Draft day trades are completely unpredictable, but I tried to envision some plausible moves to maximize pick value.
I'm not going to approach the production value of oldman9er (wow), but I'll give it a run . . .
Day One – Up & Down
Trade #1 - Up:
We need a stabilizing presence at RT more than any other spot. To get the guy we need we’ll have to get out in front of Oakland and Buffalo. To do so McCloughan dials up his old boss the Walrus in Cleveland. We offer #13 and #49 (1560 Pts) in exchange for #7 and one of Cleveland’s 5th round picks (1530+/-). And with the 7th pick we select:
1a – (7): Trent Williams OT – Oklahoma
With this move we don’t need to stress about starting OT’s for quite a while.
Trade #2 – Down:
At #17 we can grab Mark Iupati, Brandon Graham, Kyle Wilson or Taylor Mays. Jerry Jones comes callin’ because after watching his o-line get abused by the Vikings he knows they need big help. Dallas needs to get out in front of both Cincy and Pittsburgh to guarantee landing Iupati. They offer #27 & #59 (990 Pts) for pick #17 and our 5th round pick (980 Pts +/-). We get a 2nd rounder back and with the 27th pick we select:
1b – (27): Jerry Hughes OLB – TCU
Hughes killed at the combine and has the college production to make it mean something. This pick makes passing on Graham a redeemable decision.
Day Two – We get our SEC on
2 – (59): John Jerry OG/OT – Mississippi
Jerry should be an immediate upgrade at either OG position and should be able swing to OT in a pinch. Bye bye Snyder.
3 – (79): Javier Arenas CB/PR – Alabama
Immediately upgrades the return game. Adds speed to the secondary to help cover the speedy slot WR’s on passing downs.
Day Three – Filling out some depth
4a – Eric Decker WR – Minnesota
Off the chart Wonderlic score aside, this kid will be a playmaker. Great value in the 4th.
Trade #3 – Up
Move up into the lower half of the 4th round (5th & 6th round picks for something in the 120’s). With the 120ish pick we select:
4b – Kam Chancellor SS – Virginia Tech
We need to plan for Michael Lewis’ replacement and I’m not sure we want to assume that Curtis Taylor will be the answer.
7a – Lonyae Miller RB – Fresno State
Ryan Matthews’ understudy has skills.
7b – Corey Peters DT/DE – Kentucky
We dip back into the SEC for some d-line depth. 1st team All-SEC (Coaches) in 2009
RECAP
1a: Trent Williams OT - Oklahoma
1b: Jerry Hughes OLB - TCU
2: John Jerry OG/OT - Mississippi
3: Javier Arenas CB/PR - Alabama
4a: Eric Decker WR - Minnesota
4b: Kam Chancellor SS - Virginia Tech
7a: Lonyae Miller RB - Fresno State
7b: Corey Peters DT - Kentucky
With that draft we'd still have some work to do in free agency, namely re-signing Dre Bly IMO.
[ Edited by SonocoNinerFan on Mar 17, 2010 at 11:31 AM ]