New Off-Season/Mock Draft

[Finnders]

Well, having lurked this board for the better part of two years and questioned other people’s mocks to myself, with an afternoon off work and having watched large parts of the Combine online, I thought I’d join in and have a stab at one that can be torn apart by others for a change!

Free Agents

Just because we’ve a decent amount of cap space doesn’t mean we have to spend it if the players/value aren't there. We are not going to go from a 29th ranked D to a top 10 D in the space of an offseason, no matter how much money we throw at it. It just isn’t realistic with a new scheme, coach and a large turnover of players.

Hopefully we don’t need a top ranked D to compete if the offense can start turning yardage into points. I would much rather take solid players at each position than throw the bank at a Haynesworth or a Ward. One player does not make a team.

At the moment we’ve got so many Defensive holes, filling them with solid players this season will hopefully a) shore up a few of them and b) make it more obvious where we need to look in the draft next year (as opposed to ‘everything’ this year). We are fortunate to have a strong offence who in the mostpart are still young, hence we can afford to have a couple of years of predominantly defensive drafts.

CB Ronald Bartell
I wasn’t surprised when Bly was released and would rather fill this in FA than rely on the draft. Having read Denver has been linked with Bartell and McFadden, I’d rather go with Bartell. He’s put up some decent numbers on a fairly horrible St Louis defence, and has starting experience to be #2 CB from day 1 I think McFadden may get overpaid simply for being on the Superbowl champion’s #1 defence.

S Gibril Wilson
I cringe just thinking about our safety play last season! I liked Wilson coming out of New York and hope we make a run for him this time around. He has put up good numbers, is an instant upgrade (admittedly that isn’t hard!) in a position of extreme need. Hopefully the prospect of taking on the Raiders twice a season sells the idea to him!

DE Chris Canty
If we are going to throw some 3-4 in next season I don’t think past experience of it can be overrated. We’re a young team and many players will either be experiencing 3-4 for the first time, or are looking at position moves to fit in (Thomas, Moss, Dumerville etc). Canty comes from a 3-4, has been solid in a 3-4 and would ideally help the transition for those around him.

NT Colin Cole
I don’t think we have anyone on the roster that could play NT now, and I’m not sure any of them can bulk up to it either. Maybe Powell at a stretch as I think Thomas slides across to DE in the 3-4. With Green Bay going to a 3-4 Cole may well get resigned, but we can offer him the #1 NT spot going into camp and make it his to lose, simply because we have nothing else. Admittedly a stop-gap solution but if we’re serious about some 3-4 looks we need someone who could actually play it! (Gabe Watson would be preferable, but I’d rather keep the draft pick).

C Casey Weigmann
Our offensive line was the obvious high point of last season. No point in messing it up by losing one of the most important parts of it.

DL Kenny Peterson
I was quite impressed with Peterson at times last season, and he has the measurables to play DE in the 3-4. At worst he would be solid depth, at best the light really comes on under McDaniels. Shouldn’t be too expensive either.

OL Eric Pears
Has shown he can come into the lineup if required, good depth and shouldn’t break the bank.

RB Michael Pittman
Ran with authority when needed, good veteran leadership on offensive backing up Hillis at FB

Draft

1. Brian Cushing - USC LB
This would be my pick, although I don’t think it will be the actual pick (which I think will be Maulauga. In an ideal world we trade down as 12 could end up being a bit of an awkward to get value at a position of need, but drafts with trades always annoy me!)

On the field he should be able to play in both the 4-3 and 3-4 hybrid we’re going to run, and hopefully bring some vocal leadership to the field which we do struggle with on D since DJ and Champ are more leaders by action than words. He would hopeully bring a decent rush which has been sorely lacking in recent years.

Also having watched the Combine online and seen the features on Cushing that popped up each advert break, he seems to have a very humble head on his shoulders. I’d have much less concern about giving him the money which goes with a 12th pick than many others.

2. Louis Delmas – Western Michigan FS
I would have loved Ron Brace here, but with so many teams running a 3-4 picking before us I can’t see him being here. I think we’ll have to address NT later on and hope we get a bit lucky. Delmas seems to have shot up the boards after his impressive showing at the Senior Bowl, and we’re still desperate for safety help. I don’t think he is going to be spectacular at the next level, but I’d hope we could just slot him in at FS and forget about the position for years.

3. Marcus Freeman – Ohio State LB
I’m hopeful that Moss and Dumervil can move to OLB to fit the 3-4 (I think Moss will but Dumervil won’t unfortunately). Boss Bailey seems to be an injury waiting to happen and I see DJ inside. All this adds up to not a lot there at OLB. I’m not sure where Freeman will actually be drafted (this could well be miles out), or if he would be better at OLB or ILB in the pros. Fortunately (or should that be unfortunately?) we need help at both.

4. Sammie Lee Hill – Stillman NT
Hill didn’t play elite competition but his stock seems to be flying up by the day. At best he’s an absolute steal in our NT rotation and our future at the position, which would save a high pick in next years NT heavy draft… at worst he can just line up in the middle and be fat while our LBs make the plays!

5. A.Q Shipley – Penn State C
This seems to be a strong C draft and with Weigmann getting on in years I think we’d be foolish not to take one and let them learn for a year or so. When Weigmann retires Shipley can take his place, with Lichtensteiger eventually taking Hamilton’s spot at Guard. That leaves a young offensive line that can mature together for years.

5 Cedric Peerman – Virginia RB
I do think we need a RB, but we don’t have the luxury of drafting one much higher than this. Even with the revolving door at RB last season we were respectable. The concerns about Peerman’s hand size are well documented, but I honestly think if he lands in the right place he could be a major contributor. Should be able to contribute on returns if nothing else, put in a rotation with Torain and Bell (I’m bored of Young getting injured) I don’t think he’d let anyone down. Had a decent combine showing too.

6 Mike Wallace – Ole Miss WR
After last season I don’t want Eddie Royal catching another punt or kick return ever again! If McDaniels brings the pass-happy offence with him then Royal is going to have enough to do without the added risk of return duties. After his 40-yard dash Wallace could well go higher, but would be ideal for a return man if he were still here and maybe more. We drafted Royal primarily as a returner after all…

7 Michael Tauiliili – Duke ILB
I’ll be the first to admit my knowledge of 7th rounders is slim! Red flags regarding his arrest record, but when he played he was productive. Depends if the new regime are interested in taking risks on red flag players and the approach they’re going to take to players in such a position, but it’s the 7th round after all!

7. Antonio Dixon – Miami (FL) NT
Either helps out at a position of need, or makes a bit of money for being a bit of a beast! Seriously though, he’s got good measurables, some athleticism and maybe we get lucky.

Roster

WR Brandon Marshall / Brandon Stokley / Darrell Jackson
TE Daniel Graham / Tony Scheffler / Mike Leach
LT Ryan Clady / Tyler Polumbus
LG Ben Hamilton / Mitch Erickson
C Casey Wiegmann / A.Q. Shipley
RG Chris Kuper / Kory Lichtensteiger
RT Ryan Harris / Erik Pears
WR Eddie Royal / Chad Jackson / Mike Wallace
QB Jay Cutler / Patrick Ramsey
FB Peyton Hillis / Michael Pittman
RB Ryan Torain / Cedric Peerman / Tatum Bell

LDE Marcus Thomas / Carton Powell
NT Colin Cole / Sammie Lee Hill / Antonio Dixon
RDE Chris Canty / Kenny Peterson
LOLB Brian Cushing / Boss Bailey / Tim Crowder
LILB DJ Williams / Wesley Woodyard
RILB Spencer Larsen / Michael Tauiliili
ROLB Marcus Freeman / Jarvis Moss / Elvis Dumervil
CB Champ Bailey / Josh Bell
SS Gibril Wilson / Josh Barrett
FS Louis Delmas / Marlon McCree
CB Ronald Bartell / Jack Williams

P Brett Kern
K Matt Prater

I can safely say doing mocks take a lot longer and is a lot harder than I thought!!

[getlynched47]

not bad at all......but I would go after Sean Jones over Gibril Wilson anyday! There arent too many 6'1 225 lbs. safeties in the league with 4.4 speed and playmaking ability (14 INT's and 260+ tackles in last 3 years)

[Den615]

not bad at all......but I would go after Sean Jones over Gibril Wilson anyday! There arent too many 6'1 225 lbs. safeties in the league with 4.4 speed and playmaking ability (14 INT's and 260+ tackles in last 3 years)

i'll take em both

lol, but nice mock:salute!:

[Murph2432]

Ill for Brian Cushing as you can see in one of my pictures below!! IDC what anyone says about him. He was be a great player and a great leader

[24TheCHAMP24]

Nice work overall. I think you put alot of work and thought into it. Like Lynch I would prefer S Jones Over Wilson at Saftey. I think that if we choose not to address rb through free agency with a guy like Ward then we will spend a top 3 pick to solidify the ground game. Love the AQ Shipley pick, really hope we can land him in the 4th or 5th

[15thebeast]

I like the Mike Wallace pick i would like him or Johnny Knox in round 6 both are future slot recivers

[Finnders]

Thanks everyone!

I would take Wilson or Jones in FA at safety and not be disappointed with either! Although it would cost a fair bit to get both. I only went with Wilson as I knew a bit more about him having hoped we would pursue him when he left New York, but having had a look into Jones now I can see why people are so keen to have him in the orange and blue. A no-lose situation if we could pick up either of them really, and really strengthens the position if we somehow ended up with both.

I’m really high on Cushing as our first pick now (having admitidly been on the BJ Raji bandwagon for a while). He's a 3-down option in our system and it seems he’d be able to fit every LB spot. If I’m paying 12th pick money I want them in on every down making a contribution. Ideally I’d have looked to try and grab Clay Matthews as well but his stock seems to be well on the rise. Don’t think he or Brace will be there for our 2nd round pick at this rate (and I didn’t want to make up any trades in just to find a way to get either of them!)

I would agree that if we do not come out of FA with someone like Ward then we probably will use one of our higher picks on a RB. There seems to be a lot of mid-round value at RB after Moreno and Wells, neither of whom I’d be too disappointed in drafting but I’d hope there would be some defensive value at 12 to get instead.

My reasoning behind not getting one until the 5th is kind of based on my perception of next season. With a brutal schedule and new regime it could be a bit of a struggle. With RB supposedly one of the easiest positions to come in and make an instant impact, I would ideally try and get most of our Defensive pieces together this off-season. They can go through the inevitable growing pains this coming season and be a better unit for it the following season, when perhaps we do use a 1st or 2nd on a RB to solidify the offense. Whilst we do need another back to go with Torain and Bell/Young/Hillis, McDaniels came from a running back by committee in NE and I think he’ll do the same here, at least this season anyway to evaluate his options going forward.

I’m very keen for us to come out of this draft with at least one new option in the return game, since it looks like Royal is going to be our #2 receiver for the foreseeable future. I know #2s do return kicks on some teams but now that Royal is so important as a receiver it would be foolish not to try and find a way to lessen his work load and reduce the obvious risk of injury. Wallace was my choice purely based on speed but I’m sure there are other options who would be around in the lower rounds.

The AQ Shipley pick was kind of a no-brainer really. It seems a good draft for centers and there should be some solid value picks at the position towards the middle of the draft. One of him and Lich hopefully works out on Weigmann’s retirement and the other can move in at guard (although I read some scouts have Shipley penned as a center only at the Pro level).