"Best Player Available"

"Best player available" really means "highest ranked player on our draft board."

And considering our LT of the future (Roos) played at RT last year, I dont think drafting a lefty would be a problem

 

My philosophy is taking the BPA is something you should always do and if there ever is a place to deviate from that strategy it would be early in the first round as opposed to later rounds. We had arguments on this board and I got hammered by posters who kept saying Reese says he wants the BPA at #6. Who did we take? We took a player who filled our greatest needs (CB and RT). The idea is simple, early in the first round there is a bunch of talented players and unless a guy like Bush (and possibly Young or Leinart) are there you grab the guy who will help the team the most. At #3 it is a little different than being at #6 because we have players that are one in a blue moon opportunities but what if we didn't have Roos. Ferguson might all of a sudden be the BPA? What if McNair wasn't retiring soon? We wouldn't look for a QB would we? The bottom line is we have our choice of possibly the next Ray Ray in Hawk, the next Walter Jones in Brick, the next Peppers in Mario Williams, the next Faulk in DeAngelo Williams, the next Eddie in LenDale White as well as the next McNair in Young. Don't be fooled by the talk we are just looking at BPA. Heck, Reese might want Williams as bad as Young but certainly would like a few extra picks to move down and get him so he can maximize value. Same deal with Cutler.
Where we get in more trouble is trying to look too much at need in the later parts of the draft where IMO it is more imperative we look for BPA. For example we sold out to need when we drafted LaBoy (early 2nd), Odom (late 2nd) and Bo Schobel (early 4th). Maybe we should have drafted Julius Jones or pro bowl safety Bob Sanders instead of LaBoy. How would Nathan Vasher looked compared to Schobel? In other words this selling out of drafting three DEs (because of need) caused us to miss out on two pro-bowl DBs or a RB that could have kept us from having to waste a 3rd on Henry. Imagine our defense with Vasher and Sanders. We wouldn't have needed to spend our #6 a year later on Pacman if we didn't want to and we could have instead drafted Demarcus Ware or Shawn Merriman. How would teh defense look then? Heck in 2003 we traded up in the 5th to get the great Donnie Nickey at 154. New England drafted center Dan Koppen at 164which would have solved our center problem. Hunter Hillenmeyer and Kato June were also drafted after Nickey as well.

 

So Mario Williams is going to be a bad pick? How about Hawk? How about D. Williams or Brick? Buy into Reese's BPA BS but he doesn't have a crystal ball any more than you and I have. Again, if you try to fill needs in the later part of the draft you miss out on the better players and draft Nickey and Gardner. It takes more than one draft to build a team. Take the best players you can when you can. Bob Sanders would look pretty nice right now in a Titans uni.

 

I know this is a little late, but the last game of the season I think, some hillbilly called in to the radio show and said he knew we had the "Safety of the future" in Donnie Nickey. I don't know what this guy was smoking. That is all.

 

How much do you think our cap situation has played into Reese's obvious need picks throughout the recent drafts? I think it has played a pretty major role because he knows that he doesn't have the cap space to go get a vet at a position of need if it doesn't get filled in the draft.

Personally I have a hard time rating guys in a specific 1-32 order, but get a general feel for their draft value like mid-1st, late 1st early 2nd...

 

maybe he was Nickey'sUncle :ha:
(no offense WU) :winker: