I'll admit it. I'm terrified for this season. It scares me to think that we might over draft a QB prospect this season simply because it's a position of need, and pass up a much better player next year when the candidates look more promising. I've already purchased my season tickets and fully intend on riding this out, but I think were caught in a catch 22 that could hurt our franchise in the long term.

If we draft a QB high this year (first 64 picks), we still run the risk of being drastically less than competitive next year and ending up with a high draft pick. That being said, no smart GM would draft a QB in the top 2 rounds in back to back seasons, or even every few years (The Baltimore Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns have all done it, and you can see the results). Drafting a QB has become an inexact science revolving around a 1/3 strategy and 2/3 luck. The QB talent in next years draft appears better at the top at first glance, and we would likely be better served drafting a guy like WR Patterson from Tenn. and a talented LB/SS with our 2013 picks to help shore up one of the worse defenses in the league and an offense starving for playmakers.

Conversely, if we don't draft our QB of the future in the 2013 Draft and there isn't a clear plan already in place at the end of this coming season, I don't see us being able to hang on to the existing talent on the roster. Players like Jarius Byrd and C.J. Spiller are likely to look for a one way ticket out of here and onto the roster of a contender in the event that we can't make this team look playoff-bound in the near future, setting us even farther back than we are now.

All in all, I think that waiting till next season to grab a guy like Aaron Murray (who would be a lock for the mid-late first round if he came out this year) or Teddy Bridgewater (who looks the part of a tall, athletic QB who is mobile in/out of the pocket but keeps his eyes downfield and makes throws with good accuracy and arm strength) is the best long term move for the franchise. Yet I'm scared of what another mediocre-or-worse season would do to the talent already on the roster.

Do we trust Buddy Nix and company to traverse this path wisely and someday get us to the promise land that, as die-hard fans, we so sorely deserve? What do you guys think?