At this point I'd go smokescreen. They're showing interest in the players that someone might actually trade up into the 1st pick to take, which are Chris Long, Gholston, Dorsey and Matt Ryan. Everyone knows they're not going to take McFadden so they're not even trying to convince anyone of that. Jake Long is a guy most teams want but aren't interested in trading up to 1 for because they're fairly confident that he'll be available lower ... so there's no sense of urgency there.
But, when it's all said and done, I think if we MUST stay at #1 that Jake Long is probably the best choice. He's proven he could play LT at a high level without injuries or penalties for probably 10 years. He's the most dominant run blocker in the draft and only had 1 sack allowed in 2 seasons at LT ... and only 1 sack allowed in 2 seasons at RT, so that's 2 sacks for his career. Now that Joe Thomas has had a good rookie season, everyone's saying Thomas is a better tackle, but while they were both in the Big 10 everyone thought Long was the better tackle. Yes, Gholston--one of the very top athletes in this draft and a sure-fire sack specialist in the NFL--beat Long once for a sack. Well Anthony Spencer beat Joe Thomas for a sack too, that doesn't mean Thomas can't handle the LT position, and given the choice between Spencer and Gholston, I think it's safe to say almost every defensive coordinator would take Gholston ... so, 1 sack, not really a mountain of evidence. Sure, you can say he got lucky ... but only 1 sack ... come on, the guy can pass protect. It's a no brainer that he's a fantastic run blocker. I think Jake Long will be the pick, but right now we are still trying hard to trade down.
