I decided to do a bit of gloomy mock of our up coming draft based on a few assumptions. This is not a fix all problems happy time mock. The offense gets a bit ignored becase Rex feels that the team can bounce back from the injury plagued season we have had with some minor tweaks instead of an over haul. Well, that and we owe Sanchez and Holmes a shit ton of guarenteed money. Frist off both Rex and Tanny stay. They are going to get a pass based on winning 3 or 4 of the last five and they injuries to our best defensive and offensive playmakers. This leaves us in the middle of the round for drafting. Guys Like Jones, Te'o, Warmack, and Matthews should be gone. not only that, but thier arrogance leads them to belive a Oline with Slauson, Ducasse, and Howard will work. Second, our Cap situation has us cutting a lot of big contracts and as many as 3 of our 4 starting LB's will not be back. In a 34 this is a horrible changeover. I only see a possibility of Thomas at another year of vet min coming back to mentor some of the young guys. Third, Rex has a ton of say in personal on this squad. Belive it or not, Tanny knows he is not a pure football guy and leans on his people he has hired or been around. In the Mangini years we often traded up to land guys. We went with a traditional 34 look and had bigger lineman who could not rush the passer. Under rex he has gone more hybird and has drafted two 5 techs that can also pass rush and we have retained more of our picks than in the past. Fourth, Rex is a defensive coach and his pride and ego depend on his D being top notch. Right now we flat out suck against the run and we need a bunch of fresh bodies at LB. Finally, Rex has stated that he likes bigger bodies in his front 7. This was part of his love for Coples over other pass rushers available last year. Our starting OLB's will not be smaller speed rushers like a Mingo. It also helps explain why he has hung on to Thomas and Pace, both who are better at setting the edge than killing the QB, for so long. Round One: Ezekiel Ansah DE/OLB BYU This kid is going to fly up draft boards and the JPP talk has already begun. For a guy who did not know how to put pads on in 2010 he has become a force for BYU's defense. He has the size on the edge for a 34 backer and shows great instincts against the run and screen game for a guy so raw. His Technique needs tons of work, which fits into Rex's idea of drafting smaller school guys he feel can get better. With a sky high ceiling this is a boom or bust pick. Round Two: Chase Thomas OLB Stanford The opposite of Ansah in the fact that he has a limited ceiling, but very good technique and is consistant. Add a non stop workman like motor and you get closer to completing a reload of our defense. Round Three: Bacarri Rambo S Georgia In a deep Safty class a good talent is bound to drop and due to charcter concerns Rambo is that guy. I would wet myself if we found a way to draft Kenny Vaccaro but thats not happening here. Rambo has come on as of late but still finds himself as the 4th or 5th saftey off the board. Has the skills to step in right away if he applies himself to woking in Rex's complex defense. Round four: Dion Sims TE MSU A huge target who can not stay healthy. Has the Size to be a mauler of a blocker and the skills to be a threat in the passing game. Many fans would love a RB here (or earlier) but Shon Greene is back due to his lower salary demands (lack of market) vs Dustin Keller who finds a good deal to player elsewhere. Somewhere Mark Sanchez wonders what he did to deserve this receiving carousel. Round Five: Conner Vernon WR Duke There is nothing special about Vernon, but he does two things our current receivers do not, Get open and catch footballs that hit his hands. Rounds Six and seven: Insert Special teams / fringe guys here. Lets face it, this far down in the draft if anyone tells you your getting a "gem" or a starter thats not kicking the ball they are full of shit. As for depth needs I could see a developmental OLB, WR, or DB here as they could be athletic enough for STs and prehaps provide depth. The staff belives too much in Schlauderaff and thier own arrogence to bother draft a late round Oline. The Cap space that there is will be used to resign Landry and Possibly Revis. Expect more fringe vets on offense as there are little to no big names that will escape thier current teams. Andre Smith from Cincy may be the only Oline to price himself out of a horrible market and owner taht we could afford given our situation. Do I love it? Nope, but I feel if Rex stays our offseason is headed this way.
Really want a new RB. Like all the picks tho. Don't know much about Ansah. Will definitely look into him.
our offense is hideous, and you don't draft one player in the first 3 rounds? Not a good plan, this draft will undoubtedly be offense-heavy secondly, our OL is atrocious and needs 2 new OG's and possibly a RT as well, you can not ignored the OL for another draft. We need OL and we need it in the worst way.
I tend to agree with you but you either didn't read it all or completely missed the point. Rex and tanny are going to reload the defense in this scenario because they believe that they have enough moving forward on offense and are hamstrung by huge contracts on that side of the ball they can not drop. In order to try and win they are going back to what Rex can do given the rIght tools, build a very strong defense.
He would probably be best suited as a 43 DE because he is extremely raw. I think a 34 team will look at him due to his size (6-5 270) and his freakish athleticism. Despite being very raw he has good awareness of the game around him. He shows the ability to shed blockers, gets his hands up when not getting penetration while pass rushing and displayed great mobility and patience against screens. He could fit in Thomas's role now and as a end in the nickel package. BYU has used him all over the line this year.
I like it Harpua... I might be inclined to want a RB in the second round like Jawan Jamison, but thats all I can possibly complain about. Love the 3-5 picks and Ziggy Ansah has a lot of potential. Overall nice job, fills a lot of needs.
Dont like the Ansah pick he's 6'6" 270 more of a DE we dont need another 1 of those and he was manhandled in the Notre Dame game We need a Rb, Qb, and OL help would love to get Mike Glennon and Montee Ball
Any pick that is going to involve tons of work should not be our first pick. Our #1 draft pick should go to someone ready to step into the NFL and kick the crap out of people.
I did read it, and even thinking that the premise that we have enough talent on offense is ridiculous. The reason Sanchez is (all but) ruined is because the OL deteriorated around him, and his WR's went from top notch, to bottom of the barrel in under 18 months. As a result we have a ruined QB and are stuck with him another year. You need to build up the offensive talent in general particularly the OL to have any type of offense anyways. Since this QB crop is hideously awful we can't get the QB this year, but what we can do, is build up the offenses talent base so that in a year or two when those guys are coming into their prime, we are drafting our next QB who is ready to step into an offense that has talent and is coming into it's own. That way everyone can grow together. Thats what Atlanta did for Ryan, Baltimore has done for Flacco. That is why those guys are still being successful and Mark isn't, despite a roughly equal talent base in the actual QB. I don't dislike anyone you drafted, i just realize we need offensive talent, especially along the OL. If we get a top 10 OL again, Powell can easily be a starting capable back in the NFL. But we don't even have a top 25 OL with 3 guys likely in need of being replaced.
The point your missing is that if I was drafting a wishlist Warmack and Matthews would about top it right now. The scenario above is based around what I think mike t and Rex will do if they survive. They are going to blame the offensive collapse on injuries ( all of our top 3 receivers have missed time or been limited) and reload a defense that's about to lose 4+ starters due to the contract situation. Hence why it's a gloomy mock.
A 6-6 270 pound guy is a LB in our scheme. Both Thomas and Pace are around that size. Manhandled in the ND game? I thought he played well in the game. Watch the vid again. There is maybe one or two sigle blockes were he gets driven back. Most of the time he holds the point at worst. Often he's coming off his blocks to get into the play. He tips a pass that is picked and over all shows good smarts to go along with the obvious physical skills. [YOUTUBE]MFYELG3ItAk[/YOUTUBE] Im all for Montee Ball. Love his vision in the hole. He gets through the line in the slighest of openings which may be good with our current personnel. Glennon is getting a lot of buzz lately. Huge body and arm, if he has the smarts to go with it he could end up in the late first early second.
