I think that unless he shows something extra special the 1st is too high and risky for a TE, especially one coming off of a knee injury. Gresham did seem to move pretty well at the combine so I wouldn’t be temped to tear my eyes out if they take him. He does have talent. I am a big fan of high picks in the Oline so I would hope Iutapi is there and we get him. I don’t thin your Oline can ever be good enough. If I were a GM I would draft one in the top 3 spots every year if there was a good one out there.

The only “skil” position player I would consider is Dez Bryant if he falls to us. He is falling down the boards a bit so maybe he could be a Bengal. Before FA I felt the Bengals were pretty well on an even par. We both signed a couple of WRs with some talent and troubled pasts but when you beat us to the punch on Bolden you definately pulled ahead and with Mason coming back your WR corps is pretty improved and solid. My only concern with both Mason and Bolden is thet they are both more possession receivers and not really fast. They aren’t slow but not really fast by NFL standards. They will however make your passing attack much more potent. Kelly Washington was not the answer, an OK stop gap, but a #4 backup.

Teh Bengals countered with A. Bryant. He is a faster than Bolden and has good hands. He gets out of his breaks well and will make defenses play both sides of the field. All in all I would rather have Bolden though. It is not out of the question that TO could still be Bengal. Chad has said he will take a pay cut to get him but the odd are against it. He has lost some speed but he is a great route runner and that is an under rated quality IMO.

We will have to see where this Big Ben goes, and it is possible that he was a bit of a victim here and league action is still premature but the more details I read the more Big Ben appears to have some trouble. The Steelers will not be the same without him, Ward isn’t getting any younger and their Oline needs some work. You never count the Steelers out but they just may fall off a bit.

I think you, like the Bengals, need to be careful not to reach for a particular position but tend toward the BPA in one of the areas you may consider the weakest. I would however be looking for a stup MLB for Rey to be coaching and the safety and corner position.

just to bring in a the best TE this year isn’t necessarily the best move. Compared to next year’s TE’s how does he stack up? Is he really worth the 25th pick when there are at least 4 or 5 TE’s people are talking about going in the first two rounds? If he isn’t way way better than the 2nd TE, I don’t want to draft him at 25. If we trade down to 34 and draft him, that would be different.

To me it’s like RB’s… I would take a first round RB liek JLew was or Peterson if they are obvious top ten talent… but I wouldn’t draft a RB in the late first round because aren’t far enough ahead of the 2nd round RB talen to warrant taking at 25ish. I would rather try to grad the last DE or LB or CB that is head and shoulders above the rest.

I would kind of treat it like fantasy football. Do you draft a TE early because you need one? No, you wait til the middle rounds because the talent seperation isn’t there… the top three are all the same level. However, you would make sure you get the last of the elite players… Gates and Braylon Edwards isn’t as good of a combo as a Andre Johnson and John Carlson.

That is fair, didn’t think about it like that.

So Shake my Bag. I was talking about drafting BPA, not whether he/she/it should/would/could play which position.

Also, it isn’t a stupid question because you can’t name me three amazing 5 technique DE’s that make a huge impact. The best out there are no name guys around the NFL like Aaron Smith in Pitt. In a 3-4 you want your OLB’s to be the huge stars making all the plays. That’s why Woodley and Harrison rack up 30 sacks between them and Smith flies under the radar but is one of the better DE’s. Shake my bag.