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He is a 2nd team All-Pro, the Pats refused to tag him, can we go after him? He would be perfect next to Wagner and Wright. Come on guys I never asked you people for anything !!

Seriously, do we have the CS to get this guy??

obiken wrote:He is a 2nd team All-Pro, the Pats refused to tag him, can we go after him? He would be perfect next to Wagner and Wright. Come on guys I never asked you people for anything !!

Seriously, do we have the CS to get this guy??

They still have a few more days to tag him, and even if they don't, they could sign him to a long term deal and use the tag on one of their other players, and even if he does hit free agency, there's going to be a pretty intense bidding war for his services. Although every team in the league, including us, could use a player of his caliber, we don't have a need at that position, at least not as much as we do on the OL, at CB, and at DT, so I don't think we'll be one of those teams vying for his services.

He's an OLB. Currently we have Mike Morgan who is a FA playing there with Kevin Pierre-Louis as backup who they don't seem to have confidence in.
We definitely have a need at that position, but I doubt he would last into the 2nd wave like JS is prone to wait for.
However, Hightower might not want to go to a rebuilding team and would rather play for a contender, so you never know.

NorthHawk wrote:He's an OLB. Currently we have Mike Morgan who is a FA playing there with Kevin Pierre-Louis as backup who they don't seem to have confidence in.
We definitely have a need at that position, but I doubt he would last into the 2nd wave like JS is prone to wait for.
However, Hightower might not want to go to a rebuilding team and would rather play for a contender, so you never know.

It doesn't rank up there with our other needs, ie OT, CB, DT. We have bigger fish to fry.

I disagree.
A solid starting LB is a necessity.
Wagner and Wright played over 97% of the plays last year and if one goes down for any injury we will only have one starting caliber LB.
LB is a must this draft and I expect one to be selected in the first 2 days, maybe even with our 1st pick depending on how the draft falls.

NorthHawk wrote:I disagree.
A solid starting LB is a necessity.
Wagner and Wright played over 97% of the plays last year and if one goes down for any injury we will only have one starting caliber LB.
LB is a must this draft and I expect one to be selected in the first 2 days, maybe even with our 1st pick depending on how the draft falls.

So are you saying that OLB is a greater need than OT, DT, or CB?

With 5 picks in the first 2 days and a roster that's relatively full, I wouldn't be shocked to see a player from almost any position outside of quarterback, and perhaps center, to be selected by us in the first 2 days, including our 1st rounder. I expect us to take the best player available. So OLB along with safety, OG, RB, are all at the top of the board IMO.

RiverDog wrote:
So are you saying that OLB is a greater need than OT, DT, or CB?

With 5 picks in the first 2 days and a roster that's relatively full, I wouldn't be shocked to see a player from almost any position outside of quarterback, and perhaps center, to be selected by us in the first 2 days, including our 1st rounder. I expect us to take the best player available. So OLB along with safety, OG, RB, are all at the top of the board IMO.

Yep - this is the only thing you can count on\predict in a John & Pete Draft.

So are you saying that OLB is a greater need than OT, DT, or CB?

I think in the Front Offices mind it is very close if not so. Pete said as much in his year end review about what they need or want to do in the off season and he's not been deceptive in previous years.
Just today Pete said that Fant is our Left Tackle and although they will look for a veteran Free Agent, he wants continuity on the OL most of all.
I think LB is more of a need than DT, but CB is up there, too.

Regarding taking the best player available, just yesterday in JS's interview he flat out said in this day and age it's a necessity to draft for need.

"Starting" SLB is a need, but given the small number of snaps there, it doesn't rank high on the list. I suppose that if JS/PC saw Hightower as a possible LEO, they could go after him, the SLB in Pete's scheme doesn't involve much of a pass rush and putting Hightower there would be a waste of his skills.

NorthHawk wrote:Regarding taking the best player available, just yesterday in JS's interview he flat out said in this day and age it's a necessity to draft for need.

What people in this forum have been telling me as the reason for our OL situation is that we'd love to have drafted an OL with our first round pick but there simply wasn't one available that was worth a first rounder when it came our turn. Schneider's statement seems to belie our draft history, at least as told to us by some of our forum members.

IMO there's a balance between need and BPA. If the best player available is an OT and 5 of them were taken in the first ahead of us leaving nothing but players ranked no higher than 3rd round talent, we're not taking an OT. Each team's balance varies, with teams like the Niners and Browns having so many needs that the BPA is almost always going to also fill a need whereas teams like us aren't nearly so desperate and can afford to take a better player at a position that may not be a huge need.

The truth of the matter has always been a balance between BPA and drafting for need. The stronger your roster is and the more successful your pre-draft FA period the greater a teams ability to weight the scales toward BPA. I think Pete's statement is more an indication of the state of our current roster than any sort of a change in philosophy.

He knew it was coming too ... he said back when all of our current stars were in their first contracts that things were going to get a whole lot harder when we had to start paying everyone.

The drafting for BPA is something people talk about, but all teams draft for need. Schneider was clear that's what they do and if we look at their previous picks, it's clear they do that.
I think it's one of those ideals that is rarely if ever attained as all teams have needs or will have the next year when contracts are up. Preparing for future changes is part of drafting in current years because of the Salary Cap and Free Agency amongst other reasons.

c_hawkbob wrote:The truth of the matter has always been a balance between BPA and drafting for need. The stronger your roster is and the more successful your pre-draft FA period the greater a teams ability to weight the scales toward BPA. I think Pete's statement is more an indication of the state of our current roster than any sort of a change in philosophy.

He knew it was coming too ... he said back when all of our current stars were in their first contracts that things were going to get a whole lot harder when we had to start paying everyone.

I can agree with that, at least in part. There is and always has been a balance between need and BPA.

But I also feel that the worse a team is, the more needs they have and the greater the chance that the BPA and position of need wind up being the same player.

Sure, if you have needs everywhere you can't help but hit one no matter who you draft. Problem is teams in that positions either aren't very good at identifying the best player or are so focused on a position that they wind up overlooking the truly best player in favor the player at the position they're most desperate to fill.

It's a happy coincidence when BPA and need meet at a pick, but need trumps BPA every time in the draft.

c_hawkbob wrote:Sure, if you have needs everywhere you can't help but hit one no matter who you draft. Problem is teams in that positions either aren't very good at identifying the best player or are so focused on a position that they wind up overlooking the truly best player in favor the player at the position they're most desperate to fill.

Very true.

Pete or JS in their respective presser mentioned that some time they will need to draft for needs. I think they understand that some of that is now.

We need to get Okung and Beno and Williams and Hightower if we have the money.

It seems to me that Hightower in testing the market from a championship team, will be looking to be paid a premium, so he might not be attainable considering the cap room of other teams, but he would be a nice addition.

Regarding Okung, I read another comment about our OL demands being more physical than other teams, and as he's older, could he take the beating, not to mention our FO seemingly content to let Fant develop into whatever player he will eventually become. RT FA would seem to be more likely, but don't dismiss a Guard as the vet they talk about.

We need Hightower just like we need a CB it's a position of need. He would complete the LB core and make us a better team. We also need Okung.