lupedafiasco wrote: ↑03 Jan 2024 11:38
Depends on who the new DC is and what we are trying to do. If we are staying the Fangio style defense I dont see a point in taking a CB early. Alexander isnt going anywhere. It would be the most dead cap any team has ever taken on in a trade outside of the QB position. Valentine and Ballentine both look capable on the boundary. Theres still Stokes for one more year. I dont think taking a nickel CB in the 1st is good value and safety is historically awful value in the 1st round and almost always backfires.
Right now I'm pretty set on Amarius Mims, OT from Georgia. Hes a RT coming off injury but had he not been beat up this year hes a top 16 pick without a doubt. If we are picking in the early 20s thats my guy. You can get him in over Tom at RT and get a big boost at run blocking and maybe sacrificing a little as a rookie in pass blocking. Then move Tom to C and get a significant upgrade over Myers. I think our run blocking would massively improve.
I want DBs early, CB or safety, and S doesn't have any player worth it, so a CB that could play safety, like Dejean, is very high on my list. I want elite football IQ and versatility to play nickel or safety--big needs for us--and in order to combine that with the athletic profile we prefer, it may have to be early.
I JUST started getting into draft stuff, like, today. And I am ALSO intrigued by Mims out of UGA. I don't have a whole OL plan particularly, but Mims' injury and inexperience could cause him to slide far below his talent and upside and traits would merit, and that might be the best value.
I still think Tom is the LT of the future and Idon't understand why people, after one year, are like "no he's good at RT, stay there." He's the prototypical pass-first blocker that you want on the blindside with nearly identical measurables as the guy he would be replacing (Bakh). Plus, Walker being not-as-good-as-Tom should be more of a RT/swing OT in the league. It made sense not to move them after the whole preseason or mid-season. But with an offseason to prepare, you gotta get these guys at their best positions.
And while Tom might be the best C on our roster if he ever embraced it, he also has probably made himself too valuable at OT to make a shift to the middle make sense, in my view.
BTW, as "may be a bargain because of injury history" guys go, there's an ILB I'm into named Payton Wilson. His injury history is long enough that i won't care if we miss him, and he's older than we usually take, but if he's there with our 4th I'd definitely want him. His value is probably closer to our 3rd, but medicals will be telling. He's 6'4" 240, good tape, and great football IQ and the NC St coach (who has been around for a while) said he's never had a player practice and play as hard as Wilson, or something like that.
My theme for this offseason on defense is adding football IQ to the middle of the field (a LB, two safeties, a nickel CB). I want that to come with athleticism, too; butwe have athleticism on our roster. We need the IQ.
Also, maybe more of an outside CB, but a guy Ross Uglem just put in his Packer mock on twitter, so I can't claim to be first on him for us, is TJ Tampa.
If MLF really wants to play a zone-based scheme, he'd be a good get in the 2nd
