[Heart of Oak]

Firstly, I am going to presume we pick somewhere between #8 amd #12. As I recall, we have all 7 picks except the 5th round (DeAngelo Hall).

I reckon our STs are where they need to be, so no upgrades there. Defense is close to being the real deal and just needs some depth. Offense has talent, but we are still a couple of key players away from the power offense we seem to be tooling up to be. So, a generally offense orientated draft, at least in the early rounds.

First move is to agree a conditional trade for my 2010 1st and 2nd round picks plus ballast for a high (top-5) 1st round pick. The team we target should be the lowest point at which we think we can still obtain Michael Oher.

THE DRAFT:

1a. Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss (Pick traded for) - Here we draft the franchise LT that we have been dreaming about since we selected Robert Gallery. The two of those guys will have Russell's back for years to come on the left-hand side of the line. Oher is a beast of an OT, but quick and agile. From what I have seen he seems to think quickly as well.

1b. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech - We seriously need to upgrade our WR corps, and there are none so highly rated as Crabtree. I don't care about all that 'product of the system' stuff, any freshman who gets almost 2000 yards and over 20 TDs gets my vote.

2. Jonathan Luigs, C, Arkansas - Center is a problem area for us, Grove has done well this season, but that is a fairly recent occurence and Wade doesn't seem to be the answer. This year has several decent prospects in this position so we need to grab one of them. Alex Mack (Cal) will no doubt be gone in the first, Luigs should still be available when we pick in the 2nd.

3. Tyrone McKenzie, OLB, South Florida - Big, aggresive OLB who can upgrade the depth at the position behind Brown and Howard, and will push Brown for the starters job.

4. BJ Raji, DT, Boston College - Run-stuffing DT who can help on the rotation. We only have 3 DTs at the moment and need to strengthen this area.

6. Jasper Brinkley, ILB, South Carolina - A more highly rated prospect whose draft stock has suffered through injury - I am hoping for a little of the Michael Bush effect where we grab a quality player with a low pick due to questions over health. If it doesn't work out, it is only a 6th round pick, if it does we have quality back-up for Morrison.

7. Nate Ness, FS, Arizona - Not really a need, but has the potential to be an interception machine, if not, it is only a 7th round pick.

My reasoning is that if we can add two quality players on O-line and a top prospect at WR, we can score more points and open the running game up by stretching the field more, thus scoring yet more points. On Defense, we add depth to our rotation on DT, get some good depth at LB, and add a project player in Ness.

This draft, IMO, gives our Head Coach the tools to be a serious contender, and may give our Capologists a serious headache.

[BoJack247]

great case scenario for sure. however, we won't have enough money in our rookie pool to pay the guaranteed salaries of two top 10 picks, especially with our cap being pretty full to begin with.

[raidersraider]

Draft 1.0

Round 1
Michael Oher, LT, Ole Miss

Round 2
Alex Mack, C, Cal

Round 3
Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU

Round 4
Carlton Mitchell, WR, South Florida

Round 6
Zach Follett, OLB, Cal

Round 7
Ekom Udofia, DT, Stanford

( Disclaimer: I don't think the Draft will neccersarily go this way... but these are the players I want. )

[RaidEric]

I haven't looked much at this rookie class, but I don't know how we can put off getting an offensive lineman much more. Not every lineman we pick will be the Robert Gallery we saw for the first few years of his career. A lot of high pick linemen succeed right off the bat.

[Slump]

Originally Posted by Heart of Oak

Firstly, I am going to presume we pick somewhere between #8 amd #12. As I recall, we have all 7 picks except the 5th round (DeAngelo Hall).

I reckon our STs are where they need to be, so no upgrades there. Defense is close to being the real deal and just needs some depth. Offense has talent, but we are still a couple of key players away from the power offense we seem to be tooling up to be. So, a generally offense orientated draft, at least in the early rounds.

First move is to agree a conditional trade for my 2010 1st and 2nd round picks plus ballast for a high (top-5) 1st round pick. The team we target should be the lowest point at which we think we can still obtain Michael Oher.

THE DRAFT:

1a. Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss (Pick traded for) - Here we draft the franchise LT that we have been dreaming about since we selected Robert Gallery. The two of those guys will have Russell's back for years to come on the left-hand side of the line. Oher is a beast of an OT, but quick and agile. From what I have seen he seems to think quickly as well.

1b. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech - We seriously need to upgrade our WR corps, and there are none so highly rated as Crabtree. I don't care about all that 'product of the system' stuff, any freshman who gets almost 2000 yards and over 20 TDs gets my vote.

2. Jonathan Luigs, C, Arkansas - Center is a problem area for us, Grove has done well this season, but that is a fairly recent occurence and Wade doesn't seem to be the answer. This year has several decent prospects in this position so we need to grab one of them. Alex Mack (Cal) will no doubt be gone in the first, Luigs should still be available when we pick in the 2nd.

3. Tyrone McKenzie, OLB, South Florida - Big, aggresive OLB who can upgrade the depth at the position behind Brown and Howard, and will push Brown for the starters job.

4. BJ Raji, DT, Boston College - Run-stuffing DT who can help on the rotation. We only have 3 DTs at the moment and need to strengthen this area.

6. Jasper Brinkley, ILB, South Carolina - A more highly rated prospect whose draft stock has suffered through injury - I am hoping for a little of the Michael Bush effect where we grab a quality player with a low pick due to questions over health. If it doesn't work out, it is only a 6th round pick, if it does we have quality back-up for Morrison.

7. Nate Ness, FS, Arizona - Not really a need, but has the potential to be an interception machine, if not, it is only a 7th round pick.

My reasoning is that if we can add two quality players on O-line and a top prospect at WR, we can score more points and open the running game up by stretching the field more, thus scoring yet more points. On Defense, we add depth to our rotation on DT, get some good depth at LB, and add a project player in Ness.

This draft, IMO, gives our Head Coach the tools to be a serious contender, and may give our Capologists a serious headache.

I don't think any team drafting in the top 5 would trade their 1st round pick for a 1st round pick the next year and an extra 2nd round pick. That's just not very realistic and not very practical either with the salary cap implications.

Also, I really don't want Crabtree unless he drops to the 2nd round. I don't think he's a #1 WR in the NFL. I think he's a #2 at best.

[biondic]

I gree 100% to the 1A 1B
OT or WR.

[raiderroo]

Another thing that will have to be factored in is what happens with Asomugha. If we leaves Im sure we take a CB no later than 3rd rd and possibly the 2nd.

I do think that we need to go OT in the 1st rd.

[Slump]

Originally Posted by raiderroo

Another thing that will have to be factored in is what happens with Asomugha. If we leaves Im sure we take a CB no later than 3rd rd and possibly the 2nd.

I do think that we need to go OT in the 1st rd.

If Aso leaves we could sign a vet FA. There are some available. Chris Gamble, Delta O'neal, Dunta Robinson, Phillip Buchanon.....

[raiderroo]

Originally Posted by Slump

If Aso leaves we could sign a vet FA. There are some available. Chris Gamble, Delta O'neal, Dunta Robinson, Phillip Buchanon.....

Yes that is always a possibility but it wouldnt be a surprise to see us draft a CB early if Asomugha leaves.

[Heart of Oak]

Originally Posted by Slump

I don't think any team drafting in the top 5 would trade their 1st round pick for a 1st round pick the next year and an extra 2nd round pick. That's just not very realistic and not very practical either with the salary cap implications.

Also, I really don't want Crabtree unless he drops to the 2nd round. I don't think he's a #1 WR in the NFL. I think he's a #2 at best.

In terms of the trade, I did say "and ballast". I felt it was too early to say what that ballast might be.

As for the salary cap, I did mention that the capologists would have a headache, but in addition to the salary cap taking its annual raise, I was envisaging no high-tariff free agents combined with dumping some high-tariff dead wood.

[Jimi18]

I realize we have alot of MOCK draft gurus, but how could anyone possible do one this early into the season??
what happens if we end up picking 32?

I know .. I know but with mocking this early your dreaming just as much as me

[R8RFOX]

Oher sounds great but if Crabtree is there when we pick, we get him over anything else. Contrary to what you think, I believe that WR is our weakest position, not LT. Crabtree = instant offense for the passing game. I'm pretty damn sure we can get good to great OL talent in the 2nd to 3rd rounds. You don't pass up on a talent like Crabtree if we can get him. JMHO..

[Heart of Oak]

Originally Posted by R8RFOX

Oher sounds great but if Crabtree is there when we pick, we get him over anything else. Contrary to what you think, I believe that WR is our weakest position, not LT. Crabtree = instant offense for the passing game. I'm pretty damn sure we can get good to great OL talent in the 2nd to 3rd rounds. You don't pass up on a talent like Crabtree if we can get him. JMHO..

I have to disagree with you to the extent that I think LT is our #1 priority. However, the WR class is quite thin at the top (I'm not sure about Maclin, Harvin & Heyward-Bey) so I might be inclined to go there in the 1st and pick a guy like Meredith (South Carolina) up in the second.

[BoJack247]

Originally Posted by Slump

If Aso leaves we could sign a vet FA. There are some available. Chris Gamble, Delta O'neal, Dunta Robinson, Phillip Buchanon.....

O'Neal is a crash and burn type of CB, not to mention he's getting up there in age. i like the prospects of both Gamble and Dunta Robinson. Robinson is on the shelf but when he's healthy he's a top 10 CB imo. i think Lito Sheppard could be added to the list. he's probably playing his last year in Philly and they'll probably let him pursue a trade.

[BoJack247]

a couple of scenarios depending on what our final record will be:

if we pick top 3:
1. Michael Oher
2. Percy Harvin WR

pick 6-10:
1. Michael Crabtree WR
2. Jamon Meredith OT

pick 11-15:
1. Darius Heyward-Bey/Jeremy Maclin WR
2. Herman Johnson OG