Some Informed First Day recap

I have just one single question, why did they feel they needed to take Byrd at 42 and not Levitre? I would have preferred Levitre there and then seen what other S’s or CBs who could move would be available closer to the 3rd so we wouldn’t have to burn quite so much ammo to move.

Do they have a OLB they really like in day 2 that they may need to make a trade for?

Who is odd man out in the secondary then if they feel Byrd is such a huge upgrade playmaking wise?

You kind of lost me with your Byrd discussion.

He is NOT going to play corner, but is ideally suited to Free Safety although as you know we use our two safeties almost interchangably. As was explained to me—OBD feels he has a better set of ball skills than almost enybody we have in the secondary, is a tough, hard, nosed run stuffer and can also cover, a neccessity for the Cover 2. They view him as potentially better than Scott and much better than George Wilson. An upgrade.

Free safety would be Whitner not Scott (strong). So are you trying to say Byrd would play strong safety, or Whitner would be moved back to strong safety.

Please clarify, thanks for the insight.

Call Byrd a safety. I guess this makes it a little better?

We finally have a strong middle where we won’t be blown off the ball by the big DTs. It also gives us depth and freedom for competition for all positions, and protection against injuries. Hopefully we will move Roscoe or others for some leeway.

I’d like to somehow find a TE and LB to compete.

Is there any possibility for Scheffler?…are we going to see who falls to the 4th?…who can we get for OLB?

I think he will develop into a 3 down player, his frame allows for him to put on 15 pounds and let’s be honest, not many DE’s come in and play 3 downs thier first season.

Interesting as always, Geronimo.

I’ve been a Maybin fan all along. Glad he was the pick. Think he’s going to do wonders for our pass rush; I just hope he can assimilate to the speed of the NFL game quickly enough.

I’m most excited about the line though. We don’t have any more divas – this is a line that will smack you in the mouth. I think we’re pretty well set to field a VERY solid offensive attack, provided Derek Fine can handle starting TE duties (he’ll have to now) and our line can gel. They’re all smart cats.

I am satisfied with the way today went – even with Byrd. I like a DB with ball skills.

I was losing it over Byrd… McGee is in the last year of his contract. Shades of Winfield and Clements are running through my head. I was sure the signing meant we were letting McGee go for nothing after this year. If Byrd is to play at safety, OBD has to make signing McGee a priority.

if we don’t end up some how getting a LB, do you see him coming in soon to compete?

Byrd just seems like such a luxury pick. Taking Levitre at 42 would have allowed Buffalo to take a TE or LB in the 3rd. The only way that happens now is if Buffalo somehow swings a trade….and I doubt Parrish/Kelsay/Simpson would be enough to get that done.

We could of had
Pettigrew
OR
Byrd, Levitre

Huh. That’s a interesting choice and I honestly can’t say which is better. One hand, we missed on an amazing fit at TE (rare for us apparently). But on the other, we finally got a true ballhawk for FS and got another top Guard who can swing at tackle.

Does anyone here see Butler as a better option at RT than Chambers/Bell though?

I think OBD made out O.K. today. Not bad at all, now that I’ve had a chance to sit back and digest it a little. I would have liked to see the #42 pick go for an OT, a DL, or a LB though.

I wonder how our O-line will do with 2 rookies on it? I guess I have my doubts…

Good to hear your thoughts and explanations about how the day went. I hope OBD is able to target an OLB like McKenzie early tomorrow.

I can’t complain about the round 1 picks. Maybin has a ways to go before he reaches his potential, but there’s a lot to like about him, right now. He should be able to give us that much, much, much needed pass rush threat off the edge we need in passing situations while adding some bulk and developing his game. It might not seem like much for a #11 pick, but his upside is as important as any immediate impact he has, I believe. I just hope he does have some immediate impact to go with that upside.

I love the Wood pick. I had him going to us in round 2, but to get him at the end of round 1 is fine. I still think Pittsburgh would have taken him at 32. He’s going to be a rock in the interior of our line with Levitre and Hangartner. I like that. Maybe we’ll convert some 3rd and shorts based on the OL’s blocking instead of Lynch/Jackson fighting for the yards themselves.

Hearing Byrd as a potential FS makes it a little better for me, but not a whole lot. Do they really see this kid, and his 4.7 speed, as a better safety prospect than guys who played their entire careers at the position? I’d have MUCH rather had Darcel McBath at FS or even Rashad Johnson who’s still available. But I guess Byrd’s new versatility, ball skills and future impact won’t make this pick as bad as it seems. I just think we should have gone elsewhere and taken our chances with a CB/S later.

Heard anything about any player trades? Is Roscoe going to have a new home?

I don’t consider Simpson much of anything actually.

Agreed, my disdain for Ko is legendary among my circle of friends.

Byrd certainly appears to be a playmaker, so I’m reserving judgement until we see what he does on the field.

Read about it here

I’m not sure if you can, but please help a fan to understand OBD’s logic here:

They tried MIGHTILY to move up from #28 and get Pettigrew. They felt they had to get to #19 ahead of Philly, Balt. and Detroit, but alas, folks were asking for a second rounder and they couldn’t get it done.

Essentially , we sacrificed getting Pettigrew, head and shoulders the best tight end in the draft, for corner depth? If we traded up in the second to get Levitre in the second anyway, why not give up the second we used to get Byrd to get Pettigrew?

I understand they think Wood and Levitre can both be starters, and that is exciting, but they obviously loved Pettigrew and Wood or Levitre could have been had with the trade up, so they must have had a contigency plan with how to move forward with one interior lineman, right? I just don’t know if I would have held on to that second for Byrd.

Robert Ayers-Brandon Pettigrew and Clay Matthews? What happened? Maybin was always the top target at OBD, Ayers is the complate opposite of Maybin and that should tell us that he was not the target of OBD by them selecting Maybin. Nelson was the target at TE as they knew with Fine on board that we lacked a true recieving threat and we had other needs to fill early and had Alex Mack been there at #28 he would’ve been the choice but Eric Wood was an excellent next option and choice for us there. Have you guys noticed that most of this is wrong?-Other than that we did take 2 O-Lineman which we all knew with losing 5 O-Lineman this offseason that we’d at the least be taking 2 this draft. I understand that anything can happen during the draft depending on how things fall but out of the options listed in this thread none came through and with the players we did select none were listed as options untill after the fact.

I dont think Andre Smith was the target either as was suggested since we did not draft a Tackle at all and if we were targeting him it would be likely that we would’ve drafted a Tackle at some point in the draft with that as an option and we seen that William Beatty was available for us when we jumped for Levitre. I think OBD has seen the progress in Demetrius Bell’s development enough to feel that he’s the future and that’s the reason we did’nt target a Tackle and while he might not be ready to start on opening day-I do think he’ll be our starter within another year of development and could potentially come sooner.

Did anyone see the NFLN interview of Malcolm Jenkins during the draft? He was asked “who was the best player you have ever played with?” His answer was “It was easily Donte Whitner”. He went on to talk about Donte diagnosing plays before they started, making sure the alignments were correct, and that he called audibles. Can we please stop bashing Whitner for not catching INTs, the guy is really good football player.