How will our roster affect our draft?

[Finole]

When I look at our roster, it seems to paint a picture of what direction we might be going in this year's draft. I could be wrong, but here's what I'm looking at:

QB
1. John Beck
2. Josh McCown
3.

DRAFT: A #3 QB or a new #1 which would make Beck and McCown backups.

WR
1. Ted Ginn Jr.
2. Ernest Wilford
3. Greg Camarillo
4. Derek Hagan or Kerry Reed
5. Tab Perry

DRAFT: None. But I would expect an UDFA signing for competition. It also seems as though our front office will be prepared if somebody great slides to us.

RB
1. Ronnie Brown
2. Ricky Williams
3. Lorenzo Booker

DRAFT: None. But again, I would expect an UDFA signing in case Ricky does... well, what Ricky does. I think there's a chance we might trade Ricky, too. Probably not on draft day, but sometime after the season starts and before the trading deadline, depending on the rookie we pick up. If we draft a RB in the 6th or 7th round (or even earlier of course) that would be an indication to me that we will be trading Ricky at some point.

FB
1. Reagan Mauia
2. Boomer Grigsby

DRAFT: None.

TE
1. David Martin
2. Sean Ryan
3. Justin Peelle (if he can play special teams)

DRAFT: Possibly a new #1 or a new #3. Or none, and sign an UDFA to develop. I know we're looking at a couple of potential UDFAs to play H-back.

OL
1. Vernon Carey
2. Samson Satele
3. Justin Smiley
4.
5.
6. Drew Mormino
7. Julius Wilson
8. Ikechuku Ndukwe
9.

DRAFT: OT, OG, backup OG, and possibly a backup OT. Also, expect a couple of UDFAs. Question: Are we all assuming Mormino is our backup Center? It's a safe assumption isn't it?

NT
1. Jason Ferguson
2. Paul Soliai or Randy Starks?

DRAFT: None. Possible UDFA for the practice squad.

DE (3-4)
1. Vonnie Holliday
2. Randy Starks
3. Rod Wright
4. Matt Roth or Derreck Robinson

DRAFT: ??? Not a huge need at DE. And finding an upgrade for Holliday or Starks could prove difficult. Still, our run defense was awful last year, so I could see us drafting a DE as early as the 2nd round if Kentwan Balmer slides. Which would mean bye-bye Matt Roth. (Another potential trade?) My money is on a late-round DE selection.

OLB
1. Jason Taylor
2. Joey Porter
3. Quentin Moses
4. Abraham Wright or Rob Ninkovich

DRAFT: It would appear as though we're not in the market for an OLB. But JT might be traded. Chris Long and/or Vernon Gholston could be too good to pass up. And we have no idea what Parcells and company thinks of Moses, Wright, and Ninkovich. There's a lot of talented OLBs in this year's draft. A handful of potential sleepers, too. I've got my eye on a couple of guys I hope go undrafted.

ILB
1. Reggie Torbor
2. Channing Crowder
3.
4. Charlie Anderson or Kelvin Smith
5. Ed Miles

DRAFT: A potential starter in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th round. The Fins have also expressed interest in A.J. Raebel from Wisconsin-Whitewater. Look for him to be signed as an UDFA, or even drafted with our last 7th round pick.

CB
1.
2. Will Allen
3. Michael Lehan
4. Travis Daniels or Andre' Goodman
5. Nathan Jones

DRAFT: A potential starter in the 2nd round. Although there are two sleepers in this years draft: Tyvon Branch and Orlando Scandrick. But with such a glaring need, that seems like a risky strategy to me. I would love to draft DRC, Cason, or Tracy Porter in the 2nd round AND Scandrick in the 5th round. (But we don't have a 5th round pick, right? Not yet anyway.) :wink2:

FS
1. Jason Allen
2. Chris Crocker
3. Renaldo Hill (IR)

DRAFT: None. Unless Kenny Phillips slides. We might sign an UDFA to compete.

SS
1. Yeremiah Bell
2. Keith Davis

DRAFT: A backup (in case Bell gets injured again) in the 6th or 7th round. A lot of guys around here like Caleb Campbell (and I do too but not in a gay way), but lately I've been hearing that he might go as early as the 4th round.

K Jay Feely
P Brandon Fields
LS John Denney
KR Ted Ginn Jr.

DRAFT: None. Unless we pick Cason or Porter which would give us another return man by default Also, I wouldn't mind bringing in a punter to compete with Fields. And there are rumors that Parcells and company aren't that high on Feely. But I suspect he'll be our kicker.


Please feel free to point out where my roster needs to be adjusted, if at all.

 

[umpalu]

not to knock you, but we actually have way more players at those positions than you have posted, remember everyone is considered on the roster in the offseason (practice squad included) and the roster jumps up to 70+ people. With that said, Parcelles has a tendency to run with more defensive players (for special teams purposes) that he does offensive players. If you go through and analyze his starting alignments for his teams they have a pattern. More often than not he only has 2 QBs on the roster, RB is intriguing since we have 2 coming off injury, he doesn't run that deep in WR, FB, TE, or NT surprisingly, and seems to covet CB, LB, DE, 2 long snappers,2 kickers, and seems to be average on offensive line. Problem is we have 3 starters on OL right now and 1 viable back up. And one of those starters (V.C.) is actually a natural guard as much as everyone here says he should be moved back to right tackle which is still out of position from his skills set if you go with the big picture. The problem thrown into the #! pick is that he covets 3/4 hybrids so much, is chris long what he covets, or is he so depleted on the o-line that it goes that way instead.*

*= the only reason I use Parcells name here (as much as I hate too because it is so overused) is that it is his 1st year here and giving up control will be a little harder than he is used to, and if he brings in all that he is comfortable with, obviously they will be of similar thought as him and with similar thought he can control them in his first draft (with/out) power)

 

[Finole]

not to knock you, but we actually have way more players at those positions than you have posted, remember everyone is considered on the roster in the offseason (practice squad included) and the roster jumps up to 70+ people.

I know we have more players. But do you really think Aaron Halterman is the answer at TE? Are Tuff Harris and Courtney Bryan likely to be our starting tandem at Safety? Does anybody think David Kircus is the next Jerry Rice?

The players I've listed are the guys who we should consider in regards to the draft. Who is going to start? Who is their backup? Who might rotate in?

With that said, Parcelles has a tendency to run with more defensive players (for special teams purposes) that he does offensive players. If you go through and analyze his starting alignments for his teams they have a pattern. More often than not he only has 2 QBs on the roster, RB is intriguing since we have 2 coming off injury, he doesn't run that deep in WR, FB, TE, or NT surprisingly, and seems to covet CB, LB, DE, 2 long snappers,2 kickers, and seems to be average on offensive line.

The norm is the following:

3 QB
3-4 RB
1-2 FB
5 WR
3 TE
9-10 OL
6-8 DL (in a 3-4 defense)
8-10 LB (in a 3-4 defense)
5 CB
4 S
1 K
1 P
1 LS

I doubt Parcells deviates from that much, if at all. For example, in 2005 the Dallas Cowboys carried 3 QBs: Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo, and Drew Henson.

Problem is we have 3 starters on OL right now and 1 viable back up. And one of those starters (V.C.) is actually a natural guard as much as everyone here says he should be moved back to right tackle which is still out of position from his skills set if you go with the big picture. The problem thrown into the #! pick is that he covets 3/4 hybrids so much, is chris long what he covets, or is he so depleted on the o-line that it goes that way instead.

Vernon Carey is far from a natural Guard. Whenever they have tried him there, he has been terrible, and they immediately moved him back out to Tackle.

I think when you look at that list, the glaring needs that jump out are OL, CB, ILB, and possibly QB.

Possible upgrades: WR, TE, LB, and S.

Not a big area of need: RB, FB, DL, K, and P.

Of course, that all depends on how you feel about several players: John Beck, Ted Ginn, Ernest Wilford, Greg Camarillo, David Martin, Jason Taylor, Joey Porter, Channing Crowder, Reggie Torbor, Randy Starks, Yeremiah Bell, and Jason Allen.

 

[3rdandinches]

I don't think we'll look at the draft that way, we'll 100% of the way take BPA. Even if C.Long is picked first it does not mean OL with either 2nd. Because of that I really do believe J.Long will be 1st because it makes the rest of the draft alot easier. We may need a CB but if there's a run of them in the 1st than someone very talented falls to 32. If that happens to be Sweed/Hardy it wouldn't surprise me if we went that route. Even then if we look at 2b do you take Lofton or Godfrey or Laws if he drops, the first two are bigger needs but Laws is a hell of a player.
Another scenario (which I believe will happen) JT gets traded to Minnesota or Jacksonville but only after they know the guys they want are gone by the time they pick. So if we take J.Long 1st and trade JT by the mid 2nd or late 1st we all of a sudden have a big need at OLB. Alot of interesting things are going to happen come draft day.

 

[FinFanatic80]

We better select a WR in the this years draft, because after Ginn and Wilford we got nothin.

 

[dabeastdabone]

We better select a WR in the this years draft, because after Ginn and Wilford we got nothin.

Nice work. I do think you can use that to help figure things out. However I think the first pick and maybe even 32nd pick will also be heavily decided by best player available.

 

[Finole]

I don't think we'll look at the draft that way, we'll 100% of the way take BPA.

To play devil's advocate...

Would you be cool with a draft like this:

BPA in the 1st round - RB Darren McFadden from Arkansas
BPA in the 2nd round - RB Jamaal Charles from Texas
BPA in the 3rd round - RB Ray Rice from Rutgers
BPA in the 4th round - RB Kevin Smith from Central Florida
BPA in the 6th round - RB Justin Forsett from Cal
BPA in the 7th round - RB Tim Hightower from Richmond

Because it's totally possible for that to happen if you disregard the roster and pick BPA only.

 

[Finole]

Nice work. I do think you can use that to help figure things out. However I think the first pick and maybe even 32nd pick will also be heavily decided by best player available.

A voice of reason.

I think the #1 overall pick will be the best player available. Except for McFadden of course. We didn't send a single person to his Pro Day. Am I the only one that finds it interesting that we seem to seem to be ignoring the one position (running back) that doesn't seem to be a position of NEED for us?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if we trade out of the #32 pick for additional picks. Unless somebody really great slides to us.