I saw this in USA Today. How realistic is this prediction? Thoughts? Seems like we'd only go OT in Round 1, if Vernon Carey is not re-signed. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/dolphins/home.htm
Before the Ravens game, PFW had a blurb in which they said that they hear that the team is not really interested in signing back Vernon Carey and they will let him go collect a bunch of money on the market. If that's true, then yeah the tackles come into the picture as far as draft picks go. One reason they should be in the picture anyway is, for one thing, this tackle class looks pretty strong. For another, last year's class was so strong the NFL took 8 of them in the first round. There aren't enough OTs retiring or getting benched, IMO, to justify a repeat performance of that feat and there should probably be 8 teams that don't look at the OT position in the first round because of what they did last year (except maybe the Lions, who might pick Oher despite getting Cherilus last year). Some good tackles like Jason Smith and Eben Britton might actually make it to pick #26 and they would be great value. Personally, those two are my faves, once you get beyond Oher and maybe Monroe. Britton is a big strong guy with big strong arms and upper body, and I love his quick body control, good stepper too. I love when a guy his size can throw cut blocks so easily. And don't forget, Andre Smith is very likely in a hole now and has to come out, and his stock is slipping. I've never been comfortable thinking of him as a premier LT prospect when he's only 6'4" and built so square. He got suspended for the bowl game and there's now an investigation about impropriety, that could really hurt him. If he fell to #26 you'd have to feel pretty good about taking him and replacing Vernon Carey with him. I know Jeff Ireland would. Not too long ago he was interviewed and said flat out he realizes there's some fan angst toward Nick Saban but as a talent evaluator you really love seeing such a well run, well taught program like Saban's and you always feel when you take a player from that kind of program pretty comfortable that the guy has been taught well and knows a lot of fundamentals and knows how to work hard.
Very interesting. Another strong offensive tackle class combined with the fact that eight tackles were taken in the 1st round last year could mean that a great OT prospect falls all the way to 26. Unfortunately free agency comes before the draft so we'd have to hit Carey with the franchise tag and groom his replacement for a year. There are two alternatives. 1. Save the franchise tag money and just let Carey go while hoping that one of those tackles fall to us in the 1st round. This would most likely earn us a compensatory pick in 2010. 2. Trade Carey for a draft pick and hope that one of those tackles falls to us in the 1st round. Both alternatives would mean we might have a rookie at right tackle next year. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Just an observation.
We can't trade Carey........he's a FA. Unless, we re-sign him, and THEN trade him........but IMO, that wouldn't happen. If we re-sign him, we'd be doing so with the intent of keeping him on our team.
Yep. Con, Ven and I were talking about Smith in another thread a few days ago. I was in the "yes I'd definitely take him at 26" camp, the other two less so. Smith to me has just brilliant feet. I might just park him 2nd behind Oher.
Is Andre Smith considered a "character" concern? What is the problem with him? I'm just asking, I don't follow college very closely.
What if Britton, Smith and Garret Reynolds were all sitting there at 26, then who would you take? Decision, decisions.
If I'm not mistaken he was suspended for their bowl game for contact with an agent. Not sure that makes him a character concern (maybe there were more incidents).
I hate Nick Saban with a passion, but I wouldnt pass up an alabama player simply because hes there. The guy is a top notch college coach. Hes also a lying, team ditching scumbag, but some of the players he can put onto the market are good. As long as we arent drafting Saban I see no problem.
Are some people calling Reynolds a possible 1st rounder? nfldraftscout.com has him as a 6th rounder and the 17th OT in this draft
It is next to impossible to get a handle on what a team will do in the draft this far out and before free agency. At this time last year, it seems like most people here were clamoring for Chris Long or Glenn Dorsey. The mention of Jake Long didn't draw a lot of favor. Then we go through the free agency period and sign one OG, load up mostly on defenders, and the overall numbers of OL on the roster were light when the draft approached. The disinterest in any free agent OTs pointed to Jake as our choice a month before the draft. Except for a few notable holdouts singing the praises of Chris Long and why we just had to take him, most everyone else was warming up to Jake in the days and weeks before the draft. Even if a fair number could not agree he had the feet or athleticism to be a pro LT.
i've been reading about us taking several different offensive tackles with the first pick whether it be britton.smith or whoever and they are all left tackles. if we do take a left tackle that high then who would play the right side? my guess would be the rookie left tackle as i can't see moving long over even though we did it with carey. is there a lt in this years draft that grades just as or higher than long did last yr? are there no right tackles good enough this year to draft in the first and if not then why not spend the first on lbacker or dback with the first and pick up the starting rt with one of the 2nd's or third that actually played rt in college?
He hasn't declared yet but from what I know, he's working out already for the combine. He's expected to declare.
If Jason Smith, Eben Britton, or Andre Smith fall to the latter part of the 1st round that would also mean that guys like Phil Loadholt or Fenuki Tupou could still be on the board when we pick in the 2nd round. Or guys like Jason Watkins or Augustus Parrish could be there in 3rd or 4th round.
We could still trade him. Let's say Kansas City is interested for example. As a free agent Carey would get to choose which team he wants to play for. Well Carey might not want to play for Kansas City but if they traded for him then he wouldn't have a choice.
I don't think so mate. I think he got his hand caught in the agents cookie jar. There are deeper rumours of financial impropriety; I'd imagine the Boosters got involved and perhaps some money was talked about in return for Smith staying. But I'm only hypothosising.
Which Smith? If it was Jason, then I'd take him. If it was Andre then I'd probably take him. If we'd kept Carey and the choice was one of those three then I'd definitely take Andre because I think he'd be a very good G as well.
Best RT in this draft IMO. I think he has that Logan Mankins type thing about him. I coudl easily see him come off the board in the top 40 picks or higher for a team that wanted a pure RT who's rugged, tough, good pass blocker and an absolute mauler in the run game.
I'm certain he will. He's apparently already training with Michael Johnson at his elite speed camp. He just strikes me as the kind of personality that wouldn't pass up the opportunity to leave. And part of me thinks it's because he doesn't like football very much and if he's going to do it then it's going to be on his terms and his terms mean cash.
Indeed. I was in the room where/when Ireland said it. Alabama and LSU were the two that he mentioned in particular. But the point being just what you said, that they appreciate and gravitate towards those 'NFL' type programs. It was part of a question asking about what players they were scouting. And when Jeff mentioned those two programs, he also admitted "you guys can pretty much deduce which players at those schools...." We also asked about Vernon Carey and Channing Crowder. They were very specific in their praise for Crowder, whereas with Carey they only complimented his dedication and work ethic. Very much the way they complimented John Beck's work ethic in camp compared to the specific praise they gave Henne. Everybody in that room came away with the same feeling: it didn't sound like they would be overly concerned with re-signed Carey, compared to the what was tantamount to a ringing endorsement of Crowder. This was in Week 10, the night before the Seattle game. So they had quite a bit of familiarity and performance evaluation in the bank.
Sorry Boomer, I was talking about Andre, I think after the combine there is no way Jason Smith is there at 26 but what the hell do I know.
With so many LT prospects in this draft you think there is any way Garret Reynolds last until our 1st 2nd rounder? An OLB/NT pick in the 1st, Reynolds in the 2nd and the opposite of what we did not pick in the 1st would be fine with me.
We would need to sign him before we can trade him. Or if we Franchise him then trade his rights. Trading period opens when free agency opens.
I could live with those picks, but I'd rather re-sign Carey and draft a dominating defensive tackle in the first round. Or a really good cornerback.
No. The window to trade him has closed. He will be a free agent before the trading period begins again at the start of the contractual year.
Well, I'll note that Bill Parcells, and possibly to a greater extent, Jeff Ireland, have shown a very good ability to find players later on in the draft, so I'm not quite so concerned about losing Carey and how it may impact our 1st round pick.
That's quite a statement your making considering it's actually first round and second round picks or at the most third rounders that have made Parcells teams great. Re-signing Carey would go a long way towards fixing this team. In my opinion the best strategy to be had would be signing Terell Suggs (also making him apologize to Ronnie wouldn't be the worst thing) to play LOLB (he's shown some coverage ability and he has strength in the run game) in addition to re-signing the top four players. After that's done it should only be a matter of time as far as adding final pieces towards the team. Max Unger could be added to be the team's new C followed by the addition of a free safety, a nose tackle, and then a wide receiver. At that point without major investment the team should look solid from top to bottom. I'd expect out of the say 44m or so we'll have in cap room we'll have to spend 7m the first year for Suggs, 4.5m for Goodman, 5m for Bell, 5.5m for Carey, and 5m for Crowder (all first year contracts). We'd be well within range with quite the dominant power line that we need. I expect them in fact to do this as they've never been shy about spending at the key positions on the offensive and defensive lines. It's far more likely they pursue Suggs than pursue Atogwe who while a great pick does not address their major concerns on the front seven. Suggs if he can adjust to SOLB, is a fairly ready made solution. It would also seriously hurt the Ravens pass rush ability with Trevor Pryce aging.