HIs 40 time was sub 4.5 on alot of watches also. Excellent workout. I read it in the Cleveland paper. They said that Dallas didnt' think he was a first round pick.
DJ is worth moving up for. The questions are how far and at what cost. Miami, Cleveland and Chicago have alot of needs and not many picks. They probably woudn't draft DJ anyway. It might be worth our 3rd (not the one from Dallas) and 4th round picks to move up to one of those spots. Tampa, Tennessee and Minnesota have more pressing needs, and more draft picks than the first 3 mentioned above, making it less likely for a trade with us. Arizona has other needs and 7 picks. Washington with 5 picks and Detroit with 6 would be worth throughing in the #78 pick, if DJ is still on the board. If we are thinking of trading up for him, I'm sure some other teams are also. I also believe he is the only player worth trading up to get for the Texans. There will be some interesting choices available in the bottom half of the first round and top half of the second, but only a couple of teams could make trading down worthwile for us. Casserly has said we probably won't stay at 13, but there will be some impact players available at that spot. At any rate, it will be interesting.
To move into the top 7, the Texans would have to at least throw in their 2nd round pick. Im not too sure if it would be worth it. I have a scary feeling that Casserly may toss the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks to move into the top 5 to grab someone he wants (Similar to how he moved up to get Babin). At this point in our development, I dont think it would be a wise move. A trade down would be smarter, IMO.
Definitely not sexy, but I think the 3rd best receiver in the draft is Mark Clayton, not Williamson. Clayton could be had with a trade down, so we would still be getting the player that I want while picking up a 2nd rounder in the process.
I have a trade proposal that I would like to see go down on draft day. Seattle has stated that it is willing to trade Shaun Alexander for less than a 1st round pick. With that in mind, this trade may work... Houston Trades picks #13, #47, #114, and #151. Seattle Trades picks #23, #54, and Shaun Alexander. So, Houston drops down in the 1st and 2nd rounds and gives up their 4th and 5th round selections to acquire Alexander. This leaves the Texans with picks #23, #54, #73, #78, #188, and #227.
For the Babin trade we moved our second round pick up 13 spots and in into the first round and then added our 3rd and 4th. 3 picks for 1. With the lack of blue chip talent, but some depth in this draft, and a team with 6 or less picks and many needs, trading down 9 spots for an additional 3rd and 4th doesn't seem unreasonable. 3 picks for 1. If I was Chicago, I'd give it some thought. After DJ and Brown, there really isn't that much separating the top 15. Like I said DJ is the only player I'd trade up for, but not at the cost of the 13th and 47th picks. As far as trading down, I don't see much that would be worth it. Maybe our 13th to Philly for the 31, 35 and 94th. As for Shaun Alexander, I think we'd be better off trading the 47th straight up. If we trade down the 13th pick, I think we should end up with 2 more picks above the middle of round two or the value drops off
LOL. Those teams are lucky, they not only get to draft a sweet player, but they also get Benson as a sub.
I was going to post that was just a survey of others mocks not a mock itself, but look at their machine draft using the surveys to predict the draft..notice anything? http://www.fanmonster.com/public/muncher/SuperMuncher/simulation.asp?site=149 Draft Simulation You can see in the team selection view that putting together all the mock drafts often results in a player being selected more than once in the draft. The draft simulation view is closer to an actual draft using all the mocks. Most popular selections made higher in the draft order are eliminated from consideration, and a less-popular choice is used in the slot. Team Player Name Missed out on... Trend 1. San Francisco Aaron Rodgers (40) 2. Miami Ronnie Brown (25) 3. Cleveland Derrick Johnson (19) 4. Chicago Braylon Edwards (25) 5. Tampa Bay Carnell Williams (28) 6. Tennessee Antrel Rolle (22) 7. Minnesota Mike Williams (18) 8. Arizona Alex Smith (11) 9. Washington Adam Jones (16) 10. Detroit Erasmus James (8) 11. Dallas Shawne Merriman (14) 12. San Diego Marcus Spears (13) 13. Houston Alex Barron (23) 14. Carolina Heath Miller (11) 15. Kansas City Carlos Rogers (16) 16. New Orleans Thomas Davis (16) 17. Cincinnati Travis Johnson (27) 18. Minnesota Troy Williamson (6) 19. St. Louis Jammal Brown (15) 20. Dallas Mark Clayton (9) 21. Jacksonville Dan Cody (6) Erasmus James (8) Carlos Rogers 22. Baltimore Roddy White (7) Mark Clayton (14) Troy Williamson 23. Seattle Channing Crowder (13) 24. Green Bay Matt Roth-DE (12) 25. Denver Shaun Cody (5) Heath Miller (10) Travis Johnson (6) 26. NY Jets Fabian Washington (8) Heath Miller (9) 27. Atlanta Anttaj Hawthorne (8) Jammal Brown (8) 28. San Diego Reggie Brown (3) Roddy White (10) Mark Clayton (8) 29. Indianapolis Marlin Jackson (7) Carlos Rogers (8) 30. Pittsburgh Alex Smith-TE (3) Marlin Jackson (7) Shaun Cody (6) Roddy White (4) Heath Miller (4) 31. Philadelphia Darryl Blackstock (5) 32. New England Brandon Browner (6)
Shocking...another Alex Barron to Texans mock. The Texans WILL NOT select Alex Barron at #13. I can promise this. And if they do, I will guarantee that I will never post on Clutchfans again. Ever.
What I was after is that they totally missed Cedric Benson. He's not even picked in the 32. I have to believe that this is an anomoly of their rating and draft simulation system at Bernie's Insiders though they have been pretty sophisticated in years past.
LOL....is it that big of deal to be able to read Casserly's mind to risk your posting over? You need to line up somebody to oppose you, you're betting against yourself here.
He's probably a victim of statistical circumstance - he's considered the number 2 or 3 back available, so he is often the 2nd option for the RB-need teams in mock drafts. However nobody expects him to last past the mid first round so you're not going to see him up there either (i mean if he was available at 31- I think Philly would set the land speed record getting their pick up to the podium) - so he gets overlooked by the draft simulator.
Its just annoying to me to see every single mock pick Barron as the Texan's selection. I think if they bothered to look into the situation more closely, they would see that its not as simple as it seems. They see a Texans team that allowed a crapload of sacks and automatically fill in the best OL prospect in the draft. However, they fail to see the fact that it was almost a completely new unit playing their first season together, a new scheme, and an up and coming young player at LT. They also fail to see the many different areas this team needs help in. They fail to see that the Texans pass rush was the worst in the NFL. They fail to see a defense that gave up 340+ yards a game. They also fail to see that there is no #2 receiver on this team. Gaffney is a good player for the slot position, but he is not the answer at the 2 spot. Basically, they fail to see that a stud LB or WR would help this team more than LT, who could possibly, one day, become above average. And I am willing to bet against myself. I just dont see how Barron at #13 is useful. Barron at a later draft position, then Im fine with it. Barron at our current spot is a reach. In any case, I think if the asking price isnt too much to trade up, then we will do so. If we trade up, its for either an LB or WR, which is obvious (unless we go all they way up to 2, which would net us Ronnie Brown). If we dont get a good deal on a trade up, then I see us trading down. The talent level around the mid 1st round isnt staggering. There isnt a standout player, so no point in staying put if you can find a trade down partner. Only problem is that I dont know if there are any players at 13 that other teams really want, making the trade down process either too difficult or one that will net you less in return than you had hoped. And Im all for a trade down if it means Mark Clayton is a Texan next year.
I don't see how Wand is up and coming, you could say he's got upside only because he was pretty bad so far, but basically the guy was a longshot project and remains so - I'm guessing most GM's in the league would prefer Barron to Wand in the long haul. Also I don't see how you think the quality difference is that much draft position wise. The consenseus every year, and especially this year, is that after the first 5-10 selections, most scouts feel the next 25 picks or so are kind of a crap-shoot as far as quality - therefore there's not as big a dropoff from 13 to 28 as there is from 6 to 13.
I would prefer Barron to Wand over the long haul as well. Ive never said that Barron cant be a good player. I just dont see Barron has being that much better than Wand, specially not his first year out. I wouldnt want to subject Carr to his 3rd rookie LT in 4 years. Thats just brutal. Barron would be a project as well. This team doesnt have another 2 years to train someone. Wand, based on the coaching staffs comments as well as Casserly's, is a player that can be an anchor to the line. Will he be an Orlando Pace? No. Can he get to a level that is very adequate? Yes. Will Alex Barron be an Orlando Pace? No. Can he get to a level that is very adequate? Yes. Can he be better than Wand? Yes, he can be. Only problem is that I would be happy to give Wand another crack at the job. It was his first full year and you have to expect growing pains. We have other needs to address. Areas that can get more of a boost than the LT upgrading to Barron. As far as the draft is concerned, this draft is deep, IMO, over the first 2 rounds, at least. What I mean by this is that the 2nd round players in this draft can easily be taken in the middle to end of the first round with no qualms. Like you say, after the first 10 selections, the next 25 seem to be a crapshoot. I agree. However, I would extend that 25 to about 40-50 for this draft.
