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National Football League
Draft King Mailbag
March 30, 2007
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
From: Chris Peterson
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 26, 2007 10:49 AM
Subject: No way eagles pick a WR in Round 1!!!
I have seen several mock drafts having the birds pick a WR. They may have considered this before signing Kevin Curtis. They have Curtis and Reggie Brown signed long term with some promising young players in Hank Baskett and Jason Avant who they want to get on the field. I see them going cornerback (they value this position extremely high), strong safety as Sean Considine is the replacement for Brian Dawkins at free safety, linebacker (this would be a bit of a surprise in round 1). I don't see this happening but if Greg Olsen falls to them, I think the birds pick him considering the difficulty they have had in locking up L.J. Smith long term.
Lou: Reggie Brown may be on the verge of a breakout year (it's typical for receivers to make their big move up the learning curve in year three), so we'll see. Neither Brown nor Curtis have had any one year with more than 816 yards receiving, so I'm not necessarily sold on the concept of Philly being set at WR. But you're right that the Eagles do have a solid sleeper prospect in Hank Baskett (who went undrafted, in part because of concern about a spinal cord injury he suffered during his freshman year at New Mexico), and Avant was a fourth round pick who is going into just his second year, so maybe wide receiver won't be where the Eagles will look.
From: Michael Littleton
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 28, 2007 1:24 PM
Subject: COWBOYS
With the recent acquisition of Ken Hamlin, what do you think is the
Cowboys # 1 priority in the draft. I personally believe we need a true
NT. Of the top ranked DTs, who do believe is best suited to play the
nose in a 3-4 and who do you feel will have the best pro career. Also I
was wondering what your thoughts were on Paul Soliai out of Utah. He's
listed at 6'4" and 344 lbs, which is an excellent size for a true NT;
but I've had trouble locating a scouting report on him.
Lou: Hamlin was a nice acquisition by Dallas, filling a major need spot with a player who should fit quite nicely into the mix.
Pass rushing was a problem for the Cowboys last season, save for DeMarcus Ware, and it's possible that the Cowboys will look to add a 3-4 DE who has a good mix of speed and size. If NT is being considered, I'd think the best value for the Cowboys would come in rounds two or three. Short of Alan Branch or Amobi Okoye falling to them, any other DT at #22 would be a reach. Alternately, Dallas could go with an ILB with blitzing skills, though that will likely depend on how Wade Phillips evaluates the LB talent pool and where the various players at that position on the team project (particularly as it relates to pass rushing.)
Youth at WR remains a glaring need, though, and unless the Cowboys are unimpressed with the entire batch of second-tier wideouts (e.g. top WRs in the draft not named Calvin Johnson, who is on his own tier), I'd think that wide receiver will receive serious consideration from Dallas in round one.
From: Larry Goldberg
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 28, 2007 1:53 PM
Subject: mock draft - www.draftking.com
Great website - i check it weekly
I also have season tickets to the NY Giants. There is ZERO chance they take a WR. And if it was 1%, they would take Ginn over Steve Smith. With Sinorice Moss, they don't need to risk another pick on a WR. Go back over the last 6 years. there are limited WR's that work out.
With Patrick Willis still on your board, he makes a lot more sense. If GM Jerry Reese thinks chief leading tackler Kiwuka Mitchell is the short term answer to help Antonio Pierce and Gerris Wilkinson, then he will certainly draft a defensive back like Chris Houston or Aaron Ross.
Lou: The Giants need LB help, to be sure, but at MLB? Antonio Pierce recorded 136 tackles at MLB last year, and Willis is a much stronger prospect as a MLB than as an outside linebacker, at least in my estimation.
You may be right about the Giants going with a DB in round one. As long as the Giants have Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey, they'll have two legitimate receiving targets for Eli Manning. Plus there's the factor that Tom Coughlin barely kept his job and needs to show immediate improvement, which would seem to make a WR pick less likely (since, like QBs, they tend to take a while to produce results.)
As for Ted Ginn, Jr. over Steve Smith, with Sinorice Moss already on the roster, it would seem duplicitous for the Giants to take Ginn, whereas a strong possession receiver would be a better fit relative to what the team already has.
From: Mark Kruise
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 28, 2007 7:02 PM
Subject: (no subject)
I highly doubt the Steelers will take Jarvis Moss with their pick at 15.
Moss is an impressive talent to be sure, but there is a lot of talk about
his immaturity among other character flaws. If any team in the NFL can be
characterized as valuing "high character" guys, it would be the Steelers and
I can't see the Steelers picking someone of his character. I know you don't
prognosticate trades, but i'm really starting to think that a trade with the
Bills would benefit both clubs. The steelers could move up to grab Okoye,
and the Bills can move down a couple notches and still get the guy they
want. Okoye really intrigues me. He's got the girth to fill the 3-4 DE
spot this year, while Brent Keissel switches to OLB. He can then move
inside along side Casey Hampton in the next few years, applying pressure
while Hampton clogs the middle (assuming we eventually transition to the
Tampa 2). If we don't trade up, I believe Adam Carriker is the pick at 15.
As stated above, he has the build to play 3-4 DE, and if we go to the Tampa
2 later, i think he could move inside. I know the knock on Carriker is that
he lacks the lower body strength to move inside, but i think he could
develop this in a few years.
Lou: I realize that the NFL is hyper-paranoid about the whole "character issue" thing, but I haven't heard much about that talk relating to Jarvis Moss. He missed the Western Carolina game in 2006 for "violating team rules", but Urban Meyer referred to it as a "speed bump", and Moss returned and helped lead Florida to both an SEC Championship win and the BCS Title. Some people online have speculated about what Moss did to land the suspension, but there has never been any official revelation of that.
If you want to look at a "character issue" problem from the Florida defensive line, Marcus Thomas is the one who will receive the bulk of the attention on that, though he was more the circumstance of a clash with Meyer (an Officer Hardass type of coach who gets results but obviously doesn't mesh with everyone.) Thomas' inability to adhere to the NCAA rules against marijuana use won't sit well with GMs, but he could be a good fit on a team like the Colts, with a laid-back head coach and a big need at DT.
As for Carriker, he is a strong 3-4 DE prospect, but my feeling is that Mike Tomlin is looking to get away from the 3-4 based on his success with the Tampa 2 (and a 4-3 front.) But if that's not actually the case, Carriker could be a great fit for the Steelers.
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