Originally posted by Crazy49er1313:
See, I know we all want Fleener, he'd be my first choice, but after Combine I don't think he'll make it to our pick and neither with Konz (won't make it past Baltimore with Birk most likely retiring). Glenn is understandable IF we lose Snyder, but in my mock we keep him, so no need to put ANOTHER first round pick into the OL.
As for the offense, I think you may underestimate what we have. No offseason led us to run a simplified offense, which many defenses picked up on. Just imagine if our offense gets to learn the system, not to mention allow Alex a chance to keep the same offense. As much as we gave him shyt for not producing, @ Utah he produced wonderfully b/c, as his HC put it, "He was allowed to fully learn the system". He needs to fully grasp it and the best way is to keep the system and team the same, giving him time to build rapport. He already has it with VD, Walker, Gore, and Morgan, but now he needs to figure shyt out with Crabs who has shown talent but underachieved.
Also, I think you undervalue Meachem. I still remember how badly I wanted us to get him when he came outta Tennessee. He can play the Ginn role of stretching the field, but unlike Ginn, he can CATCH it! Not to mention Meachem will lunge @ the opportunity to play for the #1 WR role, unlike @ NOR, where he was behind Colston, Sproles, Graham, and Henderson as the 5th option. He's fast, gets separation, and will be able to take advantage of VD's double teams and 8-man boxes.
As I know I've clearly ranted, just wanna end with this: we are a defensive team. We got lucky last year b/c we had no significant injuries @ any level. But, throughout the last 5 years, how many times has McDonald had knee problems? Tarrell Brown with concussions? Depth @ the OLB position? This is the first year we have FINALLY gotten our shyt together and have the defense that 3 coaches have had to build over the past 5 seasons, two of whom lost their jobs due to lack of continuity on defense to make up lack of offense.
Now we have a coach who has kept the coaching core together, can build up the offense, and make the defense set for the next 5-7 years. Remember, although the scoreboard said differently, we beat the Giants in every aspect of the game from the 3rd quarter through overtime. Unfortunately, it's better to be lucky than good...
It's not that I disagree with you about the defense I just think we need to invest into the offense this year and can't rely solely on continuity. You're pretty much banking on Meachem being what they envisioned Braylon to be this year.
I think there's 2 ways we could drastically improve the offense at 30 or by trading up to around 25.
1. Peter Konz Our interior lineplay needs to be upgraded. He could push either Goodwin or Snyder and I think his addition would secure our line for a decade to come.
2. Coby Fleener Complete luxury pick, but he's exactly what we've been missing. Vernon is a dynamic tight end but he's got poor awareness and lacks height. The same can be said about Walker. He's more aware than Vernon but is inconsisent and drops way too many passes.
I'd put both of those needs over securing the front 7 rotation.
