3rdandinches
Seasoned Veteran
QB - Penny is going into his last year under contract and I actually do not think he would re-sign with us if he has a great year. He would want to be the starter without question and I don't think the FO would out right say that to him. But anyways we would not take a QB with 1st pick even if Sanchez or Freeman were still available. We would use them as trade bait to collect more picks since Henne was hand picked by this FO.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 0%
RB - This could very well be a direction we go but not in the 1st round. A RB would be selected in round 2-4 more likely, that's where the best value is and still a tonne of them to choose from. This of course would only happen if RBrown was to be traded, getting a RB early to replace a back later is not needed because of the fact RB's can step in right away and make an impact. Worst case scenario we franchise Ronnie year to year to stay away from the long term contract and your the franchise tag for RB's isn't that bad.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 2%
WR - If this was a big priority I believe it would have been addressed in the offseason. This seems to be a larger priority by fans and some "experts" then our FO. Really last offseason would have been the biggest reason to upgrade the WR position because of the unknowns and the only thing we id is grab Wilford. Right now we have seen that our core of WR's are very good and adding another player later in the draft. BP has also had alot of success with taking WR's later and even as UDFA's. I would be very surprised if we selected a 1st round WR or even still traded for one.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 8%
OL - This would only happen if a top 4 OT dropped and the way OT's are regarded in this league that will never happen. We do need depth there but the earliest I see us selecting a G or OT would be at 56 (i.e Loadholt/Robinson). Having a Oline guru as our coach makes me believe we'll wait until the 4th and later for depth.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 1%
TE - Some feel that there's a chance Petigrew may be available and want to jump all over him as BPA. I'm on the fence about this one, on one hand he's an upgrade but BP likes to draft TE's later on and has had great success with that i.e Fasano, Witten. I can not see our FO getting away from this and I believe our draft board has alot of OLB's, a couple ILB's and some DL ahead of Petigrew as our BPA. Also take into account that I believe Fasano will re-sign fairly cheap, our FO is high on Haynos and there's solid depth in this draft at TE I see that pick as unlikely.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 3%
S - This might be the one position we've talked about the least, we have two very solid starters and some potential as depth but no one we really could count on if Bell or Wilson gets hurt. So once again would you select someone this early for depth, no of course not but the one wild card would be M.Jenkins. He would be the one guy that kills two birds with one stone, he could compete at CB and slide over FS if one of our guys got hurt. Many have stated that Jenkins would be a probowl FS and the overall talent would be to great to pass up.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 1%
DL - We let VH go for cap reasons and need depth to go with our NT's. NT will be selected in the mid rounds seeing that we have Fergy still and Solai. S Lee, T Taylor, C Baker, D Scott, R Miller, T Knighton, V Martin etc... are all possibilities from the 3rd round and later. R. Brace is a 2nd round pick that is also strong possibility but again NT's seem to have greater value later on. If Raji falls then he becomes a no brainer I believe. DE becomes the wild card, most fans don't believe we'll select one so early and I tend to agree with them. I love our DE's and could see a run stuffer later on.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 5%
LB - This is where I can't get away from our 1st pick. We need to upgrade the pass rush and we need to do that by upgrading our OLB and ILB positions. Roth does a great job against the run but we need a pure pass rusher to rotate with him. We also need to generate some more pressure from our blitz'ers in the inside. Akin and Crowder do a good job but nothing special when it comes to pressuring the QB. I really believe two of our first 3 picks will be from these positions.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 60% OLB/ 5% ILB totalling 65%
CB - Another strong need position and when you think that Allen is under his last year it becomes a more pressing need. Jenkins, Davis, Smith and Butler are all intriguing prospects.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 15%
Of course trading with pick to bring in more picks is always a possibility and one I would welcome in a heart beat. As we all know anything can happen but past history has proven that our FO has structured plan in how they build a championship calibre team and they don't stray very far from it.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 0%
RB - This could very well be a direction we go but not in the 1st round. A RB would be selected in round 2-4 more likely, that's where the best value is and still a tonne of them to choose from. This of course would only happen if RBrown was to be traded, getting a RB early to replace a back later is not needed because of the fact RB's can step in right away and make an impact. Worst case scenario we franchise Ronnie year to year to stay away from the long term contract and your the franchise tag for RB's isn't that bad.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 2%
WR - If this was a big priority I believe it would have been addressed in the offseason. This seems to be a larger priority by fans and some "experts" then our FO. Really last offseason would have been the biggest reason to upgrade the WR position because of the unknowns and the only thing we id is grab Wilford. Right now we have seen that our core of WR's are very good and adding another player later in the draft. BP has also had alot of success with taking WR's later and even as UDFA's. I would be very surprised if we selected a 1st round WR or even still traded for one.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 8%
OL - This would only happen if a top 4 OT dropped and the way OT's are regarded in this league that will never happen. We do need depth there but the earliest I see us selecting a G or OT would be at 56 (i.e Loadholt/Robinson). Having a Oline guru as our coach makes me believe we'll wait until the 4th and later for depth.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 1%
TE - Some feel that there's a chance Petigrew may be available and want to jump all over him as BPA. I'm on the fence about this one, on one hand he's an upgrade but BP likes to draft TE's later on and has had great success with that i.e Fasano, Witten. I can not see our FO getting away from this and I believe our draft board has alot of OLB's, a couple ILB's and some DL ahead of Petigrew as our BPA. Also take into account that I believe Fasano will re-sign fairly cheap, our FO is high on Haynos and there's solid depth in this draft at TE I see that pick as unlikely.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 3%
S - This might be the one position we've talked about the least, we have two very solid starters and some potential as depth but no one we really could count on if Bell or Wilson gets hurt. So once again would you select someone this early for depth, no of course not but the one wild card would be M.Jenkins. He would be the one guy that kills two birds with one stone, he could compete at CB and slide over FS if one of our guys got hurt. Many have stated that Jenkins would be a probowl FS and the overall talent would be to great to pass up.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 1%
DL - We let VH go for cap reasons and need depth to go with our NT's. NT will be selected in the mid rounds seeing that we have Fergy still and Solai. S Lee, T Taylor, C Baker, D Scott, R Miller, T Knighton, V Martin etc... are all possibilities from the 3rd round and later. R. Brace is a 2nd round pick that is also strong possibility but again NT's seem to have greater value later on. If Raji falls then he becomes a no brainer I believe. DE becomes the wild card, most fans don't believe we'll select one so early and I tend to agree with them. I love our DE's and could see a run stuffer later on.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 5%
LB - This is where I can't get away from our 1st pick. We need to upgrade the pass rush and we need to do that by upgrading our OLB and ILB positions. Roth does a great job against the run but we need a pure pass rusher to rotate with him. We also need to generate some more pressure from our blitz'ers in the inside. Akin and Crowder do a good job but nothing special when it comes to pressuring the QB. I really believe two of our first 3 picks will be from these positions.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 60% OLB/ 5% ILB totalling 65%
CB - Another strong need position and when you think that Allen is under his last year it becomes a more pressing need. Jenkins, Davis, Smith and Butler are all intriguing prospects.
Chance of being 1st round pick = 15%
Of course trading with pick to bring in more picks is always a possibility and one I would welcome in a heart beat. As we all know anything can happen but past history has proven that our FO has structured plan in how they build a championship calibre team and they don't stray very far from it.