team that goes 3 and 4 wide on a regular basis. And he provides a fantastic deep threat opposite AJ. I'd say that is more impact then you will see from any #2 RB or interior OL (or OLB for that matter).

Now, with all of that said I hope we don't draft him. But if we can't trade down and it comes down to him or a RB (or any other position), I hope they go with whoever they rate higher as a player rather than the position that seems to be of greater need. Especially since we have no positions that are such a big need we must throw a 1st rounder at them.

[Keith]

First, I am NOT in favor of drafting a WR in the first round. In fact, related to our other Browns thread, if we really wanted a WR, I'd trade back in the first round and then send that pick for Braylon Edwards.

That all said.... here's three reasons why (in addition to any already mentioned above) a WR might happen in round one:

1. Kevin Walter is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, new CBA or not. How much will it cost to re-sign him? How comfortable would the Texans be with Andre Davis, David Anderson, and Jacoby Jones vying for the WR2 role?

2. The Texans supposedly had a keen eye on selecting the Ted Ginn, Jr. family before the Dolphins surprisingly snatched him up just before they took Amobi Okoye. Granted, this was before Walter's breakout season in 2007, but then again, I refer you to point 1.

3. If the Texans were actually impressed with Ginn enough to consider drafting him, then maybe they see something similar in Jeremy Maclin. Personally, I think Maclin has some bust potential, but he could also be the player that becomes what they had always hoped Jacoby Jones would become.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by Keith

First, I am NOT in favor of drafting a WR in the first round. In fact, related to our other Browns thread, if we really wanted a WR, I'd trade back in the first round and then send that pick for Braylon Edwards.

I'm not in favor of drafting a WR in the first round, either. However, as you pointed out with your 3 points, it shouldn't be off the table. There is a very good chance that Maclin doesn't make it to us at #15, I have a hunch he'll be off the board. However, if for some reason he is available, I would imagine that he would be the Best Player Available, not necessarily the BPA at a position of need.

So, if we don't need a #2WR with our 1st round pick, the prudent thing to do would be to trade down until the BPA is a player who plays at a position of need for our team. Now, if that isn't possible because we can't negotiate a trade down, then we should take the player that has the most worth. Remember when the Chargers drafted Manning when they knew he wouldn't sign? Take the BPA and find a way to trade him (that might go for Mark Sanchez too).

Now, if you wouldn't want a 1st round pick to be "wasted" on a WR, why would you give up draft picks to trade up into the 1st round only to waste that one on a WR? Sure Braylon is more of a proven commodity, but wouldn't you imagine he'd want to get paid like one?

Currently, my top 10 players on my draft board includes 1 WR and 2 RBs. That means 7 out of the 10 are defensive players that I'd like to have in Texans uniforms. So, while I'm not looking to add to the offense philosophically, I'm not going to bite my nose to spite my face either.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Now, if you wouldn't want a 1st round pick to be "wasted" on a WR, why would you give up draft picks to trade up into the 1st round only to waste that one on a WR? Sure Braylon is more of a proven commodity, but wouldn't you imagine he'd want to get paid like one?

Me? I wouldn't trade up for a WR... probably never ever, much less this year.

My point was that after Crabtree, IF I wanted a WR now, I would trade back to use that pick on acquiring Edwards AND have extra picks as compensation in the deal to move down.

I'll stop talking about Braylon here though... mostly because we have another thread on this, but also because he isn't coming here anyway. My point was simply that I'm not high on the WRs after Crabtree this year anywhere in the first round, but there are still very legitimate reasons why the team could consider a need there this year.

[HPF Bob]

Smith is saying the right things. If there's an offensive player graded much higher than any defensive player on his board, they take the offensive player. And they can have that on the record to improve their chances of a trade down scenario should a QB or Maclin be there with a severe drop down to the next guy (although I love Hakeem Nicks - I think in the right system he could be like Jerry Rice whom the draftniks also complained was too slow).

Do I really think Smith will draft offense in the first?? NAAAAHHHH! But he still has to say he might so as not to get boxed in on draft day.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by barrett

Maclin is hardly a wasted pick just because we are good at WR already. When comparing him to a 1st round RB, he probably has just as much impact. Any RB we take is going to be our #2 back and will do little more than spell Slaton and hopefully take the goalline carries. The problem though is that you don't play two RBs at once.

Maclin fills far more roles for our team. The biggest is that he helps a return game that struggled mightily last year. He returns punts and kicks for us. He plays the slot for a team that goes 3 and 4 wide on a regular basis. And he provides a fantastic deep threat opposite AJ. I'd say that is more impact then you will see from any #2 RB or interior OL (or OLB for that matter).

Now, with all of that said I hope we don't draft him. But if we can't trade down and it comes down to him or a RB (or any other position), I hope they go with whoever they rate higher as a player rather than the position that seems to be of greater need. Especially since we have no positions that are such a big need we must throw a 1st rounder at them.

Well said.

It is hard to be objective when comparing players at different positions. Especially difficult when one is offensive and the other is defensive and you have a huge discrepency between the two units' effectiveness. It's really hard to not let emotion and hope cloud your judgement when making that comparison.

However, as much as I don't want to draft a WR, I feel compelled to rate Maclin higher than some of the other prospects who may be available at #15. That confirms my notion that he's rated a lot higher in my mind. His talent level is forcing me to do something that I don't want to do.