AZ54

I'd be happy with Fletcher Cox at #19. Seems like he'd be good value there and he definitely fills a need at DT. He should upgrade our pass rush quite a bit. Add a DE later maybe a guy like Irvin in the 2nd Rd. That seems early for him but he's been rising up draft boards lately. Then we should have early pressure on any pass play coming from one of several places: Peppers, Melton, Cox, occasionally Izzy, and on 3rd and long Irvin. If Paea picks up the pace this year that could be an excellent line. Add WR in Rd 3, I think someone like Juron Criner could work for us. Then go OG in Rd 4 and take CB Omar Bolden out of ASU in Rd 5. Bolden needs more time to fully recover from his knee injury but we don't need to throw him into action right away. If he recovers fully he's a pretty good CB.

The dice have been rolled and I'm sure they won't come up with a 7.

I don't see a new GM, especially a guy like Emery, putting this kid in the locker room in his first draft. The last point above about him heading straight into the league's substance abuse program is key too. If we are ready to win now with the right additions then you need someone you can depend on not a project who might take a year or two to turn his life around. Expect him to end up on a team where the GM or head coach are on the hot seat and need to do all they can to save their jobs and so are more willing to take the gamble.

I don't like the idea of Jones at #19. Late riser, coming off serious injury, and scouts had to scramble back to his tape to see if his on-the-field performance matched his athleticism. Not what you want to hear, especially that last part, about the 19th pick in the draft.

If anyone is interested the Chicago Bears' website put up a nice collection of highlight videos of the top draft prospects at all positions (except kickers lol) http://www.chicagobears.com/2012DraftProspects.asp

We have too many needs to go after two DE early.

If OG is the target in Rd 1 we can easily drop back quite a few picks to the end of the first and still pick up good talent.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bruce+...&FORM=VIRE1 I watched some video highlights of Irvin, link above shows good/not so good plays. I like Irvin as a situational pass rusher and think in Rd 2 he'd be a good pick for us. He doesn't have the strength to be a good run defender but he did better with bull rushed than I expected. He's a freakish athlete, very quick, if he can add 10-15lbs and keep that quickness he could good DE for us. He fits Lovie's scheme in that he keeps working to the ball even down the field. Overall I like Perry as best fit for us. He's bigger, stronger and gets through double teams plus he displays more pass rush moves. Merciius is more of a complete DE than Irvin but I don't see enough explosion for him to be a great pass rusher in the NFL. I prefer to have Irvin (and his potential) in Rd 2 over Mercilus in Rd 1. Of course that means we add someone like Cordy Glenn or Jonathan Martin in Rd 1.

I think we have to expect the arrow to still be pointing up for both Melton and Paea (who was back from a serious knee injury and participated little in training camp). I view DE as more of a critical early round need than DT where we should be adding to depth behind Melton and Paea.

I'm surprised there has been little debate over taking Bruce Irvin in Rd 2. Is that reaching too much? I thought he was more of a 3rd or 4th round pick but he must be moving up. CBS Sports has him ranked as the 64th best player. As a situational rusher he's what you'd like to see on 3rd and long. As a DE against the run he's not big enough.

I will not miss watching Okoye running backwards on run plays. Neither will Urlacher who often had to step out of his way so he could make the play.

I can live with a reach of just a few spots. Not only that, we have to expect the Bears have done more research than the resources we have access to so we won't really know their board rankings. It was when we reached a round or two early to get guys like Danieal Manning that was frustrating. Every year with JA I had a WTF moment (as in who not what) in the early rounds.

Paea did alright coming off a serious knee injury (he was playing about 9mo afterward). With a full offseason to work out he should be improved this year. When we signed two FA CBs my first thought was here comes a DT early in the draft.

You can add Vontaze Burfict to the "also on the board list" for Rds 5, 6, and 7. Might as well toss in UDFAs too.

Disagree here as we have a backup QB who has more starting experience that all of our starting QBs had prior to Cutler, and that was a decade long run or something like that. What experience did our backups have? We also have one of the top 3 WRs in the NFL over the past several years. When has that happened in the last decade? We also have a solid backup RB behind Forte.

I said early on that this indicated a complete lack of leadership and this audio tape confirms that. Of course a Saints player came out and called the film maker a coward. Really? As a player on a team whose goal was to win by injuring other players, in many cases with lifetime injuries and that is not a cowards way to play a game? Drew Brees calls Sean Payton a great man for using these tactics. Hearing 12min of exhortations about specific injury targets for each player is disgusting and worse than i imagined. This goes beyond paying a guy if Alex Smith is carted off. At this point if I were the owner of the Saints I'd fire Sean Payton. You can't hear a 12 min speech like this from the defensive coordinator without knowing that Payton was not only aware of these policies but actively encouraging them. This isn't players and coaches talking quietly off to the side in a locker room. I find it impossible to believe Payton never sat in on one, if not many, of these speeches. He will never out live this and he has done too much damage to the Saints organization. I fully expect the fans of the NFL to let the Saints have it at every game this season. Having them open at the Hall of Fame game? Wrong message there.

Alex Brown is probably a good comparison but Mercilus is probably a bit faster. I think Brown's first step off the LOS was better. Mercilus would make our team better I just don't see him as a Pro Bowl DE and picking at #19 we should be getting a player with that potential IMO.

I agree on that. If we draft at #19 a guy who will be just an average LT then just put Chris Williams there and grab a higher rated player. He may end up being better than average anyway. Certainly we know more about him than any draft prospect and he did not fail at LT. In fact, he was better than Webb was last year. We have too many needs to reach for a guy in Rd 1.

Sorry but you have not been reading the latest medical studies. Beer, in moderation of 1 to 2 beers per day, is good for your health and has the same benefits that red wine does for lowering cholesterol.

I watched Youtube highlights of Mercilus last night and I am no longer very high on him at all. I just didn't see the burst off the LOS that I was expecting. He would still make our team better but I don't see first round talent there, he looks more like just a hustle-type player and if he gets blocked early he's done unless the play gets extended. He won't quit on the play but he's not making college OTs work that hard and I can't see him make NFL OTs worry too much either. Nick Perry on the other hand, he pops off the LOS, has spin moves like Freeney. He doesn't have much size, or at least sometimes seemed to get swallowed up, but for a part time edge rusher like we need I like him a lot more than Mercilus. He will definitely stretch pass protection wider and if he doesn't get there he'll open up holes for others to blitz through. All this is considering that Peppers will have the usual double team going on the opposite side.

Just reaffirms my suspicion that we're going OG this draft and moving Williams back outside. Regarding the comment on Tice putting Louis at RT versus C. Wiliams perhaps Tice was concerned about having Webb and Edwin Williams being next each other on the Cutler's blind side? Wouldn't Jay at least like a fair chance to see who was coming untouched between Louis and E. Williams? As I see it Tice puts what he feels is his best combination on the line regardless of what position certain guys might be best at. That is why guys move around so much.

That's exactly why I say let him go.

I agree with your assessment but I'm assuming Emery & Co. will have done their homework so I would't be upset. Scouting reports about Martin lately have made him sound more like Chris Williams and if that's the case then we might as well put Williams on the outside and backfill him with an OG in Rd 2/3. Considering the needs versus talent available I prefer DE in Rd 1 and OG or OT in Rd 2 or 3. I know I'm in the minority here but I liked what I saw from Kyle Adams last preseason, at least in terms of a TE as a WR. He also was praised for his work on special teams. With Kellen Davis back in the fold I'm not sure the Bears aren't content to head into the season and see what these guys can do. I'd add a late round pick for competition purposes but we have too many big needs at DE, CB, LB depth, Oline, and WR, to go TE early.

The Eagles aren't interested even after losing Jason Peters for the season? Bell is obviously looking for more $$ but he'll have to wait until after the draft when teams have a better idea where they are talent wise.

I'd be happy with Martin but not the TE in the 2nd Rd.