Funny how time begins to erode everyone's memories. Right after the Pats were blown up by the Jets everyone was in agreement that the woeful lack of a pass rush was our big glaring need and had to be addressed before this team would again be a serious Super Bowl contender. Now I am reading all of these posts and see how we need to draft another running back or another O-Lineman etc.... Are you kidding me? Do you really think Mark Ingram is going to get this team over the top and back to the Super Bowl? Reality says that we are not picking 2 guys in the 1st round. Never happens that way with Bill, never. We will make 1 pick and trade down or into the future. If we pick another RB or OL, who will rush the passer? We can not get back to the top without some type of defensive playmaker who is going to make a difference in consistently getting to the other team's QB. We have simply got to get a difference maker on the defensive side of the ball to compete with teams like the Steelers, Jets and Ravens with their Super Bowl caliber defenses. Without a pass rusher again this year, we will continue to be also-rans.
Several things about this post:
1. BB has indeed taken 2 first rd picks before. Name me all of these times when we had 2, and didn't use both, so I can see a pattern
2. I agree with you in the hopes of getting a D player. The problem is that this will also be the 5th year in a row that the first pick taken was on that side of the ball. The law of averages may say that we pick offensively with the first pick, depending on BB's 'value' at certain positions. If he sees more value at OL or even RB, then he may very well go with that. We still need to address the offense too--and if you can do both, that's a no-brainer. We still have other places to improve besides DE.
Poster "dryheat44" is one of our defensive gurus here. His latest mock has us taking OT Smith from USC, mostly b/c he does not see much value after Watt and Jordan are picked first. Those guys you want may not be there in that range.
3. Ingram is always marked as top 10 player rankings overall, sometimes even top 5-6. If BB thinks we can get him as a franchise RB, so be it. It would honestly be a steal at 17.
4. Same goes with the OL picks, if Costanzo, Smith, etc are of more value to BB, the same scenario plays out.
5. Just b/c we don't pick a DE with the first pick, does not mean that we won't address the situation. We can easily choose Wilkerson or Heyward at 28 or 33--or even somewhere around there depending on whether or not we trade that pick. DE will be addressed for sure. We may even take Sheard as an OLB too. This way we cover all of the bases, improve the team in many aspects, and it's still a great draft.
6. The fans are often not the focus of BB's draft picking, so whatever we 'think' he may do--just go ahead and pick the opposite. However, at the end of the day, something will be done to improve the defensive situation.
7. We have lots of injured guys coming back on the line, T.Warren, Wright, and Pryor. We also have not re-signed G.Warren to this point, and he played quite serviceable last yr. We also went out and signed Marcus Stroud. The line will already be improved, and BB may not feel that pick #1 is needed. He may see value at improving depth and competition later on. He may even totally shock the hell out of us, and go after Cullen Jenkins in free agency--whenever it begins. I seriously doubt it, but maybe that's his plan to add a big player, who knows? Maybe he honestly doesn't project any of these guys to our system as well as we do?