How much interest did Saban show Ronnie Brown before last year's draft?

[CashInFist]

The reason I ask is I am trying to get a read on who he will pick this year in the 1st round. I know Nick tried to get everyone to believe we would draft Braylon Edwards last year and he had me fooled as well as Braylon himself. Saban is pretty slick at putting up a smoke screen. I am thinking along the lines that our 1st round pick this year may be someone he is keeping low on the radar. Did he spend a lot of time with Ronnie last year?

 

[Dolfan1000]

None. Didnt speak to him since the combine, according to Ronnie.

 

[ChambersWI]

he didn't show any interest after the combine, but everybody knew that he would be the pick because A) we needed a runningback and B) his skill set fit our offense better than Caddy or Benson.

 

[krazikarl]

he didn't show any interest after the combine, but everybody knew that he would be the pick because A) we needed a runningback and B) his skill set fit our offense better than Caddy or Benson.

even though it was the obvious choice, most teams still bring the guy in and inspect him closely to see if they can find any warts that have been missed by the rough inspection. saban's got stones made of ice to do what he did last year, trying to get the most value out of our pick. i've got a feeling he's doing it this year, too - vince young, santonio holmes!? no way we're picking these guys in the first, we have much bigger needs and the draft is significantly deeper at the positions where we do have needs - olb, db, ot.

balls of steel, you're never quite sure what he's doing. i would not look forward to poker with saban.

 

[KendallCat]

Saban is very shrewd in terms of not showing his hand, and what he likes to do is put a lot of feelers and info out there so nobody will know what he is doing. This is very helpful in FA in that it helps to drive the price down with agents and players because rather than waiting on the player to make a decision it forces the player to be the one to speed up the process. It is kind of like when you go look at a house and you are somewhat interested and want to think about it, but then as you are leaving the property you see a family drive up to the house and the kids start running around the yard and the adults are looking at the house. Now the house that you were neutral on suddenly becomes a make a decision that evening type of deal. Saban does the same thing in that instead of picking one QB target he goes after several ( Brees, Culpepper, Harrington, Collins, Maddox...) That way he covers his bases and also gets to know the true asking price rather than paying the market price.

I think this year he is doing the same with the draft, and I would not be surprised to see us move either up or down - I see no way we stay put at 16. The group of players we can get at sixteen (Ty Hill, Cromartie, Jimmy Williams, Winston Justice, Lawson, Chad Jackson, Santonio Holmes) will still be there 4-6 picks later since all of them are in the 16-24 range of most mock drafts. The key thing is to find a trading partner who will want to move up 4-5 picks and give us an extra 2nd or 3rd round pick for it. If Lendale White, Kiwanuka, Lawson, or one of the wr's is still left teams might move up to get them to our spot.

I think we should look to trade with either the Texans for their 2nd round pick #33 and their 3rd round pick #65 since they have both the #65 and #66 picks in the draft. The #33 would be like a late first round pick and the #65 would be like a late 2nd round pick, but without the cap hits of a first and second. At these spots we can still get a left tackle, DT, or a linebacker with about the same grade as the top players at these positions.

 

[Simmer Finner]

Do you guys think that if we sign harrington within the next couple days.......
And.. Vince young is still around at 16.....

that saban will still take the BPA and draft him as a third string?

 

[Disgustipate]

Saban showed just as much interest in Brown as anyone as far as I can remember. He was interviewed at the Senior Bowl/Combine as far as I know, and they had a private workout.

I definately looked like there was some sort of concerted effort at "strategic misrepresentation" as Mandich would say around the Dolphins interest in Alex Smith and Braylon Edwards as the draft approached, however.

 

[kpcane]

I read yesterday that according to Manny Lawson, Saban has not talked to him since the combine either.

 

[Disgustipate]

Do you guys think that if we sign harrington within the next couple days.......
And.. Vince young is still around at 16.....

that saban will still take the BPA and draft him as a third string?

I think Vince Young is a smokescreen as well. Drafting a quarterback at #16 for an insurance policy for Culpepper is a little overboard, and if Culpepper works out, it's unlikely he would retire before Vince Young's rookie contract with the Dolphins would expire.

I think Miami could reasonably have interest in Young as a WR. Correct me if I'm wrong, but guys like Hines Ward, Randel El, Matt Jones, etc. had little to no experience as recievers before they were converted.

I dont know what Young's hands are like, but it seems like catching the ball seems like something that can be taught instead of something innate. His YAC skills would be amazing, I think.

 

[NickJr.]

I think this year he is doing the same with the draft, and I would not be surprised to see us move either up or down - I see no way we stay put at 16. The group of players we can get at sixteen (Ty Hill, Cromartie, Jimmy Williams, Winston Justice, Lawson, Chad Jackson, Santonio Holmes) will still be there 4-6 picks later since all of them are in the 16-24 range of most mock drafts. The key thing is to find a trading partner who will want to move up 4-5 picks and give us an extra 2nd or 3rd round pick for it. If Lendale White, Kiwanuka, Lawson, or one of the wr's is still left teams might move up to get them to our spot.

I think we should look to trade with either the Texans for their 2nd round pick #33 and their 3rd round pick #65 since they have both the #65 and #66 picks in the draft. The #33 would be like a late first round pick and the #65 would be like a late 2nd round pick, but without the cap hits of a first and second. At these spots we can still get a left tackle, DT, or a linebacker with about the same grade as the top players at these positions.

I honestly don't see us moving out of the #16 spot. To move up, you have to have more picks, and that's 1 thing the fins don't have. as far as moving down, I don't see someone really wanting a #16 pick so bad that they would clear out 2nd and 3rd rounders. I would like it if someone did though.

 

[THOMAS_54]

I think Vince Young is a smokescreen as well. Drafting a quarterback at #16 for an insurance policy for Culpepper is a little overboard, and if Culpepper works out, it's unlikely he would retire before Vince Young's rookie contract with the Dolphins would expire.

I think Miami could reasonably have interest in Young as a WR. Correct me if I'm wrong, but guys like Hines Ward, Randel El, Matt Jones, etc. had little to no experience as recievers before they were converted.

I dont know what Young's hands are like, but it seems like catching the ball seems like something that can be taught instead of something innate. His YAC skills would be amazing, I think.

If Vince Young falls to us, we could be in a very good situation because some teams may teams may be willing to give up a lot to trade up and draft him.

 

[pigskinguy]

I honestly don't see us moving out of the #16 spot. To move up, you have to have more picks, and that's 1 thing the fins don't have. as far as moving down, I don't see someone really wanting a #16 pick so bad that they would clear out 2nd and 3rd rounders. I would like it if someone did though.

I think that really depends. If one of the 3 QB's fall to 16 someone might be interested in moving up.

 

[SR 7]

I read yesterday that according to Manny Lawson, Saban has not talked to him since the combine either.

yea i read that a long time ago. seems interesting.

 

[Phishstix]

I think Vince Young is a smokescreen as well. Drafting a quarterback at #16 for an insurance policy for Culpepper is a little overboard, and if Culpepper works out, it's unlikely he would retire before Vince Young's rookie contract with the Dolphins would expire.

I think Miami could reasonably have interest in Young as a WR. Correct me if I'm wrong, but guys like Hines Ward, Randel El, Matt Jones, etc. had little to no experience as recievers before they were converted.

I dont know what Young's hands are like, but it seems like catching the ball seems like something that can be taught instead of something innate. His YAC skills would be amazing, I think.

imo it's all a moot issue b/c young will be long gone, but in case he's there at #16, saban might being trying to show that the fins do have an interest in him so that he can entertain trade partners that might want young too.

 

[bullseyeguy]

Young wouldnt be the BPA at #16 anyways, maybe at 16 in the 2nd, or 3rd...