Well you're right Phintim, you cannot really slate draft picks as starters, but you need to project. After all, the entire reason we draft is to acquire players who will help us on the field, so we're projecting players that we think/hope can play for us--and at a high level.
The first 2 rounds are expected to become starters; maybe not in their rookie season, but soon. Rounds 3 and 4 are guys you think have the ability to be starters, but usually have a negative drawback or concern, such as injuries, lack of speed, raw technique, low competition, or character issues. Those are more iffy projections. By the time you get to rounds 5 through 7, all bets are off. Instead of dropping because of weaknesses, instead you're looking for anybody that has some potential, be it as a special teamer, rare speed but inferior football talent, slow but strong, etc.
Ultimately, the draft process is only part of the puzzle. Today, Free Agency can do two things, 1) legitimately bring in good players, and 2) caulk holes. By "caulk" I mean it's like you get a hole in your wall from the doorknob breaking the drywall. You can slap some caulking in it and paint over it ... it fills the hole, but it's just not the same thing as a new wall. It might hold up, it might not, but you'll just not be sure until it's dried.
FA's tend to be much higher priced for the legitimately good players, so that busts your salary cap if you use it more than selectively. Caulking is fine, but you can't build a solid wall with just caulking, you need players with talent to make the wall stand up. The Draft is the most effective and cheapest way to obtain talent. Sure, the 1st rounders are overpriced and the Top 10 are insanely overpriced, but all in all, the Draft is the best method to build the team's core.
We can't be certain how many starters any draft will produce, but we must project some so we know how to address the talent problem. If we were to land the OP's draft, I think we'd have ourselves some definite NFL-ready starters. Hell, I think any CB drafted this year has a good chance to start in our secondary. When your best TE's are Peele and Ryan ... the standards for becoming a starter are mighty low, LOL. I also think that if we draft an OL in the first round, there's more than plenty of places for him to start. Heck, McCown isn't exactly a sure-fire starter, and a rookie competing with a 2nd year pro who didn't prove anything the season before, I'd say that's a fair chance as well.
Build through the draft. I expect us to have a very high draft position next draft as well, but it'll take 3 good drafts to put us back squarely in the playoffs. Luckily, I consider our 2007 draft to be 1 good draft, bringing us Satele, Booker, a potential starting QB in Beck, and a potentially great field-stretching receiver in Ginn. I was and am high on Soliai, but he's showed nothing thus far. Hopefully Parcells can bring out the beast in him.
