Draft Discussion... why did you make that pick ?

First topic message reminder :

Let us know why you made that pick, post here a few lines to explain that all important 1st pick.

Yeah, was talking about sanu, he is a 1st rounder right now but if he runs any slower than about 4.50, he may drop. Seems like a Harbaugh player, tough gets really good YAC, goes over the middle and is a tough blocker plus he is very versatile, my only worry is that he is too similar to crabtree

I don't think running between 4.50 and 4.55 will hurt him too much, Hakeem Nicks ran 4.49 and has been one of the top receivers the last couple of years, regularly beating defenders deep. I can see a slight comparison between the 2, both similar height/weight, and having question marks about their speed. Nicks was probably more polished and a lot better route runner, but the potential is there for sure.

Niner fans seem to have differing opinions on what type of receiver is required I think, some people want jeffery and some people want wright, I'd want wright personally with sanu as the 2nd option. The only thing that could hurt Sanu is that he doesn't have the same hype or 'wow' factor as other potential 1st round receivers

I have seen the 49ers linked with Sanu in a few drafts and agree that he would be a good pick up especially if they bring in someone like Colston, Johnson or Jackson in from the free agents.

I can't really see Crabtree being there next season so something like Colston and Sanu would make a good pair. Presuming Floyd and Wright go mid-draft the 49ers may have a choice between Sanu, Jeffery and Randle at WR.

Another interesting 1st round pick for the 49ers could be TE Coby Fleener if they want to go down the Patriots dual TE offence route. Fleeney who has been at Stanford will surely be of interest to Harbaugh.

Was gonna take Poe but he was stolen from under my nose!
Burfict is a good pick as he can fit into a aging linebacker corps and add a Ray Lewis like intensity. He could be a great player but just needs to be kept in check.

Barron can learn from Reed whilst playing alongside him and then possibly make replace him in the long-run. He isn't going to the combine but I think he's good enough to warrant the pick.

I definitely think Barron is a good value at this point, I have seen him mocked to the Jets in the mid first round so a decent pick. I was considering him for the Texans, but decided that I would rather get the best player to fill a need rather than just BPA. If he had lasted till the 2nd round I would have been trying to trade up to pick him, if he can show he has recovered from his injury at his Pro Day I think he will be a first round pick as he is a very talented safety, easily the best in the draft

I love the Redskins drafting Tannehill and Blackmon in the 1st round. Gives them something to build around and with Helu at RB they have the start of a solid young offense. There defence is good as well

Good 1st round for the Redskins, could be enough to push them towards the playoffs. Mike were you intending on going this offense heavy in the first round or did it just happen because of who was available?

ollyrules wrote:I love the Redskins drafting Tannehill and Blackmon in the 1st round. Gives them something to build around and with Helu at RB they have the start of a solid young offense. There defence is good as well

That was the thinking with there being little chance of either Luck or RG3 dropping down to 6th.

I could have possibly had waited for Tannehill in the 2nd Round but there are a couple of other teams that may have been interested. In fact I have seen plenty mock drafts were Tannehill has been drafted as high as 6th. From the reports I have read the Redskins are quite keen on him too.

It would give them the option to take Peyton Manning for maybe a year or two too and being able to work on/ develop Tannehill? The Bengals were quite successful last year with Dalton and Green so going down a similar route could be good for the Redskins.

Derbyblue wrote:Good 1st round for the Redskins, could be enough to push them towards the playoffs. Mike were you intending on going this offense heavy in the first round or did it just happen because of who was available?

It was probably going to depend upon how the first six picks went. Blackmon and Tannehill was definitely a pairing I was looking at from the start. Had Blackmon been picked up before 6th, I probably would have took Clairborne or Reiff and then Tannehill. The other option was to trade down and maybe pick up 3 picks in the first 2 rounds.

As ollyrules says with Helu already their then the Redskins will surely be looking to add a at QB and WR.

[quote="NFL MIKE"]

ollyrules wrote:I could have possibly had waited for Tannehill in the 2nd Round but there are a couple of other teams that may have been interested. In fact I have seen plenty mock drafts were Tannehill has been drafted as high as 6th. From the reports I have read the Redskins are quite keen on him too.

If you identify a player you want and believe he's value at that point in the draft then go get him-don't let another team steal him form you. Nothing wrong with that.

At this point in time, I'm kinda hoping the Skins don't go for Tannehill in the draft. I'm just a bit nervous about the fact that recent history suggests that these supposed "second tier" QBs (usually the guys taken in the 2nd round) don't often turn out to be guys that can start in the NFL for the next decade.... or at least not play like guys that you'd be happy to have starting for the next 10 years. Andy Dalton was an exception last season rather than the rule. The Skins have also had bad experiences with the last couple of QBs they took late in the 1st round (Patrick Ramsay and Jason Campbell). The Skins problems last season were about as much to do with having zero depth at almost every position as they were to do with Rex Grossman so I'm not sure we should feel like we have to take a QB in the draft. We need to add depth all over the place in our roster so this may not be a bad year to adopt the "best player available" strategy. We are in a good place with regards the salary cap this offseason so we have a chance to really address our depth issues at this point and then shoot for the moon next year when it comes to a QB rather than force it and end up with the wrong guy as so many of these second tier guys seem to end up being.

[quote="twelve283"]

NFL MIKE wrote:If you identify a player you want and believe he's value at that point in the draft then go get him-don't let another team steal him form you. Nothing wrong with that.

I was looking to get a QB and Tannehill was probably 1st choice after I had decided not to trade up for RG3 (and he had dropped down to 6th). If Tannehill wasn't available then I would have looked at getting Weeden or preferably Foles later on. I didn't lose much either trading up from 39th to 30th.

Number-25 wrote:At this point in time, I'm kinda hoping the Skins don't go for Tannehill in the draft. I'm just a bit nervous about the fact that recent history suggests that these supposed "second tier" QBs (usually the guys taken in the 2nd round) don't often turn out to be guys that can start in the NFL for the next decade....

...The Skins problems last season were about as much to do with having zero depth at almost every position

As I see it the Redskins have two options:-1) Trade up for RG3 but I can't see that happening as the Rams can get a better deal elsewhere either from the Cleveland Browns or in drafting Griffin and trading Bradford

2) Draft Ryan Tannehill (on some mock drafts that happens as high as 6th) and bring in Peyton Manning. From reports the Redskins coaching team are keen on Tannehill and if they can bring in (a fit?) Manning they will have time to develop Tannehill. If they can't get/ don't go for RG3, I think this is the way they'll go.

With regards to the depth, this is why I don't see them trading up. As mentioned before in my top 6 picks, I can see them trading down in the 1st round (if RG3 and Blackmon are not available at 6th) maybe to grab the 2 Bengals 1st round.

Went for Worthy because the Rams need someone to come in at DT and make an impact. As in the first round I would've preferred to trade back but without any offers I had to make a decision.

twelve283 wrote:

NFL MIKE wrote:I could have possibly had waited for Tannehill in the 2nd Round but there are a couple of other teams that may have been interested. In fact I have seen plenty mock drafts were Tannehill has been drafted as high as 6th. From the reports I have read the Redskins are quite keen on him too.

If you identify a player you want and believe he's value at that point in the draft then go get him-don't let another team steal him form you. Nothing wrong with that.

Starting to wish I had done that with Zach Brown now, wouldn't have cost much to move up for him but was hoping he could fall as I thought all the teams had arguably bigger needs. Was also hoping he could drop as I read a report mentioning character issues but it didn't elaborate any further but I was hoping that could influence some people, shame. On to my other plans I guess.

Derbyblue wrote:

twelve283 wrote:

NFL MIKE wrote:I could have possibly had waited for Tannehill in the 2nd Round but there are a couple of other teams that may have been interested. In fact I have seen plenty mock drafts were Tannehill has been drafted as high as 6th. From the reports I have read the Redskins are quite keen on him too.

If you identify a player you want and believe he's value at that point in the draft then go get him-don't let another team steal him form you. Nothing wrong with that.

Starting to wish I had done that with Zach Brown now, wouldn't have cost much to move up for him but was hoping he could fall as I thought all the teams had arguably bigger needs. Was also hoping he could drop as I read a report mentioning character issues but it didn't elaborate any further but I was hoping that could influence some people, shame. On to my other plans I guess.

Was hoping to trade up to take Brown for the Eagles, but to the top of the second round if he had lasted that long. Disappointed to see him gone will have to look at the team needs again

2nd round, 2nd pick - Colts went for Fletcher Cox.

Wanted to get some beef in the OL or DL, did consider a couple of others but Cox gets the nod.

Vikings need secondary help badly. With 4 corners off the board already I didn't want to risk missing out. Gilmore looks the part and could straight away.

(Didn't get a PM to let me know I was on the clock btw, have the mind-games begun already? )

Lowlandbrit wrote:(Didn't get a PM to let me know I was on the clock btw, have the mind-games begun already? )

Hah! Sorry fella. I PM'd the first couple but not having received any myself (at all) I assumed that no one else was bothering..!!

Anyone else starting to get a sense of how frustrating it must be for actual GMs when they see guys that they want getting picked by someone else?? We're just doing this for fun but it still didn't stop letting out a few swear words when I saw Gilmore getting selected!!!! He sounded like a great fit for Carolina. Back to the drawing board

Miller is a solid pick at the top of the second for the Bucs. We need a back to compliment Blount and Miller looks to be a real talent in the mold of LeSean McCoy.

Number-25 wrote:Anyone else starting to get a sense of how frustrating it must be for actual GMs when they see guys that they want getting picked by someone else??

Absolutely. On the other hand it's a great feeling when someone you want falls to you.

Ah yes sorry about that Moot, I was supposed to PM you but I forgot. Many apologies.

My Jags are on the clock anybody looking to trade up pm me

Barney92 wrote:Ah yes sorry about that Moot, I was supposed to PM you but I forgot. Many apologies.

No worries Barney, its a bit quiet at work so i check in about once every 10 minutes anyway..

WR and RB holes filled for the Browns, I admit Claiborne was a bit of a luxury pick and could easily be seen as a waste and it is probably the pick I would change if I could and either trade down for Floyd or take Blackmon. Peyton Hillis leaves in FA, Chris Polk steps in as head RB, Montario Hardesty is back-up, Brandon Jackson/Chris Ogbonnaya ready for Hardesty's injury.

TheBrownTown wrote:I'm pleased with Devon Still although I really would have liked to trade back. There's a guy I want at the start of the 2nd but the trade fell through when that USC DE went the pick before me

He was my Packers alternate pick before I went away... that said I was positive I would get Nick Perry though because there was no way Pr4wn and those Bucs were taking ANOTHER high D-Lineman... and we know Pr4wn loves Adrian Claybourne anyway :p

ollyrules wrote:Was gonna take Poe but he was stolen from under my nose!
Burfict is a good pick as he can fit into a aging linebacker corps and add a Ray Lewis like intensity. He could be a great player but just needs to be kept in check.

Barney92 wrote:Barron can learn from Reed whilst playing alongside him and then possibly make replace him in the long-run. He isn't going to the combine but I think he's good enough to warrant the pick.

I like both these picks.
I'm not sold on Burfict in general because of his indiscipline etc. however either the Ravens or Steelers would be the perfect place for him. No nonsense franchises that preach defense with quality if aging linebackers. To anyone else I would have considered it a little to high, but a good Steeler pick.

Also Barron to the Ravens makes great sense provided his injury fixes up as planned. I haven't thought enough about who else they could have got here, but once again it's a great introduction for a talented athletic player to learn from someone like Ed Reed.

Number-25 wrote:Anyone else starting to get a sense of how frustrating it must be for actual GMs when they see guys that they want getting picked by someone else?? We're just doing this for fun but it still didn't stop letting out a few swear words when I saw Gilmore getting selected!!!! He sounded like a great fit for Carolina. Back to the drawing board

Thats whats fun about this stuff once you get enough people being the GMs - where it becomes a genuine competition for both talent and later on just for guys you know the tiniest thing about!

*I'll stop posting consecutive posts now that I've finished catching up on 5 days of this article!

So, the first TE is finally taken. I like the Fleener pick; good size and produced well under Harbaugh in college.

A harbaugh guy, big and with 4.5 speed, add mike wallace/johnson to the team and the core receivers would be wallace/johnson, davis, fleener, crabtree with ginn, walker, williams and morgan for deth

Quite surprised no Tight End was taken in the first round, can understand why the Niners would want to add one with Davis and especially Fleener, if Gore stays healthy and the Defense doesn't turn bad the Offense should be able to put up the necessary points to take them to the playoffs.

Also going to put it out there, think Stephen Hill is a bit of reach at the start of the second.

I partly agree Derby
There are some better players left in the draft at least 1 I thought would go 1st round
But my shopping list for the Jags was CB / WR / OLB & poss DE
Having picked up Dre Kirkpatrick [Blackmon had gone] in the 1st I decided to go WR
Picked Hill over the 2 Arkansas WR's because of size & the need for someone to start straight away
In reality I think Hill will go late 2nd early 3rd round

I would have really liked the CB Stephon Gilmore and I was considering a trade up for him but the Vikings got him. He's a tall corner which is pretty important

Criner could have been an option too instead of hill.

Lowlandbrit wrote:So, the first TE is finally taken. I like the Fleener pick; good size and produced well under Harbaugh in college.

I quite like Dwayne Allen out of Clemson as well (note here that this is not a hint of my round 2 drafting target as i'm factoring in a Jermichael Finley franchise tag! - EDIT just seen we have a 2 year deal so no need for the franchise). Might even rate him above Fleener but the Stanford connection make more sense for the 49ers.

Derbyblue wrote:Also going to put it out there, think Stephen Hill is a bit of reach at the start of the second.

Would kind of agree. Not sure I have seen him go this high. He is an interesting one because of the offence Georgia Tech plays, however the previous two decent tall receivers out of GT were a certain Demaryius Thomas and one Calvin Johnson (Under a Chan Gailey offence not a triple option if I remember correctly?)... so they have history.

Jags were desperate for a receiver though and they "reached" on Tyson Alualu a few years back and he turned out pretty decent.

I was a bit surprised to see Jeffery still here at this spot, and I think after the combine he will have surprised a lot of people in a good way.

My thinking - DeSean Jackson is one of the best speed receivers in the league, but Maclin isn't far behind. I think the Eagles lack a big receiving threat, someone who is brilliant in the redzone and can catch the fade. I am basing this pick on what I think the Eagles should do, rather than what they will do, which is to let Jackson walk. Maclin is a good speed receiver, and is much better at the intermediate routes too. LeSean McCoy and Brent Celek are also good at the underneath stuff. I think Jeffery would give them a good jump ball guy, and also free up some money to make a run at a free agent linebacker, my choice would be Stephen Tulloch from the Detroit Lions.

Feel free to take shots at my reasoning :p

Just to clarify, I think the Eagles should let Desean Jackson leave, but I have a feeling they will tag him, probably making my pick redundant

Good player, but what shape is he going to show up in and how long can he keep in that shape?

bambamwillis wrote:I was a bit surprised to see Jeffery still here at this spot, and I think after the combine he will have surprised a lot of people in a good way.

Personally think Jeffery is going to be one of the guys who would have been picked in a pretty different place if we were doing this after the combine, he's either in shape and runs an under 4.6 40 and he gets taken 1st round or out of shape and he drops down, if you can't be motivated enough by the combine to get in shape very few teams are going to bother with you. Had I not got Wright I would have taken Jeffery with my second rounder, this is the main guy I was thinking of when I was surprised to see Hill go, though there are a couple of others people rate higher.

crazy_dave23 wrote:

Derbyblue wrote:Also going to put it out there, think Stephen Hill is a bit of reach at the start of the second.

Would kind of agree. Not sure I have seen him go this high. He is an interesting one because of the offence Georgia Tech plays, however the previous two decent tall receivers out of GT were a certain Demaryius Thomas and one Calvin Johnson (Under a Chan Gailey offence not a triple option if I remember correctly?)... so they have history.

Jags were desperate for a receiver though and they "reached" on Tyson Alualu a few years back and he turned out pretty decent.

Yep they've got a good recent history for tall WRs but Johnson didn't play in the triple option, I just think it's a reach to take Hill here as from what I've seen on how people rate him I think he could be available in the third or maybe they could have traded down (though that does require interest), the Triple Option offense means there isn't a large amount of game tape for him so combine could be important but that does mean he's probably going to be one of the best blocking WRs in this draft and with MJD we know the Jags are a run first offense and that blocking will come in very handy for helping him start.

Derbyblue wrote:

bambamwillis wrote:I was a bit surprised to see Jeffery still here at this spot, and I think after the combine he will have surprised a lot of people in a good way.

Personally think Jeffery is going to be one of the guys who would have been picked in a pretty different place if we were doing this after the combine, he's either in shape and runs an under 4.6 40 and he gets taken 1st round or out of shape and he drops down, if you can't be motivated enough by the combine to get in shape very few teams are going to bother with you. Had I not got Wright I would have taken Jeffery with my second rounder, this is the main guy I was thinking of when I was surprised to see Hill go, though there are a couple of others people rate higher.

Seeing as I can't figure out how to multi quote, this is in reply to Lowland Brit and Derbyblue

I just think that even if he runs 4.6-4.65, his talent will show through as he has excellent hands and knows how to make plays on the ball. If he manages to run 4.55 I can definitely see him going in the late first round, he is one of my favourite players in the draft which is probably why I keep banging on about him

bambamwillis wrote:
Seeing as I can't figure out how to multi quote, this is in reply to Lowland Brit and Derbyblue

I just open multiple quote windows as new tabs and then copy all of the text stuff into one of them and put my feedback in between... sometimes I just quote as multiple separate posts though!

Im shocked charles was taken before allen

niner wrote:Im shocked charles was taken before allen

I agree Niner, thought Allen could have been the first TE to go if it wasn't for the Stanford connection.

I'm not crazy about Jeffrey going to the Eagles. All signs are pointing to DJax getting the franchise tag at the moment and with Maclin there as one of the top no.2 WR's in the league it seems way too high to be taking a WR when you have one of the worst O-Lines in the league in pass protection and can't stop the run on defense. Plus in terms of a big target, Celek was resurgent towards the end of the year so I can't see that being as much of an issue going forward if they can keep it up come next year. Just seems like a luxury pick for the Eagles and typically you shouldn't be moving up for luxury imo.

It is not surprising to see 6 offensive players in the past six picks after only seven went in the first 35 picks.

I said previously that Coby Fleener could be a very good pick up for the 49ers and it will be interesting to see whether San Francisco go for a WR in their first pick or possibly make Fleener a first rounder.

Surprised to see Stephen Hill this high. I had him down for the 3rd round had I not got Blackmon at 6th. That said his stock does seem to be rising and I have seen him mentioned in a few articles so like Fleener he could be picked up higher in the actual draft.

Of the RBs picked again I had Chris Polk down for a possibly later pick up and not sure whether he adds too much (other than depth) to the Browns. I do like Lamar Miller though and that would be a good fit for the Bucs. He is another one I could see sneaking into the first round.

Very surprised to see Jeffery this low in the draft. I could see plenty of later first round teams being interested in him like the Bears, Texans, Patriots and possibly the Steelers if Wallace goes.

thunder and lightning wrote:I'm not crazy about Jeffrey going to the Eagles. All signs are pointing to DJax getting the franchise tag at the moment and with Maclin there as one of the top no.2 WR's in the league it seems way too high to be taking a WR when you have one of the worst O-Lines in the league in pass protection and can't stop the run on defense. Plus in terms of a big target, Celek was resurgent towards the end of the year so I can't see that being as much of an issue going forward if they can keep it up come next year. Just seems like a luxury pick for the Eagles and typically you shouldn't be moving up for luxury imo.

I did say that I was basing this pick on Jackson being gone, I also think that Maclin was effectively the number one receiver last year, and should be this year too. I agree that Celek is a good target, but I think offences need an outside receiver to be able to make those plays, like we see Calvin Johnson or Hakeem Nicks make all the time. Might be a bit of a luxury but if Jackson is gone then it becomes a need

I went with Andre Branch for the Bills second round pick. Pass rush is the biggest need for the Bills this year and I was really tempted to pick someone up in the first. If Upshaw had fallen to me I would have taken him but as it was Reiff was still there and I thought he was too good to overlook.

There were a few players that I was tempted to trade back up to the end of the first for (including Nick Perry and Zach Brown). In the end I missed out on Perry and decided to hold onto the picks as there were still a few decent pass rushers left and I thought I'd still end up with a decent pick.

I'm more than happy with Branch, maybe a little raw but a good amount of talent and loads of potential. There is a fantastic clip of him sacking Logan Thomas (who's a big guy) with one arm so the strength is definitely there. Playing him alongside Dareus, Williams and Edwards (for the moment) would give the Bills a really good front line to build on.

Let's see what Round Three brings.

I nearly went for Branch with the 34th pick, even had it all typed up but then changed it to Cox.

Pretty glad you did, I was much higher on Branch than Cox so thanks.