We can all agree that our offense needs talent. Parker is a veteran with a history of injuries, Preston is a similar young guy with a history of injuries. The rest of our WR corps. is decent but not exceptional. There is a lot of reason to pair a top notch young WR prospect or two with our young QB and let them grow together like Marino did with the Marks Brothers.
That said, there's a lot of evidence that the multitude of good WR's in today's draft tend to extend past round 1. Guys like Chase Claypool and Tee Higgins were very good WR's picked up in round two, and they were by no means the only good WR's picked in round two last year. In previous years a guy like the Saints' Michael Thomas was a second round pick as well. The point being that with 4 picks in the top 50, we legitimately have 4 options to find a good young WR, and it does not need to be at #3 overall. While I am a big fan of Ja'Marr Chase, and would probably select him at #3 if we stay at that spot, even I recognize that a Jalen Waddle may be available at #18, and in the second round, there are still some outstanding prospects. And while a Kyle Pitts is generally considered a TE, he is one of the best pass catchers in this draft, and he could easily be considered/adapted as a WR and he may be available at #18 as well. The point is ... if we want to draft a WR, we have a lot of good options.
Our OL is still a work in progress. With Chan Gailey leaving we lost Coach Marshall. IMHO, that's a major blow, as I finally felt we had found our architect to build/improve our OL. Hopefully his assistant Lemuel Jeanpierre (almost as hard to write as say!) learned enough as to be able to continue improving our young guys and organize/prepare our veterans. Given our atrocious track record coaching OL ... I'm going to be watching this space closely. Regardless, we do not have the answer across the OL. Jesse Davis and Ereck Flowers are veterans, and we cannot really count on them forever. We will need more young players. Ted Karras played on a one year "prove it" contract ... and he proved it, so his price will go up considerably. But, this is a rare year where the salary cap is going down, so we may be able to re-sign him, fingers crossed. Despite his rocky rookie season, I really like Austin Jackson, and believe he only needs time and patience while he is coached up and gets his body and technique in shape. Solomon Kindley is a power pig, so he's not ever going to be a great pulling guard, but for what he is, he played well, and when he gets his body in better shape he should continue to improve. Robert Hunt did a good job of adjusting to the jump in competition level and showed both potential and improvement, so I was very happy for his season ... but all three of those rookies and almost all of the veterans were mediocre or below in 2020. We need more OL and we need improved OL.
Penei Sewell is a dynamite OL, and worthy of the #3 pick. I'm a huge fan of picking talent over need, because need changes, but you can't add talent very often. While I wouldn't be upset with a Sewell pick, I'd much rather NOT pick an OL at #3 overall, especially with Austin Jackson on board. This draft has a lot of decent OL over the top 50 picks, I'm game for picking up one OL with our 1st or 2nd rounder, and adding another later in the draft ... but preferably not at #3 overall. Unless something dramatically changes, I'd be looking to trade back from #3 while staying in the top 12'ish of elite players and picking up more assets.
Looking at the Defense, I'm just not convinced with the pass rushers in this draft ... for a second year in a row ... and that's majorly disappointing. One or two will blossom and be an obvious choice ... but they all lack production or enough elite traits to really seem obvious to me right now. Lots of boom or bust potential this year. There are some good LB who could help us, like Zaven Collins, but the guy I like the most is my super-sleeper, Charles Snowden of UVa. He's long (6'6), athletic, smart, hard working, versatile and before he got injured looked quite productive. Our defense can take a guy who is quick, fast, and long and add muscle to him and make him a combo LB/DE edge rusher with great success. Currently projected as a mid round pick, depending upon who is ranking him, and without a combine this year, we should be able to steal him in round 3 or 4. That's my hidden gem. But there are LB/Edge guys available outside of round 1 for sure. To me, the only place where there are a LOT of good prospects and high positional value are at DB. The CB class is another excellent one, so no matter where you draft them, you're gonna get value, but I particularly like the depth of the top tier CB's. There are a half dozen first round worthy CB's, and almost as many 2nd round worthy guys. We ought to get one of those.
As most know, I wasn't a huge fan of the Igbinoghene selection, but he has athletic ability and he's young, so I'm not giving up on him. But, I don't see any reason not to take one of those talented CB's in the top 50. If we don't, there is still a standing need at safety on this team, and a bunch of guys graded as round 2 through 4 who could add value.
The value in this draft is on offense. Our greatest needs (OL, WR, RB) are on offense. Let's hope we build this offense in the draft.
That said, there's a lot of evidence that the multitude of good WR's in today's draft tend to extend past round 1. Guys like Chase Claypool and Tee Higgins were very good WR's picked up in round two, and they were by no means the only good WR's picked in round two last year. In previous years a guy like the Saints' Michael Thomas was a second round pick as well. The point being that with 4 picks in the top 50, we legitimately have 4 options to find a good young WR, and it does not need to be at #3 overall. While I am a big fan of Ja'Marr Chase, and would probably select him at #3 if we stay at that spot, even I recognize that a Jalen Waddle may be available at #18, and in the second round, there are still some outstanding prospects. And while a Kyle Pitts is generally considered a TE, he is one of the best pass catchers in this draft, and he could easily be considered/adapted as a WR and he may be available at #18 as well. The point is ... if we want to draft a WR, we have a lot of good options.
Our OL is still a work in progress. With Chan Gailey leaving we lost Coach Marshall. IMHO, that's a major blow, as I finally felt we had found our architect to build/improve our OL. Hopefully his assistant Lemuel Jeanpierre (almost as hard to write as say!) learned enough as to be able to continue improving our young guys and organize/prepare our veterans. Given our atrocious track record coaching OL ... I'm going to be watching this space closely. Regardless, we do not have the answer across the OL. Jesse Davis and Ereck Flowers are veterans, and we cannot really count on them forever. We will need more young players. Ted Karras played on a one year "prove it" contract ... and he proved it, so his price will go up considerably. But, this is a rare year where the salary cap is going down, so we may be able to re-sign him, fingers crossed. Despite his rocky rookie season, I really like Austin Jackson, and believe he only needs time and patience while he is coached up and gets his body and technique in shape. Solomon Kindley is a power pig, so he's not ever going to be a great pulling guard, but for what he is, he played well, and when he gets his body in better shape he should continue to improve. Robert Hunt did a good job of adjusting to the jump in competition level and showed both potential and improvement, so I was very happy for his season ... but all three of those rookies and almost all of the veterans were mediocre or below in 2020. We need more OL and we need improved OL.
Penei Sewell is a dynamite OL, and worthy of the #3 pick. I'm a huge fan of picking talent over need, because need changes, but you can't add talent very often. While I wouldn't be upset with a Sewell pick, I'd much rather NOT pick an OL at #3 overall, especially with Austin Jackson on board. This draft has a lot of decent OL over the top 50 picks, I'm game for picking up one OL with our 1st or 2nd rounder, and adding another later in the draft ... but preferably not at #3 overall. Unless something dramatically changes, I'd be looking to trade back from #3 while staying in the top 12'ish of elite players and picking up more assets.
Looking at the Defense, I'm just not convinced with the pass rushers in this draft ... for a second year in a row ... and that's majorly disappointing. One or two will blossom and be an obvious choice ... but they all lack production or enough elite traits to really seem obvious to me right now. Lots of boom or bust potential this year. There are some good LB who could help us, like Zaven Collins, but the guy I like the most is my super-sleeper, Charles Snowden of UVa. He's long (6'6), athletic, smart, hard working, versatile and before he got injured looked quite productive. Our defense can take a guy who is quick, fast, and long and add muscle to him and make him a combo LB/DE edge rusher with great success. Currently projected as a mid round pick, depending upon who is ranking him, and without a combine this year, we should be able to steal him in round 3 or 4. That's my hidden gem. But there are LB/Edge guys available outside of round 1 for sure. To me, the only place where there are a LOT of good prospects and high positional value are at DB. The CB class is another excellent one, so no matter where you draft them, you're gonna get value, but I particularly like the depth of the top tier CB's. There are a half dozen first round worthy CB's, and almost as many 2nd round worthy guys. We ought to get one of those.
As most know, I wasn't a huge fan of the Igbinoghene selection, but he has athletic ability and he's young, so I'm not giving up on him. But, I don't see any reason not to take one of those talented CB's in the top 50. If we don't, there is still a standing need at safety on this team, and a bunch of guys graded as round 2 through 4 who could add value.
The value in this draft is on offense. Our greatest needs (OL, WR, RB) are on offense. Let's hope we build this offense in the draft.