Gentlemen, start your mock drafts (and that's pretty good considering I was thinking we'd be drafting in early teens, best of all worlds)
Behind Philly, Detroit, Arizona, and Tennessee, and the Dolphins behind us (probably going to let Jake Long walk) knowing we have almost no options but to go OT....I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable that Joeckel, Lewan, or Fisher will be on the board at 11 But for sake of my sanity over 3 completely meaningless uninspiring wins to finish the season, I'm still going to have Fisher at 11 in every mock from here to April.
I think Lewan, and certainly Fisher and Matthews will be available come pick 11.. I also believe Joeckel might NOT be taken by the Eagles, and could fall out of the top 5..
Regardless of who we take in the first, Joeckel, Lewan, Mathews, Fisher. I have a feeling we drafting for a guy to fill Clary's spot. I don't have a list saying who I like best but I prefer someone such as Mathews who can play both RT and LT that way when Gaither goes down we have a LT who can actually play LT and when Gaither is healthy our right side is sealed
We're probably drafting 2 tackles. If the LT we draft is good enough, he'll probably start over Gaither until we can cut Gaither. Clary is probably just going to get cut.
I don't think we'll need any Guards.. I think Vasquez will re-signed, Troutman and Dombrowski will be coming back from injury as well. We can sign a Vet Guard in FA who is currently a starter, Andy Levitre, Kory Lichtensteiger, Ryan Lilja, Nick McDonald. Brandon Moore, or Matt Slauson. Plenty of options.. Then guys like Rex Hadnot, Leonard Davis, Ramon Foster or Geoff Schwartz as backups if we think Troutman can start. I'd draft 2 Tackles in the first 4 rounds, and possibly a Guard in the 6-7 rounds.
I'd probably bet against the team cutting both Clary and Gaither, that's a lot of cap hit to eat. So assuming that one of them is around next year, there's a high likelihood we're looking at an OT quite early. That being said, if Lewan is gone by 11, I'm not sold on the next group of guys. I think he is who we'd want, other than that I'd be open to other possibilities at different positions.
In this order 1st: OT Taylor Lewan, OLB Damontre Moore, CB Dee Milliner, NT Johnathon Hankins, OT Jake Mathews, OT Eric Fisher 2nd: CB Xavier Rhodes, CB Desmond Trufant, OL DJ Fluker 3rd DE Brandon Jenkins, CB Logan Ryan, FS TJ McDonald, OT Kyle Long 4th OG Alvin Bailey, CB Leon McFadden, CB Robert Alford, ILB Shayne Skov 5th CB Tyrann Mathieu (I know, I know)
I don't know if I'd even consider a DL besides Sheldon Richardson or Star Lotulelei.. We already have Liuget, Thomas, Garay, Reyes under contract for next year, and will probably resign Martin and Franklin.
Quick 5 round mock 1st - OT Eric Fisher 2nd - OT Oday Aboushi 3rd - CB Will Davis 4th - OG Alvin Bailey 5th - RB Ray Graham
I like it.. Guess I'll do a quick one.. 1st - OT Taylor Lewan 2nd - ILB Kevin Minter 3rd - OT/OG Kyle Long 4th - RB Kenjon Barner 5th - OLB Quanterus Smith/Michael Buchanan
Watched Taylor Lewan today...he did an OKAY job vs Clowney. Not great, he got caught grabbing jersey a few times, and got overpowered in the run game a couple times...but I'd give him a "B" grade against what will probably be the #1 pick in the 2014 draft.
Clowney is something else man.. He's only 18 or 19.. thats crazy.. But yeah I expected more from Lewan, guess we'll have to pay close attention to his combine and pro day.
Jake Mathews is returning for his Senior season scratch him off the list. Lewan and Fisher looking more likely candidates
If I'm remembering which one is which, doesn't Fisher have a much higher ceiling as an elite prospect?
Very smart of him, he'll get a year to prove he can play LT. On the other hand, if he sucks at LT he may destroy his stock.
Yes I believe Lewan is the more talented as of now but Fisher has the ceiling, apparently they say he is also showing more upside then Joe Staley showed at the same point of his career
What the heck, I'll throw one out, might be optimistic 1st - Taylor Lewan OT 2nd - Larry Warford OG 3rd - Jonathan Franklin RB 4th - Nico Johnson ILB
Meh, Warford is super overrated, he's a big softy from what i've seen, though i haven't seen all that much of him... The more i'm looking at it the more i think we wait on CB, unless a super talented guy drops to the 3rd or something. I think we're fine with Cason/Jammer and Wright for a year, with some vet depth added. Franklin is Meh, and honestly, if we're getting a RB in the earlier rounds, he's gotta be mroe than just a scat back, which isn't what Franklin is. I keep going back and fourth between OT in Fisher (who i think is head and shoulders above Lewan, i know LBC agrees with me), and OLB in Dion Jordan/Mingo, who are both crazy good compliments to Ingram. Both the OLB and OT class drop off quite bad after the first round. I love Jordan and Mingo, and think that it would almost completely fix our D, but at the same time, our O needs a OT so bad. i expect with our history (and Dean calling the shots), OL may be off the board because its not a area where you can profit off of, but that may be stupid since, he seems to be doing things very non-Dean like this year. It all depends on what we think of, or what our plan with Gaither is this year, which we wont know until 1-3 months down the road...If we still have hope for him, and think he's good, i'd push OT back to the 2nd round and grab one of these great pass rushers.
Of the drafts that i'd make, this is how i'd go...Either... 1st: Eric Fisher OT, CMU 2nd: Jesse Williams NT, Alabama 3rd: Cornelius Carradine DE, FSU 4th: Travis Frederick OG/C, Wisconsin 5th: Marcus Lattimore RB, SCar (I'm willing to take the risk...) 6th: Michael Mauti ILB, Penn State 7th: Malik Watson OT, FSU (FREAKISH athlete, project OT) Most of the later picks will stay the same, but the first few rounds will change if we go Pass rusher first... 1st: Dion Jordan/Keke Mingo OLB, Oregon/LSU 2nd: Justin Pugh OT, Syracuse 3rd: Travis Frederick OG, Wisconsin (Not sure how long he'd last, right between that 3rd/4th round border for me) 4th: Brandon Williams NT, Southwestern Mizzou (Kids a great player, underrated due to whole small school situation Rest is the same.
Based on.....? Acee said that he probably wont, either way thats why i said Cason/Jammer, one of them is comin back, almost assuredly.
Cason finished strong, I can see them offering him a contract not much bigger than his rookie deal. Jammer....only if he's going to try SS, and only a 1 year deal.
OT Eric Fisher, Central Michigan CB Logan Ryan, Rutgers OLB Brandon Jenkins, FSU ILB Shayne Skov, Stanford OG Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech TE Joseph Fauria, UCLA RB Knile Davis, Arkansas
As you should... like I said, I'm at the point of preferring him to Lewan (who reminds me a little too much of Bulaga at this point for my taste), and just hoping that his combine performance and measurements are enough to get a second team looking at a OT between us and wherever Joeckel gets selected take him over Eric (I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll break the streak-from-'85 and take a 1st round OL right now, based off what I've seen from the off-season thus far... that could change in heartbeat depending on the GM/Coach we hire).
Only issue I have is I don't expect Carradine to play much if any of the '13 season. So spending a 3rd on a "medical redshirt" might make sense if we bring back Phillips on a 2 year deal or something, but I don't see Shaun swallowing his pride that much. Depending on what coach we bring in, I could see Mike Buchanan getting a look in the 4th or 5th. Doubt he falls but Sean Porter could be an option too. Yes he's underweight from what we'd prefer, but I expect him to show up at the combine with at least another 7 pounds on him and he does have the frame to beef up a bit more from that (255-ish). And if I'm being honest, I could see Alex Okafor having something of a slide similar to what Justin Houston did (just some similar attributes: Good, but far from great against top level competition, questions of a true position and whether he's a RDE, an LDE, an OLB).
As awesome as Clowney is, Teddy Bridgewater trumps at this point - QB will always go first, even over pass-rusher... and I think Bridgewater is looking special enough right now that a team with the #1 overall and needing a QB, won't risk trading back more than one slot, even if the, say, second team in the top 2 has drafted a QB recently.
