Just out of curiosity, do you like the majority of our O-line starters? Or are prioritizing backups at RB, KR, QB and WR higher than starting o-linemen?
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I like Waters, and hope he will still be here for a couple more years. And I also like Brandon Albert. It's just that I wonder if, seein as how you are a younger fan, maybe you just are unfamiliar with our o-line.
Most fans do tend to overlook those guys. Those are not the guys that get highlighted on the replays or anything.
Don't y'all think you should have a discussion about what free agents we could pick up to fill some of these positions first? You know, since free agency DOES come before the draft and HOPEFULLY we'll actually spend some money this off season instead of sitting on the most available cap space like we have the past two seasons.
This entire thread is moot considering we have NO FREAKIN IDEA what holes we're going to have left to fill in April.
Bradley, Chambers, and Wade are ALL unrestricted free agents next year. But, so are Brandon Marshall, Braylon Edwards, Miles Austin, and Vincent Jackson... so who do we re-sign or go after? Steve Breaston is also available from Arizona, but he's restricted.
No RBs or QBs to speak of who would suggest an upgrade over Cassel.
The O-line has some nice pieces out there if Pioli and Hunt are willing to open the pocket book. Niswanger is slated to be a FA... doubt he's re-signed.
Jahri Evans is unrestricted but will probably be franchised. He's probably the best guard in the league right now. If I were a betting man, I'd put a ton of money down betting that the Chiefs bring in Logan Mankins from New England. He's another great guard with ties to Pioli and Cassel. Willie Colon from Pittsburgh or Donald Penn from Tampa could be answers at one of the OT positions.
Defensive line has a couple answers available for the Chiefs as well.
Vince Wolfork is one of the premier NTs in the league. At 28 and with ties to Pioli, you can be assured that he and Seymour are at the top of Pioli's FA list this off season.
Linebackers will be plentiful this off season. Vrabel is slated to be a FA. Heading the class is Shawn Merriman. The speedy 3-4 LB has been tormenting the Chiefs for a few years now. His injury history is going to scare some teams off though. Carlos Dansby will be available again this year with ties to Haley and Pendergast, assuming the worst and that they're both still here... Derrick Johnson is also slated to be a free agent.
Not much out there in terms of DB help. Jarrad Page is slated to be a FA.
Antoine Bethea or Bob Sanders may be available from the Colts as they have a three headed monster at S with Marlin Jackson in the backfield as well. Look for one of the three to hit the market this off season and provide KC an answer at S if they want to take a gamble. Roman Harper from New Orleans compares well to Bethea. Great tacklers and great in run support while flying somewhat under the radar. Tyvon Branch from Oakland is someone I'd take a look at as well. There aren't too many free agents with NFL experience who are available at age 22. A couple others to look at would be Dawan Landry from Baltimore and Sean Jones from Philly.
Assuming I could get any of these free agents and knowing what will probably be available to me at the #5 pick in the draft, my primary focus would be on signing:
Logan Mankins-OG
Vince Wilfork-NT
Braylon Edwards-WR
Donald Penn-OT
Carlos Dansby-LB
Derrick Johnson-LB
Jarrad Page-S
Chris Chambers-WR
Antoine Bethea-S
Mark Bradley-WR
The O-line after these signings:
LT-Albert
RG-Waters
C-?
LG-Mankins
RT-Penn
WRs:
Bowe
Edwards
Chambers
Bradley
LBs:
Hali
Dansby
Johnson
Studebaker
Draft:
1-Gerald McCoy-NT (I have no illusions that we can Wilfork.) Suh, Berry, and the top OT will all be gone by the time we pick at #5. If you're going to build a dominant D-line, might as well do it right and get top 5 picks all the way across. I'd love to see Pioli trade up for Suh with that extra 2nd round pick available to him. Mark Ingram COULD work here as well.
2-Jermaine Gresham-TE I think Cottam can be that guy, but apparently, the coaches don't, so with Gonzo gone, Cassel needs another target with the amount of passes Haley requires. Gresham could be great if he stays healthy.
2b-Matt Tennant-C Last piece of the puzzle.
3-Myron Rolle-S By FAAAAR the smartest kid in this draft class... and he's a great athlete from FSU.
4-LeGarret Blount- Would've been a first round pick if not for the Boise incident. Kids make mistakes... he took his punishment and was rewarded for his amends by being reactivated when Oregon didn't necessarily need another RB in the fold.
5-Brandon Carter-OG why wait to draft Water's backup? Get him in the fold and let him learn from one of the best.
OL:
Albert
Waters
Tennant
Mankins
Penn
DL:
TJ #3 overall
McCoy #5-ish overall
Dorsey #5 overall
S:
Page
Bethea
Rolle
Wow long post!! But ithink we have enough FA right now but well need some in the offseason.
TexasChief, I hear what you're saying but if 2010 is uncapped 2010 will suck as free agents are concered. I hope it is capped, for then we will find out if Hunt is serious about rebuilding.
But I have a lot of fun doing a mock draft every week. IMO a large number of under classmen are going to declare due to the possibility of a rookie salary cap, making this years draft very deep.
I won't speculate on free agents because I think it's impossible to. If we could get Wilfork somehow, I would do cartwheels. I think Marshall without a doubt re-signs with the Broncos.
I have to be honest. If we miss out on both Berry and Okung, I'm going to be sweating. McCoy is an incredible talent, but I don't personally think he fits into our scheme/needs at all. Way too small to play nose tackle.
I was typing out my mock draft and realized it's pretty much exactly the same as the Walter Football one.
1. Russell Okung, LT (Oklahoma State) - I think the Lions pass on an OT yet again.
2a. Von Miller, OLB (Texas A&M) - Need a pass rusher opposite Hali
2b. Brandon Spikes, ILB (Florida)
3. SS or C
4. Mitch Petrus, OG (Arkansas) - Waters eventual replacement
5a. LeGarrette Blount, RB (Oregon)
5b. Trindon Holliday, KR/PR (LSU) - Take some pressure off of Charles in the return game with the soon to be smallest player in the NFL.
6. Best CB Available
The main issue is that there is nobody I like as a nose tackle prospect in this entire class. Cody is a slob. I like Dan Williams, but he's reportedly been losing crazy weight and prefers to play at about 310 lbs now. I want a guy with incredible strength in the 325-350 range. Hopefully some free agent is out there to help out until we find a long-term solution. Or, hopefully we somehow snatch Wilfork away from Belichick after he franchise tags him.