My draft preference

My draft preference would be to trade down and pick up another mid to late 2nd round pick. Then I would hope the chips fell as follows.

Rd1 MLB - James Laurinaitis 6'3 245 or Brian Cushing 6'4 245
Rd2 C - Alex Mack 6'5 316 or Max Unger 6'5 300
Rd2 DT - Ron Brace 6'3 330
Rd3 OT - Fenuki Tupou 6'5 328 (size, strength, & athletic)
Rd4 CB/S - Jarius Byrd 6'0 200 (17 INTs in 39 games, 3 year starter)
Rd5 SS - Curtis Taylor 6'3 210 (good size hard hitter)
Rd6 DE - Phillip Hunt 6'2 260 (24.5 sacks last 26 games)
Rd7 FB - Quinn Johnson 6'1 262 (might be gone. but might be able to get in 6th if we get an extra pick by trading away any players)

All these guys have good size and ability with Hunt being the only one with average or slightly below avearge size. These players also fill our biggest needs.

Lauinaitis - Starting MLB
Mack - Starting C
Brace - Starting NT
Tupou - compete for starting OT spot (very athletic with good size)
Byrd - compete for starting CB and possibly FS if Atogwe is not resigned
Taylor - Starting SS
Hunt - Insurance if Little goes down, part of DL rotation, possible 2010 starter
Johnson - Starting FB (used to be a LB very tough)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RamsSB99

Rd1 MLB - James Laurinaitis 6'3 245 or Brian Cushing 6'4 245
Rd2 C - Alex Mack 6'5 316 or Max Unger 6'5 300
Rd2 DT - Ron Brace 6'3 330
Rd3 OT - Fenuki Tupou 6'5 328 (size, strength, & athletic)
Rd4 CB/S - Jarius Byrd 6'0 200 (17 INTs in 39 games, 3 year starter)
Rd5 SS - Curtis Taylor 6'3 210 (good size hard hitter)
Rd6 DE - Phillip Hunt 6'2 260 (24.5 sacks last 26 games)
Rd7 FB - Quinn Johnson 6'1 262 (might be gone. but might be able to get in 6th if we get an extra pick by trading away any players)

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If we did not trade down then I would probably take Crabtree.
Rd 1 Crabtree
Rd 2 Ron Brace
Rd 3-7 the same

If we took Crabtree at a position of a lesser need (WR) it would mean we would need to fill two positions of need via free agency instead of the draft. The two in my scenario would be center (Birk) and MLB (insert name here).

If we stayed and did not take Crabtree then I would want us to take Curry. We would still need to fill the Center position via free agency (Birk). If Curry plays MLB then it solves our MLB if not then we would need to address MLB via free agency as well. That would be a lot of money tied up in LBs Witherspoon, Curry (#1 pick), and a good free agent MLB.

Byrd won't fall that far. I'd want to see what Justin King can do, first. We'd be lucky to find an immediate starter at safety in round 5. Gibril Wilson and Kerry Rhodes are recent examples of this happening, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bar-bq

Byrd won't fall that far. I'd want to see what Justin King can do, first. We'd be lucky to find an immediate starter at safety in round 5. Gibril Wilson and Kerry Rhodes are recent examples of this happening, though.

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We still need a CB all we have is Tye Hill, Justin King and maybe Bartell if he resigns. Hill and King are both still unproven. In the 4th round I would take the best available CB. There are several decent CB's that could be found in the 4th round. Some people still question Byrds speed as a CB and he could fall some because of it but if he dont I would take one of the other CBs. We are going to have new starters at several positions and some of which will be pressed into starting roles. I agree its a big jump for a 5th rounder to be a starter but the SS will hopefully be playing with Atogwe and wont have to do much to be an upgrade over Chavous.

Originally Posted by RamsSB99
Rd1 MLB - James Laurinaitis 6'3 245 or Brian Cushing 6'4 245
Rd2 C - Alex Mack 6'5 316 or Max Unger 6'5 300
Rd2 DT - Ron Brace 6'3 330
Rd3 OT - Fenuki Tupou 6'5 328 (size, strength, & athletic)
Rd4 CB/S - Jarius Byrd 6'0 200 (17 INTs in 39 games, 3 year starter)
Rd5 SS - Curtis Taylor 6'3 210 (good size hard hitter)
Rd6 DE - Phillip Hunt 6'2 260 (24.5 sacks last 26 games)
Rd7 FB - Quinn Johnson 6'1 262 (might be gone. but might be able to get in 6th if we get an extra pick by trading away any players)
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I really like your mock draft. Thats what I'm thinking as well......But If we traded down I think we could probably get a 4th rounder as well, maybe a decent pick next year as well. That looks like a pretty good foundation to build on, combined with what we already have.

If we don't trade, I like Crabtree at the 2nd pick