Katos Draft-why not

[Kato]

It is almost NFL draft time, this is America damn it.....and I have nothing better to do. You should not pay any attention to my picks, because I have not seen most of the players I am touting. I just go by voracious reading of Mock Drafts and player rankings/stats, with a smattering of players I have seen play on TV and Youtube videos of guys that intrigue me. I go by areas of need, and try to default to BPA if a position is getting picked clean. I value, in rough order of preference/priority: college production (if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck......), college or conference (I tend to believe the best prospects more often than not were the best prospects out of high school, snapped up by the bigger programs), 3+ year starters with a rough trend of getting better over time, combine performance (especially when paired with the first 3 traits), size and weight for a position, and if everyone loves a guy....I get lazy and think he is good too. Finally, this is who I would pick if I was King, and I do my best to make picks that should be there at the appropriate round. In other words, its a mess.
I have already given a first draft, but now we are picking 13th and my man crush Jack will be long gone...... and we have signed every defensive lineman in free agency, so I have to do this all over again.. Without further ado:

1, Reggie Ragland: LB Alabama.. I am sticking with my LB convictions, and going with the SUV over the sports car. With the addition of Alonso and his healthy range, I take a solid, virtual guaranteed starter at a position of need to tap Suh on the ass and clean up near the other side of where he wrecks havoc. Big time program, underappreciated athlete, played some different positions to highlight his versatility. Besides, I cant make heads of tails out of this big group of good, not great CBs. Bottom 5 in the NFL on Run D, teams ran on us over 500 times...pathetic. Bring in the thumper, especially now that we have Alonso to supplement the rookie's skills.

2. Sua Cravens: OLB USC, that I would put at safety. A seriously productive player from a big time program: 206 tackles, 33.5 TFLs, 10.5 sacks, 16 PBUs, and 9 Ints. Just a football player that I would find a place for to make plays on D. One of these new "Hybrid" guys who can cover, run sideline to sideline, hit and make plays. We need playmakers behind the line..Viola!

3. Sean Davis: CB Maryland. 6'1", 202 pound tackling machine (318) with other good production (14 PBUs, 5 ints) and 4.46 speed. May be a little late as we need a CB like oxygen, but I just like Cravens and he would be gone by 3, so I pick this guy and a sleeper at 6.

4. Connor McGovern: OG Missouri. The guy tested well in the combine, just missed breaking 5.0 in the 40 with nice jumps and agility to go with 33 bench presses. Since we cant draft all Guards, the least I can do is pick one up in the 4th and hope we have no injuries this year.

5. Cardale Jones: QB Ohio State. Put the man in the huddle and shake things up for RT.

6. Justin Simmons: Safety BC...hey, BC had the #1 defense in the land last year, and Simmonds was a playmaker...6'2", 204. Had 229 Tackles, 14 PBUs, and 8 Ints over 4 years. Ran a 4.6 40, but here is the thing...in every other combine event, the guy was a star. I mean in the quick twitch events, 3 cone and 20 yard shuttle, he was #1 for DBs... Safeties AND CBs....he was top 5 in both jumps...this from a big guy who can hit. Safety for sure, but with athletic skills I would draft him for CB...a little slow at 4.6, but again those other events he dominated and a case can be made that the other events, especially across the board, are more important measurements than straight line speed......just sayin, we got lots of Florida guys banging the drum for Florida schools,,...Go Eagles

7. The biggest, Fastest, meanest Offensive lineman we can find.

Have at it.....

[AquaXI]

I really like your draft and wouldn't be opposed to it but if we wait till the 4th and hope our last hope is rhere( McGovern) then we are chancing it. I love Cravens and Smith! We may have to give up Cravens for the sake of our Oline, or keep Cravens and pick Conklin over Ragland. This I know will upset you cause of your love of Ragland and hate for another 1st round Oline.

[FTLDOLFAN]

I would not be opposed to Ragland in the first round but only if we traded down. I would prefer Apple with our first round pick since I believe it will be harder to find a corner who can start right away in the later rounds than it would be to find a MLB who can start right away.

Cravens is like you said probably going to be moved to safety in the NFL and probably strong safety and we already have Jones there. If we needed a strong safety then I would like the pick but we have too many other pressing needs.

Davis probably projects more as a free safety in the NFL. I would not feel comfortable having him start at corner for us.

McGovern in the 4th round would be a very good selection.

I am not a big fan of Cardele Jones but we should draft a QB in the later rounds. I think we could still draft a player here who would help us more.

I haven't heard of Justin Simmons but we could always use more secondary depth.

Here is what I would do.

R1. DB Eli Apple - Immediate starter opposite Maxwell.

R2. OG Cody Whitehair - Lets hope he is available. I've seen some mock drafts where he is.

R3. LB Joshua Perry - With his size 6'4 250 I think he can move to MLB. I think Alonso is better off playing OLB.

R4. RB CJ Procise - Similar to David Johnson of the Cardinals.

R5. DE/DT Anthony Zettel - Shelby's replacement.

R6. QB Kevin Hogan - I think he could be better than people think.

[cuchulainn]

This.... no issue with Ragland later in the 1st if we drop down, I just continue to see him as over inflated due to a lack of other viable LB options in the first round.

Going DB, OG, and LB makes a lot more sense to me, given we have a lot of young LBs already, some of who were starting to flash at the end of the season.

[Kato]

I really like your draft and wouldn't be opposed to it but if we wait till the 4th and hope our last hope is rhere( McGovern) then we are chancing it. I love Cravens and Smith! We may have to give up Cravens for the sake of our Oline, or keep Cravens and pick Conklin over Ragland. This I know will upset you cause of your love of Ragland and hate for another 1st round Oline.

Aqua my friend thanks for the feedback. I know my draft is LB/Safety heavy and we could/should go CB early and often. I am cautious this year because i just dont see a slam dunk starter in the second tier of CBs that we might get at 13, and certainly who we might pick from who is available in round 2. If Fuller is there in 2 i would pick him over Cravens but there usually is a big run on CBs late first/early second so who knows who will be there that is a substantial upgrade over Davis....and i am also still scratching my head over the total whiff on Jamar Taylor who seemed like the real deal coming out of Boise State. Finally i just think Cravens is a new toy playmaker on D.
You do know my posts well, but a slight correction in that i dont love Ragland but i do think now at 13 he is good bang for the buck. My man crush is on Myles Jack and i value LBs over CBs and yes i do not want any linemen in Round 1.......But u could not upset me as the Gentleman of this Forum

[Kato]

I would not be opposed to Ragland in the first round but only if we traded down. I would prefer Apple with our first round pick since I believe it will be harder to find a corner who can start right away in the later rounds than it would be to find a MLB who can start right away.

Cravens is like you said probably going to be moved to safety in the NFL and probably strong safety and we already have Jones there. If we needed a strong safety then I would like the pick but we have too many other pressing needs.

Davis probably projects more as a free safety in the NFL. I would not feel comfortable having him start at corner for us.

McGovern in the 4th round would be a very good selection.

I am not a big fan of Cardele Jones but we should draft a QB in the later rounds. I think we could still draft a player here who would help us more.

I haven't heard of Justin Simmons but we could always use more secondary depth.

Here is what I would do.

R1. DB Eli Apple - Immediate starter opposite Maxwell.

R2. OG Cody Whitehair - Lets hope he is available. I've seen some mock drafts where he is.

R3. LB Joshua Perry - With his size 6'4 250 I think he can move to MLB. I think Alonso is better off playing OLB.

R4. RB CJ Procise - Similar to David Johnson of the Cardinals.

R5. DE/DT Anthony Zettel - Shelby's replacement.

R6. QB Kevin Hogan - I think he could be better than people think.

FTLD, i would not be upset with a sure fire starting CB in round 1, and many like Apple and Mackenzie. As i stated we need (at least) one bigtime.I guess i just am partial to LBs in general and for this team and their raggedyass corps.. I am so tired of the dented facemasks on our D and opposing Tight Ends using the short middle of the field as their personal playground. My jonesing for Jones in the 5th is just a weird thing like an irrational but deeply felt bet on the roulette wheel in Vegas. Thanks for reading my first and probably last mock draft.

[Driven_Phinsane!]

FTLD, i would not be upset with a sure fire starting CB in round 1, and many like Apple and Mackenzie. As i stated we need (at least) one bigtime.I guess i just am partial to LBs in general and for this team and their raggedyass corps.. I am so tired of the dented facemasks on our D and opposing Tight Ends using the short middle of the field as their personal playground. My jonesing for Jones in the 5th is just a weird thing like an irrational but deeply felt bet on the roulette wheel in Vegas. Thanks for reading my first and probably last mock draft.

yeah kato, i as well have been waiting on an ass-kicking LB since ol' Zach hung up his cleats..We just can't seem to get a playmaker at the position (I know we just scored Kiko in the trade, and he was sensational as a rook, but he hasn't been close to the same since his injury) I was drooling over the possibility of landing Jaylon Smith 'til his injury, then like you i had kind of turned my attention to Jack @ 8, then 'lo & behold we once again traded our high pick away..Maybe after the Dion Jordan debacle, we want to be as far away from picking in the top 10 as we can...

I know we desperately need Corner's, but IMO with Suh this D desperately needs a playmaker or two at LB, otherwise in the blink of an eye several years will have passed, we'll have wasted another great D-Lineman and we'll be no closer to where we want to be...

I do have to say that i'm not even really looking forward to the draft in the first time in forever,, i'm almost afraid of what we're going to do!

[cuchulainn]

Have no fear, Grier is here. ;-)

Hoping like Hell that Alonso is back to 100% and will thrive behind Suh. Excited to see what Hewitt can do as well in his 2nd season. Would love to see Zach Vigil progress as well. He had an INT and made a hellova ST play for us last season.

[Driven_Phinsane!]

Well, on the heels of hearing we brought Daniel Thomas back i figured i'd be hearing Phillip Wheeler had rejoined the team...

[Kato]

".....I know we desperately need Corner's, but IMO with Suh this D desperately needs a playmaker or two at LB, otherwise in the blink of an eye several years will have passed, we'll have wasted another great D-Lineman and we'll be no closer to where we want to be..."


..................Can I get an Amen, Brother DP'!. We have got to get the Right Transmission to go with the Big Engine in Suh............and another good point...we are not drafting for the Super Bowl-build from the Line out.

[Phintim Menace]

I think you are all right on point! Good read. I too like Ragland in the first. I just think a solid Mike affects more snaps than any corner can. He can rush the passer, stuff the run and fill a short zone. When Dion was in his prime, they just didn't throw at him. In some ways he was defending his deep side of the field, but the opponent would either run the ball or throw short or long to the other side. Just hard for any CB to do what a Zach Thomas did for our D for so many years!