DE is our biggest need. Ellis is getting up there and DeVito is just average. I would love to see us draft a ideal 3-4 DE in the first round. NT, if Jenkins retires NT is a huge need tied with the biggest with DE. I do think Jenkins retires because its whats best for him. Pouha has proven hes solid NT but hes already in his 30s, so drafting a 3-4 NT prospect in the 2nd round would be a good option. OLB is not a big need at all. for the last 2-3 years a lot of people have been saying OLB is our biggest need and we have yet to address it through the draft and outside of Taylor at all. Pace is solid and Thomas is solid. Would this team benefit from a true pass rushing OLB? absolutely, but we have one of the best defenses in the NFL without one. S is not really a need either. Pool and Smith are both solid and Leonhard is outstanding. We could use a little upgrade over pool/smith but defintley not by getting a big name guy in the FA or draft. DE and NT is really our only needs right now. LT is looking like the real deal and Shonn Greene is only going to get better with time But if LT retires then we defintley address RB early in the draft. If we dont resign Holmes then WR becomes a minor need because we still got Edwards,Cotchery,Keller.
Out of the 3, I really think Landry would be the lone one to actually be worth pursuing and hope he can recapture his rookie season form. Gooden would be an overpaid backup to Harris or Scott, it would probably be cheaper to draft one. Now if some unforeseen, unlikely circumstances happen and David Harris signs with another team, I'd like for them to take a look at Kevin Burnett. Very good 3-4 ILB with surprising pass rush speed.
By the way, these are just the guys I think we'll have a shot at. Auburn's Nick Fairley and Bama's Marcel Dareus are my top guys at this position, but I think they'll be gone in the top fifteen.
I think NT is a bigger need then DE. Keep in mind if you get a guy that can play the nose, Pouha moves to end. I feel like every year there's a handful of 3-4 defensive end types that hit free agency sometime over the summer, but how many really good nose tackles are there? I think we're more likely to sign Santonio then Edwards. He's the better player, little less off field baggage lately and I think the better all around weapon. If Edwards is the one that walks, a bigger receiver would be ideal. The pass rush is something I'd love to address, but I think unless we win it all this year Taylor comes back in 2011. It seems like a position though that Rex would be able to get a raw athlete and coach up to be a situational pass rusher.
I think Fairley might be around, he might drop because of his draft position is based off a single good season. His age may drop him too, he came out of HS the same year as Bengals Tackle Andre Smith, but he failed 2 qualify twice. He is a great talent, one of my favorite player coming into this year(loved him in the Outback Bowl), but his dominance might be due to him being a couple years older, even older than Seniors. I've actually heard middle 2nd FWIW, he is gone regardless, 0% he comes back.
I would be ecstatic if that happened. Fairley is one of my favorite prospects in the country. He's a monster, and would provide a whole new dimension to our DL.
One of Bama's former Assistant coaches, James Willis, who is now the DC at Texas Tech, wanted Fairley bad out of JuCo. He recruited Fairley both out of HS and JuCo when he was a assistant on Tommy Tubberville's staff at Auburn. Bama was way late to the party though, so he still signed with Auburn. Make no mistake though, he has a fantastic DL coach in Tracy Rocker at Auburn, who I believe is the best in the Nation. Many thought he could be a great offensive lineman, but I fully believe now defense is where he should be.
We could really use a ballhawk in our secondary to make QBs a lot more wary of throwing the ball quickly. Rahim Moore should be available.
It's obvious that Rex Ryan doesn't need an elite nose tackle to make his defense play the way that he wants. Without Kris Jenkins, our defense is still top tier. In Baltimore, he plugged in a 6th round pick and turned him into a damn good nose. Shaun Ellis doesn't have much left in the tank. We need to replace him as soon as possible. 2011's class is loaded with talent at 3-4 defensive end, so we need to grab at least one. In my opinion, this team's top five needs are 3-4 DE, right tackle, wide receiver, 3-4 OLB, and running back.
Dude's a beast. This 3-4 end class is so loaded that he's just further down on the list than he would be in most years. He's a player that will fly up draft boards. I think he'll be a late first rounder.
This... we'll see. BTW last year we had a NT on the PS (Garay)... he's the starting NT for the Chargers now... and he didn't even make our 53.
fwiw, the condition on the cro trade was based on his playing and the jets record, so hes looking like he'll cost a 2nd anyone think that, once rex has time with him, cody brown can be that developmental OLB prospect? pouha and devito both play the nose and end well so we should be able to go BPA if it comes down to a d-line prospect if i had to choose id say our needs are 1st Rd - OLB, 3rd Rd - DL, 4th/5th Rd - FS/WR ... if theres no elite OLB prospects by our pick, id like us to trade down and take advantage of the depth of the d-line and safety classes by picking up another 3rd
1)DL Depth 2)Pass Rusher 3)RB (unless McKnight suddenly develops or LT decides to stick around) 4)OL (Wayne Hunter is the only backup I feel comfortable about at this rate though Slauson is good enough at LG and lets hope Ducasse is ready as he kicks out to replace Woody)
