On Draft:
AFC North
By Matt Meier and John Scott Gibney
April 20, 2012
Happy Draft season football fans! To celebrate the annual April relevancy of the best sport in the land, Talk Sports / Drink Beer will be examining the needs and projected picks of EVERY SINGLE TEAM, one division per day, until Draft Day on April 26. Matt will play GM, detailing the needs of each club, and John Scott will play Scout, suggesting which prospects would be best, and where to draft them.
April 18: NFC East
April 19: AFC South
April 20 (hee-hee): AFC North
April 21: NFC West
April 22: AFC West
April 23: NFC North
AFC North
Divisional Drink: Four Loko
Baltimore Ravens (12-4, lost AFC Championship in heartbreaking fashion)
Team Microbrew: Black Cannon—Black IPA (Heavy Seas)
Draft Picks: 1(29), 2(28), 3(28), 4(35), 5(29), 5(34), 6(28), 7(29)
Top Needs: LG, WR, S
Other Considerations: DL, LB, C, RB
For over a decade now, Baltimore has boasted one of the most revered defensive units in the NFL. Part of their success has been retaining their core players like Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and Ray Lewis; but with these and other players rapidly approaching the twilights of their careers, the Ravens need to start looking toward the future and adding depth all across their defensive unit. Three Ravens starters followed their former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano to his new head coaching gig in Indy: Corey Redding (DE), Bryant McKinney (DT), and Tom Zbikowski (SS). With Zbikowski’s departure and future Hall-of-Famer Ed Reed turning 34 in September, safety quickly became the most pressing need on defense. If the Ravens land a starting-caliber CB in the draft, they could theoretically move Ladarius Webb to safety (which he played in college), but it would appear an unnecessarily risky move given Webb’s stellar performance as a corner. Terrence Cody split snaps with McKinney last season and will return as the starting NT in 2012, but Baltimore will look to draft a DE or DT prospect whom they can rotate in their 3-technique d-line.
The loss of Zbikowski hurt, but losing LG Ben Grubbs to New Orleans was far worse. Grubbs was a crucial member of their top-10 o-line last year, and with no possible replacement currently on the roster (nor in the left over bin of free agents), Baltimore desperately needs to find someone in the early rounds. Center Matt Birk and LT Bryant McKinnie are on the decline of their careers, so it would make some sense for Baltimore to draft either of these positions and start the player at guard for his rookie season, though that’s sometimes a big risk as some players struggle to switch positions along the line. It is also necessary that they find a sure-handed slot receiver to compliment the consistent but aging Anquan Boldin and the speedy but unreliable Torrey Smith. If Lee Evans hadn’t dropped that pass against the Pats, the story in Baltimore would be a very different one.
John Scott Recommends:
Dont’a Hightower LB – Alabama
In this scenario, I see Hightower slipping to the Ravens. He’s great value for the 29th pick and it gives Baltimore a perfect defensive leader to carry the torch for Ray Lewis. He’s huge at 265 lbs and can be used in pretty much any scheme you draw up.
John Scott's Sleeper pick:
Peter Konz C – Wisconsin
Who doesn’t love a large, white Big Ten O-lineman? They grow em like they grow corn there. Konz is the total package and could a good eventual replacement for Birk.
Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4, Tebowned in Wild Card Round)
Team Microbrew: St. Nikolaus Bock (Penn Brewery)
Draft Picks: 1(24), 2(24), 3(23), 4(24), 5(24), 6(23), 7(24), 7(33), 7(39), 7(41)
Top Needs: OG, CB
Other Considerations: RB, ILB, DL
For much of the regular season, Pittsburgh seemed like the team to beat in AFC. They were playing well on both sides of the ball, and their passing game (yes—the Steelers’ passing game) was the best it had been in years with the tandem of Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, and Hines Ward. Ward wanted to retire a Steeler and did just that, and as of right now, it appears that no team is willing to offer a first-rounder and a substantial salary to restricted free agent Mike Wallace, so it seems that Ben Roethlisberger’s top three targets should be suiting up again next year. But as the season progressed, injuries continued to mount to the point that the team that lost to Denver in the Wild Card round was barely a shadow of the Pittsburgh team we’d seen all season. The constantly shifting, injury-plagued o-line yielded such pressure that Big Ben literally hobbled his way through the final games of the season. Offensive guard would have been a top need for Pittsburgh regardless heading into next season, but the lack of depth demonstrated last year made the need for o-linemen in the draft that much greater.
I almost put RB in the top needs category since Rashard Mendenhall will likely miss half the season or more on the PUP list after tearing his ACL last season, but Mendenhall was so negligible a part of their success last year that I don’t believe RB warrants too high a pick (unless the perfect guy falls to them). Finding the cornerback to start opposite Ike Taylor is the far more pressing—no pun intended—position to address. Pittsburg could use some depth and competition throughout their front seven as well and could end up addressing this in the first round if they take a “best player available” approach since players like Devon Still and Dont’a Hightower may still be around at pick twenty-four.
John Scott Recommends:
Jonathan Martin OT – Stanford
Big Ben demands a lot of protection with how long that guy holds onto the ball. And Martin is a major contributing factor for Luck’s success at Stanford.
John Scott's Sleeper pick:
Dont’a Hightower MLB – Alabama
I think he’ll still be around and his leadership and contribution to two national championships might be enough for the Steelers to snag him.
Cincinnati Bengals (9-7, lost to Texans in the Wild Card/Rookie-QB Bowl)
Team Microbrew: Hoppus Maximus (Thirsty Dog)
Draft Picks: 1(17), 1(21), 2(21), 3(20), 4(21), 5(21), 5(31), 5(32), 6(21)
Top Needs: WR, OG, CB
Other Considerations: DL, LB, RB
The 2011 Bengals were last year’s version of the 2010 Buccaneers: a young team coming off a sub–.315 season that greatly outperformed its roster talent despite playing in a difficult division. Unlike the Bucs, Cincinnati has two first round picks in this year’s draft and seems far less likely to plummet back to their former ineptitude. BenJarvus Green-Ellis (aka “the Law Firm”) was underutilized in pass-heavy New England, and coach Marv Lewis & co. wisely solidified their run game for next year by signing Green-Ellis to replace the departed Cedric Benson, though obtaining a complimentary back (e.g. LeMichael James) is likely still on the agenda headed into next weekend. Cincy will also look to add an offensive guard or two to bolster their run blocking for their new acquisition as well as insure that Andy Dalton remains comfortable in the pocket through his second season. Equally necessary in preventing Dalton from slipping into a sophomore slump is adding to his passing arsenal with a top receiver prospect. With the seventeenth and twenty-first selections in the draft, there will undoubtedly be a solid receiver available with at least one of those picks and perhaps a guard as well with the other.
For a team that won a lot of their games with defense last year, the Bengals need some help in that department. Corner was the most glaring need until they signed former Cowboy Terrence Newman to start opposite Nate Clements, but that’s a short-term solution and Cincy will need to draft at least one CB to succeed the vets in future seasons. And while Jonathan Fanene and Frostee Rucker are not necessarily household names, their departure in free agency to New England and Cleveland, respectively, means Cincy will look for value at d-line in the middle rounds.
John Scott Recommends (2):
David DeCastro OG – Stanford / Kendall Wright, WR – Baylor
I think DeCastro with pick 17, followed by Wright with pick 21 makes the most sense for the Bengals. Decastro is the one of the best guards in the class and Wright is the perfect compliment to AJ Green.
John Scott's Sleeper pick:
Dre Kirkpatrick CB – Alabama
They could decide to go with Kirkpatrick with that 21st pick, if they feel they should split their first round picks for both offense and defense.
Cleveland Browns (4-12)
Team Microbrew: Burning River Pale Ale (Great Lakes)
Draft Picks: 1(4), 1(22), 2(5), 3(4), 4(5), 4(23), 5(4), 5(25), 6(34), 6(35), 7(4), 7(38), 7(40)
Top Needs: An offense
Other Considerations: S, CB
Unless Ryan Tannehill can play QB and WR at the same time, there’s no reason for Cleveland to waste the fourth overall selection on the Texas A&M prospect. Tannehill will likely need some time to develop, and without any weapons surrounding him, he’s hardly an upgrade from Colt McCoy—at least not right now. Plain and simple: Trent Richardson is the only sensible pick for Cleveland at four. They have literally no viable starter at RB, and a solid run game is the best shot they have at giving McCoy (or whoever their starting QB ends up being) a fighting chance. Of course RB is only the first step of fixing their offense, which averaged only 13.6 points and 288.8 yards per game last season (ranking 30th and 29th in each respective category). Their offensive line ranked tenth in pass protection, but that’s of little help when your top two receivers are Josh Cribbs and Greg Little. With an extremely deep receiving class, they will have plenty of options to consider with one of their five picks in the top one-hundred (three of which are in the top forty). Experts think that they will use the fourth pick on Richardson and use their next two picks on a wide receiver, QB, or offensive guard. They could certainly use a guard after Jason Pinkston severely struggled through his rookie season, but I would argue that O-line is a waste of a pick, especially since Pinkston came in as a rookie starter with no off-season. The Giants have one of the worst interior lines in the game, but their explosiveness in other areas of their roster compensated for that one glaring weakness enough to lead them to a championship. Now Colt McCoy is obviously no Eli Manning, but neither is any other QB they can hope to land in this draft. If I were GM Tom Heckert, I would look to add as much explosiveness as possible on all sides of the ball and consider any QB prospect to be necessary competition for McCoy but NOT a presumed starter. I’d rather take Richardson and two good value receivers (like Stephen Hill and Alshon Jeffery) with the first three picks than waste either their 22nd or 37th on a QB like Brandon Weeden. Cleveland added even more weapons (DEs Frostee Rucker of Indy and Juqua Parker of Philly) to a defense that ranked fifth in scoring and tenth in yards last year. They will need to add depth in their secondary after losing FS Mike Adams to Denver in free agency and with Sheldon Brown approaching the end of his career. However they chose to address their defensive needs heading into the draft, their defense is already good enough to keep the offense in the game; but none of that will matter if the Browns once again enter the season with an offense that has as much trouble scoring as the drunken homeless dude who likes to hit on customers at my local CVS.
John Scott Recommends:
Morris Claiborne CB – LSU
Matt, I respectfully disagree. I love Richardson and think he is going to be a great RB. He has talent that doesn’t come along too often, true. In fact, I think the Bucs will take him with next pick so it’s totally a personal preference, but with Claiborne available, I think he has the better value. I just believe a shutdown corner is better than a standout back
John Scott's Sleeper pick:
Trent Richardson RB – Alabama
I mean, he’s a stud. It’s a win win.
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