Jamaal Anderson and DE's in Mocks

[Libid21]

It's still far too early to judge Anderson's true impact on this team (for example, look at the impact he had on defense today). People are quick to give up on the players that aren't doing as well as they were supposed to because they want to draft a player in that position. Jamaal Anderson has been improving all along, but he just hasn't been producing as much as we would want him to. Today was the first day he's ever had a sack as a professional football player, but even if he didn't get a sack, he was still a better football player now than he was when he was a rookie - therefore we can't just give up on him because he was and still is improving.

Orakpo is one **** of a football player. Michael Johnson, regardless of how I really don't want us to draft him and how I don't think he deserves to be drafted in the first round anyways, has almost a limitless amount of potential if he can use his rare combination of strength and athleticism. However, just because that is the truth, we still have far bigger holes on our roster going into next year.

One of the needs certainly comes from the secondary. Whether it'd be in the cornerback position or the safety position, we still need to address that first before we address defensive end (I don't even think we really need to address the DE position except to maybe add another DE to add depth). We also need a DT to replace Grady Jackson. Although he's been really helpful with our run defense, I don't think he can go for much longer. The same can be said for Lawyer Milloy and our pass defense.

I usually don't make mock drafts as early as October (I usually wait until the calendar year passes), but I might start making one monthly now, but I haven't studied as many game tapes as I would want to if I wanted to determine which players I think would fit our team systems.

[keller24VT]

Very true. Excellent post. I completely agree with you. JA98 had quite a game today and hopefully it will continue. People made the same mistake with Roddy by giving up on him when his career didn't get off to a blazing start. BTW, I look forward to your mock draft.

[Nolefalcon69]

Agreed, DE would be a luxury pick for us, I could see adding someone for depth (gotta keep johnny abe fresh). Defensive tackle and safety should be our first two picks, I dont see atlanta picking in the top ten like most are STILL predicting. I think the 15-20 range is much more realistic. When your looking at game tape check out Myron Rolle at FSU, I might be playing favorites, but if Taylor Mays is gone Myron might be our man. This might be too high of a spot to pick him, but I dont see him falling that late in round 2.

[Mr. Offseason]

it was one game... i understand that jamaal was a high selection but that doesnt rule out additional help at DE in the 1st round. it certainly may not be as likely if anderson puts up quality production CONSISTENTLY but it wouldnt be out of the realm of possibility.

im still not sure we have a legitimate replacement for abraham at RE. i like bierman but i think he is more of a situational pass rusher for us rather than a future starter at RE after abe leaves or retires (hopefully he retires a falcon). for that reason id still be ok with orakpo, but if we keep winning we wont have a shot at him imo.

i understand where youre coming from libid but forgive me if i reserve judgement until anderson does stuff similar to this with some consistency.

[Libid21]

Agreed, DE would be a luxury pick for us, I could see adding someone for depth (gotta keep johnny abe fresh). Defensive tackle and safety should be our first two picks, I dont see atlanta picking in the top ten like most are STILL predicting. I think the 15-20 range is much more realistic. When your looking at game tape check out Myron Rolle at FSU, I might be playing favorites, but if Taylor Mays is gone Myron might be our man. This might be too high of a spot to pick him, but I dont see him falling that late in round 2.

I'd rather us draft William Moore from Missouri. I really believe he's one of those true football players. Mays has the tools to become an elite safety in this league, but I'm beginning to think more and more that he's a project player who will take time to hone his skills a little bit more. Some teams might actually move him to linebacker. But the thing with Mays is he doesn't play as physical as you would think someone that size would play. He doesn't use his rare combination of size and speed to the best of his abilities IMO. At the end of the day, it will always come down to who is willing to pull up their sleeves and do a little work. But then again, this is just coming from a guy who's only watched three games of Mays on tape.

I've also hard that Myron Rolle from FSU is a workout warrior. Most of you may already know that I'm not a big fan of workout warriors because they don't usually translate well into the NFL unless they've had a productive college career. This is just my 'new' theory this year.

So anyways, like I said, if we were to draft a safety, I'd rather go for William Moore in the first round. But then again, it depends on where we are drafting and from this point it seems as if we're going to draft around the 15-20th picks, and I think Moore, Davis, and Jenkins will be long gone by then. I think that's still too early to reach on Mays (I see Mays as a late round draft pick). I'd rather us address the OL position in that situation. There are many, many possibilities and a million scenarios so I can only go on and on with how we can address our needs in the offseason. I do believe that the most important positions to address next year are Defensive Tackle, Cornerback, Safety, Offensive Tackle (RT in particular and move in Clabo to his natural position at the RG), and Wide Receiver. The rest of the positions just need depth (for example DL, OL).

[Norwood32]

i understand where youre coming from libid but forgive me if i reserve judgement until anderson does stuff similar to this with some consistency.

Money.