Missing pieces?

I'd still like to see us trade down for more picks preferrably 2 in rd 1. If that were to happen I'd like to see us go D-line in rd 1 and corner with rd 2. We'd be a bit crowded but I'd rather have the young talent in place and learning instead of waiting until next year.

Id we don't trade down. We'll see Peppers with the first pick and probably a corner in rd 2 or another D-lineman. We could go LB in the 3rd but I think an Offensive pick will go in the 3rd WR maybe or RB.

I was high on Navies last year and I haven't changed my view on him. I want to see this kid play. If not Navies more of Towns or maybe even Minor.

The cornerstone for our D is Morgan and drafting a D-line that will keep guys off of him. Look at Zach Thomas.... he wouldn't be that great without the D-line.

With another run-stuffer at DT and a passrusher at DE we could have a damn good D with what we have on roster now. Rucker plays the run very well and can get to the QB. Jenkins can become one of the run-stuffers we need. That leaves us in need of a passrusher and another runstuff DT.

Buckner can penetrate from the DT spot but doesn't hold his position as well. Gilbert is a pursuit DT. He hold his spot for a bit and then gets pushed off.. then you see his butt running down the field in pursuit.

Basically with a good D-line corner isn't a pressing need as you would think.

The game is won or lost in the trenches.


About David Thornton...... hell yeah baby Goldsboro native. He's moved up a little since last I looked.

 

I go away for a week on business, and this place goes all to hell.

Defensively, Minter has been our most consistent player over the past two years, which says a lot about our defensive problems. It seems any fool could see that, but I tend to give humanity too much credit.

By moving Morgan to the middle, we see Fox trying to put the one first round talent as the center piece, and building around that. The first thing that tells me is with Morgan's style, the need for more value at DT is imparitive. He's not a player that naturally bounces off blockers and traffic, more of a roamer and pursuer. So the team is obviously hoping Jenkins develops. Gilbert's time will eventually come to an end, so we are looking for a starter here for the future.

If we do trade down, I still want a DT more, for this reason. Not our biggest need short term, but long term, if we expect Morgan to be the playmaker, we need to be able to keep blockers off him.

Similarly, DE is our biggest need as far as impact AND depth. We have one startong level DE. who is a FA next year, and then NOTHING after that. Williams will have to take a large pay cut, or be cut himself. Which will further worsen our depth. We could do worse than go DE twice in the draft. One developmental RDE, one starting LDE.

At linebacker, we seem set at keeping roleplayers around Morgan. Fields will help with run support, and he'll probably have little pass coverage responsibilities. We''' probably still have trouble with the TE and RB. I still like Navies a whole lot when healthy, but he can't be counted upon. If Jackson can give us a few years as a role player, that's all I want from the strong side.

Minter, Grant, and Cooper developing is enough there. Minter is a solid guy, but we depend on him too much. Grant is an athlete with good ball skills, and Cooper is an aggesive hitter. Put the two together, and you'd have a All Pro FS. We can't, but I'm not too worried. I never understand why a lot of people put so much emphasis on having a great safety, when you can have a great defense with an average one, but all too often have an average defense with a great one. They are largely role players, even the playmakers. It's the nature of the position.

At corner, we've got retreads. Our second biggest defensive need. A long term need, that probably won't be completely filled this year. We might get one starter. To me, this puts a double helping of need on our DE situation. Any fool could see that, but then again, I give some people too much credit.

Basically, we have three solid players, some decent role players, but no real impact guys yet.

And some people wonder why so much focus has been on D. Sheez.

 

>>And some people wonder why so much focus has been on D. Sheez.

Yeah really. IMO this team is going to be a defense-driven team that runs through a stout and solid center - built along the lines, a back, and roaming defenders Minter, Grant, and Morgan, so whether everyone approves of our receivers right now doesn't matter to me. The back is kinda important. Otherwise the offense needs to wait a while unless the value's great.

It's the D that's gotta get as good as possible as soon as possible. It's also far more key to get the right eleven (thirteen, actually) players on D where O can be very much so a dynamic situation. That's why I want to focus on the defense.

>>We could do worse than go DE twice in the draft. One developmental RDE, one starting LDE

No doubt.