At worst, Lions will franchise Avril. We'd better look elsewhere. I doubt Courtney Upshaw will be available when we draft....but if we continue playing the way we are, he just might be. A guy I've been trying to mock to the JETS is Shea McClellin, DE/OLB, Boise State. Definitely available in the 2nd round.
I personally hope this doesn't happen, but don't be surprised to see us take an interest in Anthony Spencer in free agency. We seem to like to address holes on our team before the draft and there's likely going to be one at OLB since Bryan Thomas likely isn't getting re-signed. Anthony Spencer's been playing OLB under Rex's brother Rob so it wouldn't be surprising at all to me if Rex tries to steal Spencer away from the Cowboys since he already has experience in our type of defense.
It would be once again another signing where we sign a player that will start to decline (he'll be 28 after this season). We NEED to get younger on defense, especially the LB position. IMO, Cliff Avril is ideal for us even though he hasnt played OLB. He is a great pass rusher who can also play the run. He'll only be 26 next season and hasnt reached his peak yet; he could infuse youth, speed and experience. If we do this we can focus on RT and WR early and draft and OLB in the 3rd round (maybe 2nd depending on who's their, Vinny Curry?)
It probably/most likely wont happen... Even if we got one of those guys we would see a huge difference. IMO, this defense is 2 players away from being #1 again (safety and OLB), and if Tanny really wants to win now, these two positions must be addressed. And as far as WR goes, I think Braylon would be great. He probably would come extremely cheap- lack of production this year/injury/character issues. He has or had chemistry with Sanchez and knows the system (the very shitty one). So say we sign Braylon and Branch in the offseason, that not THAT much money compared to what Tanny has done in recent years, yet it provides a lot of help.
I really think everyone needs to put the Braylon talk to bed. our staff/tanny/rex/woody do not want him here. He signed essentially the same deal as Plax, and we passed. There is a reason for it. Our franchise decided to part ways with Braylon (why, we probably won't ever know) but we wanted to move on. I seriously doubt we do a full 180 (him as well, he was pretty pissed if you remember) and try and court him back here. As much as I love Braylon and would love to see his fire (and deep threat ability) back in Green and White, I don't think its realistic to believe its going to happen. Like others have said Avril would be the best option. However, its possible he is franchised. But does Detroit want to invest that much money in the DL? They desperately need an offensive line. I think its possible he doesnt get franchised, but not likely he comes free. If he does, we need to put on the full court press.
^ You're probably right about the front office not wanting to bring Braylon back, but it's not like we could have gotten him for the same contract we gave Plaxico. If Braylon had any pride, there was no way he was going to re-sign with us after we gave Holmes $10 mil annually to come back. He only took that cheap offer from San Francisco because that was his only option. Could there have been more reasons for the lack of interest behind the scenes? Possibly, but the bottom line is that there is no way Braylon's ever coming back.
which is the point I am trying to get across. For whatever reasons, be it behind the scenes, or somethings that we know, the Jets did not want Braylon back, we signed Plax with Braylon on the market. If they didnt want him last year, pride will never allow the two groups to come back together. The only way I think that Braylon ends up back in Green and White is if the current regime is tossed out on its ear (unless of course Woody was the guy who said he can't come back here).
I say we sign Micheal Griffin in FA, John Carlson (good blocking TE), and we draft 1. LB 2. WR 3. OT 4. DE/OLB Pass rusher 5. WR 6. LB 7. OG
David DeCastro, Courtney Upshaw, or Michael Floyd. No to Burfict unless it's in the 2nd or lower rounds.
I would love to bring in John Carlson. He would be inexpensive and he can do everything. I would also love to bring in Dashon Goldson, although I think the 49ers might try to sign him with the way he is playing this year
Call me crazy but do you guys think Courtland Finnegan could play safety? Rex loves to play man to man coverage which puts our safeties in a tight spot. I personally thing Finnegan is a perfect fit for this team. He'd bring the swag back that this team has been lacking. I think if he bulked up a little bit he'd be a great safety due to obviously his cover skills but he's also a really good tackler. Just think of the possible crazy defenses Rex could use this him, Revis, Cro, and Wilson with another year of development.Crazy? Also he'd come alot cheaper then Landry
Sounds like a good idea. I looked it up and Finnegan played free safety in college. But I'm pretty sure he's going to want a good amount of money, and he is still undersized.
With our O-Line starting to jell (0 sacks and a running game for the last games) the last 2 weeks, and the development of Maybin into a legit situational pass rusher, I am beginning to think that the 2012 draft priorities have changed. A few season's ago, when New England realized that the Jets strength on D was their ability to take the WR's out of the game, they drafted 2 TE's to bolster their passing attack, and minimizing the Jets D's greatest strength. In order to beat the Patriots and compete for the AFC East title, I think that our draft needs to focus towards stopping the 2-headed TE's in New England. Our priorities needs to be both Safeties and Out Side LB's who have the ability to cover. Thomas is probably gone after his Achilles tear, and both Leonard and Pool are free agents, I only see one of them (Leonard) returning at best. I could see spending our first 2 picks to strengthen the Defense so that we can overtake New England.
So you're going to draft an OLB weighting his ability to cover rather more than his passrushing ability? Cmon man. Believe me, I really like Maybin and believe he can be a special player for us, but he is not the answer to our passrushing woes. We still need to draft an OLB that can rush the passer very well. The safeties in this draft are nothing special. Countless posts on this forum have been over this. We are better off making a run at the top FA safeties. Just because the line has been pretty good the past two weeks is a little misleading if you look at the big picture. Wayne Hunter is not the long term answer at RT (and he's not young at 29) and Brandon Moore's play has decreased from last year because of age. The right side of the line needs to be addressed.
Burfict is not the next Ray Lewis. He's more Jonathan Vilma. Whenever I watch him play, he overpursues, takes terrible angles, misreads plays, etc. He has very bad instincts, not to mention he's a complete headcase. The guy will drop to the bottom half of the first, or even the 2nd. I would really like to get DeCastro on this team. DeCastro will be an elite Guard. The amount of mental security that he will provide to Sanchez is invaluable.
Jonathan Vilma is a hell of a football player, ask any Saint fan. They would tell you he's the best defensive player on their team. Comparing Burfict to Vilma is a poor example.
