
Originally Posted by
omahaBroncoFan
1) Trading up and reaching for non essential players.
I have nothing against moving up for the players you want for your team, even if the move up pick value is costly. However, when it came to picking up Smith/Richard Quinn/Brandstater, you're pretty much talking about moving up for players who probably would've been at your next pick. Additionally, these pickups with the possible exception of Smith, were not areas of need on the team and weren't players which would really make significant contributions. All 3 of these cases should've fallen more into the be patient category. The common defense of last year's draft here is that scouting time was limited, the draft pool was shallow, we wanted to make sure we got the guys we liked. I hope thats the case, I'm fine with moving up, I'm fine with reaching, but trading up just to reach for a nonessential player(all 3 things at once), lets not do that.
2) We grab Pouncey or Iupati with at #11.
I know there's a fair portion that want these players that early, and granted, oline is a major area of need, but that's a huge reach in a great draft of players.
Iupati, isn't close to Brandon Alberts caliber. Iupati doesn't have the ability to kick out to tackle and I consider to be a very late 1st rounder at best.
Pouncey, looks to be a great center, but why reach in this talent rich draft. I don't think he's that much of a significantly better prospect than Walton(Walton was named by AP to be the best center, Jason Smith of #2 overall noteriety said Walton was the best oline player for them last year.) Even after Walton, I think Eric Olsen is highly underrated. Tennant is another option. Its very important that we snag a good center, no need to reach at #11 however, if we want to reach later on to make sure we cover this position, we'll have options.
If we absolutely felt that we must grab oline in top 10, grab one of the available OTs, they all can pretty much play guard, let them play guard for a year, consider letting them challenge Harris, it gives us options and insurance. I'm not for this approach, but I think it makes a whole lot more sense then Iupati.
3) We won't get our center.
We need a center badly, Pouncey & Walton could be gone before our 2nd. So we decide we'll be patient and wait to the 3rd for our C, then Olsen and Tennant are gone. I know a lot of people think Olsen is 4th/5th at best, I think the draftniks are really underestimating him. It seems the main comment against him is he lacks the physical tools,... Ummm lets see, he was one of the best offensive lineman in bench press, Vertical jump, and 3 cone drill. I don't think its raw physical tools he lacks. Really the true knock on him is that he doesn't have a lot of center starting experience, I think if he was moved to center one year earlier, he'd be a much more notable candidate. Anyways, I think there's a few teams out there that may really like him, I do believe he could even be gone before our 3rd round although probably won't be. I'm not concerned about OG cuz there's so many options, with the center position, its unlikely, but we could be surprised by how quickly they come off.
4) Four OTs will be taken in the top 10
Like a broken record I've been saying that this won't happen. Its the same thing every year about this time, there's this awesome OT draft, there's a lot of need for them, lets all mock 4 of them in the top 10. And it never happens, the average is actually less than 2 over the past 4 years. Mock draft folks, pay attention to recent history, top 10 drafting teams just aren't as crazy about OTs in the top 10 as you think. Futhermore, if the past 4 years and this one have all been great OT drafts... maybe they're really just average OT drafts..., eh? Anyways, hopefully 4 OTs won't be off the board to quickly, cuz I've sure been preaching that that's not whats going to happen.
5) Failing to take advantage of this drafts strengths.
This draft is exeptionally strong in DL/CB/WR, I'd like to see us snag one of each of those positions. (Yes folks this draft is strong in WR, just not top teir, but take a look at who you could possibly grab 2/3ish through 6th, its really a very good WR draft).
6) We trade Marshall and don't replace him.
If we trade Marshall, we do need serious WR help. Otherwise, till Royal shows up, Gaffney is our #1. The safeties will be lining up in 3 point stances if we don't backfill our WR corps a bit.
7) AFC West rivals shining in the draft.
SD could snag Cody, tremendous value at their position.
KC and Oakland are both in great positions for the 1st/2nd round to really add positive value to their organizations. Oakland could potentially snag Bradford or Clausen, I don't want to see that happen.
I think all 3 of our rivals with their particular picks and needs, have very good potential to have great drafts. We could have a pretty good draft really, and could still have the 4th best draft in the AFC West.
Overall, I think the front office over the past 2 years has done the best job in the league of picking the right FAs, and I think we'll see this intelligence carried into the draft, but the above things are what I worry about.
Anyways, post your comments, or post your own draft day worries.