I like Barmore, and before we nuked our OLB/DE position I had him penciled in as a target for the #18 and #36 picks. Now, it's worth mentioning that those Alabama DL also are part of a group that sometimes look far better than they become in the NFL. I was/am a huge fan of Quinnen Williams for example, and he hasn't really lived up to his billing yet either. But, we did have limited success with Raekwon Davis ... so maybe our scouts have figured out which prospects we can get value from? To me, Barmore has a huge upside and the strength to dominate a DL in both phases of the game. He could seamlessly play all across our DL giving us an element of versatility that we require. If he refines his pass rush, the kid can really be exceptional.
But, then we brought in the DL from the Patriots to cover/upgrade from Godxhaux, so I don't really see the need any more ... and I'm less interested in Barmore as a luxury pick. Once we cut Kyle Van Noy AND traded away Shaq Lawson, we instantly created a crater in our starting lineup that Andrew Van Ginkel can not completely fill. If AVG starts in the Lawson spot, fine, but we still need a 3 down starter in the Van Noy spot AND a 3rd edge to pick up the snaps AVG had last year. We absolutely need to draft an elite edge OLB/DE and there are only 2 or 3 of them in this draft ... and 100% come with significant red flags, so we're going to have to "pick your poison" when we draft one high.
I think somewhere in the #18 to #36 range we should be able to get one, but when he's available, we need to pull the trigger, because they'll all be gone if we wait past #36. I think our plays are:
A) pick him at #18 and cross your fins
B) trade back from #18 or up from #36 to select one somewhere in between when the run starts
C) trade up from #18 and get your first choice
D) have our defense collapse in 2021 and regress back to an 8-8 or below .500 team and just hope we can fix it next year
Obviously, I'm not in favor of option D.