Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
Every year there seems to be a guy that has a 40 times, vertical jump, bench press reps, etc that are off the charts. There are these raw players that come out with freakish athleticism that only need to be coached up. It happens every year. This year along comes Margus Hunt. I wouldn't mind having him. But not with our current second round pick. Not without getting a quality 3-4 DE and NT that are ready to play right now. We need defensive line players that can come in and give us 20 snaps a game right now. We don't have time for a player that may look completely lost on some plays. This isn't like Aldon Smith who was transitioning from DE to OLB (or any college 4-3 DE making the conversion for that matter). This is a guy that is still learning how to play the game. We can't afford to draft a player that raw, that high in the draft. If we already had a DE waiting in the wings or could afford to sign a free agent that could immediately rotate with Justin Smith, I'd be more open to taking Hunt. But right now, before our 63rd pick is too high for me.
In my estimation, our need at nose tackle and defensive end are not the same.
Both our starting nose tackle and his back up are free agents. It sure looks like we need to get a starting nose tackle.
In contrast, we have starting defensive ends--one solid and one excellent defensive--under contract.
The number of snaps that we need from the new acquisitions are not the same.
One possible solution would be to sign Richard Seymour, draft a nose tackle with our first pick, and take Margus Hunt with our second pick.
I am not saying that this is our best solution, but it is one viable option.
It would give us a solid rotational defensive end, and Hunt would have time to serve an apprenticeship under two experienced vets.
[ Edited by buck on Feb 26, 2013 at 5:18 AM ]