Don't 1st round offensive linemen usually demand BIG bucks? With all the moves everyone wants us to be making, can we really afford to draft a guy like Carey who, while obviously very talented, is still untested in the NFL? I think going after one or two guys through free agency is a little safer and could potentially be a bit cheaper in the end. Then we have the opportunity to go after a guy like Rivers at #20 and still pick up (assuming we get another pick from Ogunleye) a solid WR or maybe even a little, dare I say, defensive depth.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would probably cry tears of joy if we managed to draft Sean Taylor (safety out of Miami for all you that don't follow college ball). The kid can play, and he can hit. Look at what Ed Reed has done for Baltimore already. Fans up there are saying "Rod Woodson who?" Marion and Knight are both great, and I love having them. But Brock is not getting any younger, and Knight is only signed through next year (possibly 2005, I don't feel like checking right now). With Freeman likely gone, that leaves us with little or no future at safety. I'm a 'Canes fan so I have been watching Taylor for a while. He has NFL talent written all over him . . . perhaps moreso than just about any other 1st rounder. I said the same thing to my friends when Baltimore took Reed, and now he's a pro-bowler in his second year.
Who knows? He could be gone by the time we pick, but Taylor is going to be a star safety in the NFL somewhere. I would love to see him here. Before anyone bites my head off, understand that I don't claim to be in the "know" about anything. I'm a fan. I call it like I see it, and I try to never be critical. I'm just offering up a suggestion because I see safety as a position of concern in a year or two. I understand that most people are looking at next year as THE year. Believe me, so am I . . .
