Can we package a deal to move up?

[Preacherman0]

Rumor is that RT Vernon Carey won't be retained by Miami.  IMO, he'd be a guy to get on the cheap to move Colon inside. 

Seeing Colon move inside is my dream scenario.  The guy has been playing out of position for two years, and has played decently enough (not good, but adeqate considering the circumstances) to make me believe he could be an awesome guard.  I am more than happy with Stapleton, so move him to left; let Kemo go; Hartwig is adequate; and Starks can is adequate until a LT can develop. 

I don't think Starks is going anywhere because he hasn't played nearly well enough to demand serious money.  If we can get a couple of draft picks/FA this year, a couple next year, we might be able to put together a Steeler-type line again.

Oher is the guy I want, and I hope we'll sell the farm to get him.

BTW, every time I see Keydrick Vincent line up for the Panthers, it makes me want to puke.  To think, we let him go in favor of Simmons...absolutely assinine move.  Take the proven commodity, which Vincent certainly was.

[DCSteelers]

Given Colbert's track record, I'd say there's about zero chance of these scenarios happening.  No player trades; and no trades into the Oher-zone.

Typically I'd agree with you, but before trading up for Troy, wasn't trading up for the Steelers basically unheard of? Our D-back situation was in the shit house and they traded up for who the felt was the best DB in the draft. Subsequently, after 2 straight years of losing WRs, they traded up a few spots for Holmes. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I think the Oline situation this year is worse than either of those 2 situations. And we're about a year and a half from the Dline situation getting ugly. Wouldn't shock me if they made a few typically uncharacteristic moves this offseason to improve both.

Hard to believe that the 2002 starters  were Chad Scott, DeWayne Washington, Brent Alexander, Lee Flowers (Hank Poteat and Townsend in the nickle)... 

Amazing how the secondary has improved.  I rewatched that Cleveland playoff game and it was just pathetic how that unit was torched - like they were standing still.

[Manimal]

My thoughts on the draft have changed a lot over recent weeks.

Seeing how dominant our defense is, I would love to see us continue to infuse it with talent. The only obvious weakness on our defense right now is that it's a little bit old and, up front, a little bit thin.

Since the end of the first round won't see any OT still on the board worthy of the selection, I would not be too averse to us picking a NT or DE with that first pick. Maybe in the 2nd we pick a quality C or G, since, again, there will be better interior guys there than OTs.

Our offensive line has had some miserable days to be sure but I'm starting to buy the hype that these guys aren't THAT bad and really needed time to get in sync with each other. That is not to say we don't need to add more talent to the OL. We do. But I think that, given our draft position, we may have to make modest investments in this area, like signing a Hartwig-level OT in free agency, moving Colon to G, and re-signing Max Starks.

Then we could go:
1.) NT or DE (Our defensive line needs some youth or it will be the unit that puts the defense in a dive for a year or two if we don't maintain it)
2.) G or C (Wouldn't mind seeing us get a little bigger at C as NTs in the NFL are getting friggin' huge and our 3rd/4th-and-1 play stinks)
3. ) CB or WR (I think we may need a replacement for McFadden and/or Townsend so a corner here wouldn't be bad; and while we haven't had luck picking WRs lately -- thinking of Reid and Sweed, who isn't a bust yet but isn't looking like he's not either -- we need to keep the pipeline fed).
4.) FB - how about a FB who can block and catch and make some yards with the ball? We've tried to do this with Carey Davis. It's time to bring in some competition for him.
5.) OT - Looking for a diamond in the rough here.
6.) DE or NT - Another big ugly trench guy.
7.) LB - Best available specialt teams guy on the board.

I don't have any names in mind for the above but these are my general hopes for the draft position-wise.

[LambertsFrontTeeth]

We should have at least another 3rd round pick (comp for Faneca).  I think DL/OL/DB in the 1st, DL/OL 2nd, DL/OL/DB with the 2 third-rounders. Two OL in the first 4 picks and either 2 DL or a DL and a safety (preferably that doubles as a return guy!). I don't care what the FO picks in what round, as long as the value is good at the needed position.

Of course, this goes out the window if we package a couple picks to move up and get the best DL/OL on the board midway 1st.