Dealing with the reality of the situation.....

Have to ask. Do you really believe that if Colbert doesn't pick a CB early, that he isn't serious about going to the SB this year?

2nd question, do you really believe that if we take a CB in the first, that he will play significant snaps? Make a huge difference? It's only the hardest position to learn.

You are setting yourself up for such massive disappointment.

 

I'm a big fan of Cockrell. I think he can be a #2 CB. Always seems to be around the ball....

So someone talk me off the ledge here. All off season I have had CB as the clear #1 need. I've been cruising through the NFL Network marathon of round 1 draft recaps going back to 2010.

So many CBs taken in round 1. Guys I liked while scouting them. So many of them have amounted to nothing in the NFL. Even if they did fall to us at #25, will they produce or fail like so many others have. More nervous about Apple and Jackson than ever.

I feel safer with Fuller and Alexander.

Where's the DrunkGM @winggin with some liquid courage when ya need him.

 

You have good reason to be nervous about Jackson and Apple. I think at least 50% of the 1st round "can't miss" height/weight/speed corners from recent drafts have performed far lower than their draft status. Milliner. Claiborne. Kirkpatrick. Dennard (so far). There are others, but I'm too tired to dig back. I have Fuller solidly #3 behind Ramsey and Hargreaves. I just don't throw it out there much because I don't feel like getting drawn into yet another clueless "he's not 6'+ so he sucks" discussion. Alexander I don't like at #25, mainly because he fits a man scheme better, but also because I don't think he's a first round value. Could Apple and Jackson be good? Yep. Could they bust? Yep. Fuller is safe. He'll be the 4th NFL player in his immediate family, so he's going to have his head on straight.

 

Here are 1st round CBs drafted from 2008 to 2013 who have not really excelled:

Leodis Mckelvin
Mike Jenkins
Antoine Cason
Malcolm Jenkins
Kareem Jackson
Kyle Wilson
Prince Amukamara
Jimmy Smith
Morris Claiborne
Stephon Gilmore
Dre Kirkpatrick
Dee Milliner
DJ Hayden
Desmond Trufant
Xavier Rhodes

Now I'm not saying these guys are busts. Bit none of them have more than 1 pro bowl and none have averaged more than 2 ints per season.

I only included players who have been in the league for atleast 3 years. You could easily say Gilbert & Denard do not look good although it's still a little early.

So what are we looking for in a CB @ 25? Would we be happy with the type of play of anyone above? Would you trade for anyone above for the #25?

I think there's a reason we rarely draft a CB in round 1. Seems like there is a much lower percentage of success in taking a CB in round 1 versus other positions.

 

Awesome awesome post, NB. I'm not overly thrilled with any of the CB's that are likely to be available to us, I'm also not overly negative on them either, just meh more or less. Kind of like your list above.

I'm hoping there are options at other positions with better grades when we pick.

 

Well we need 1 S and 1 CB. I don't think that's disputable. And I think both picks have to be relatively early. I may even think we need a second CB. I think we should take a CB likely in the 1st. At worst in the 3rd. I think the second round looks golden to take a S.

DT, or NT if you will, will be highly debated. I think Big Dan is a competent run stuffer. So I am personally opposed to taking a DT early if he will routinely play leas than 50% of snaps. When we go to nickel, I just don't see Heyward and Tuitt coming off the field. I think we should draft a DT/DE type as depth, but later in the draft.

I think we definitely need an OLB. I would say either in round 3 or 4, unless someone incredible fell to us in round 1.

I do think we need a WR for a couple of reasons. It's a possibility that Martavis Bryant never plays another snap in a Steelers uniform. If he can't get his act together and goes down the same road as Josh Gordon, it's over. Depending on AB's demands, we may struggle to lock him up financially. We will see. Wheaton is ok but not a true #2. I am optimistic with Coates but we don't really know what we have yet. If Treadwell falls, I wouldn't oppose moving up a few spots to get him. This is unlikely but not crazy. I would say possibly looking at the 3rd round to take a guy. We should be taking one no later than the 6th.

I also think we need a RB at some point. As we saw, not much behind Bell and D Will.

 

Yeah I wouldn't move up too much. I was just thinking like 3 or 4 picks. Something a 6th round pick could get us. Treadwell is Alshon Jeffrey to me. He's slow, but he's big, powerful and knows how to go up and get the ball. Being undervalued IMO.

 

SC, are you thinking a 6th can get us 3-4 spots in the 1st, or are you talking about Treadwell falling to the 2nd? To go up from 25 to 21 or 22 would probably cost at least our 4th.

 

I remember a trade from last year where some team threw in a 5th round pick to move up 2 spots in the 1st round. I knew we didn't have a 5th, so might as well try for the 6th instead of a 4th .

But I wouldn't trade a 4th to move up to get treadwell unless the other team threw a 6th back to us.

 

I recall the Browns moving up 1 spot with an early 5th a couple of years ago ( to get Gilbert). i don't recall any 2 spot moves for a 5th. Hey... it would be great to be able to move up that cheaply, but given the needs on out defense, and our ability to hit on WRs later in the draft, Treadwell wouldn't be my trade up target.

By the way, we don't have a trade able 6th either. Comp picks aren't trade able until next year.

 

You are right. I thought we had 2 6s, but it's 2 7s we have. The deal I was thinking about was in 2009 when the Browns dropped from 17 to 19 and then subsequently 19 to 21, and all they did was pick up extra 6th round picks each time. Then again, that was the Browns.