Vinny Cerrato

I'm very pleased. I like we got the number 1 and number 2 rated WR's and one of the top 3 TE's. All in the second round. I love that we got Colt Brennan. I love the other pics, they are going to work out. All of them. Mark my words. The punter is even more. A young rookie to make a pro bowler. We haven't had a good punter in YEARS. REGGIE ROBY. Anyway, the only thing I dont like, is Cerrato's eyes. Has he had botox or something? NO expression. LOL. Anyway, I just think that Cornellius is a run smasher, and since Andre has come into his own (10 1/2 sacks this year), we didn't feel DE was of that much concern. We the fans may have thought it, but I guess they didn't. We've got some core backups for DE, since we have versitle lineman in Wilson and Montgomery. We could have used better secondary help, but maybe well trade or something, I dunno. Needless to say, we had a decent draft. B+

Which leads me to a question, does defense really win championships? I'll save that for another thread.

And the answer is a resounding "no". If defense did win champiionships, we should have done a whole lot better in 2004 when we had the #3 ranked D in the NFL. We finished a whopping 6-10.

I tend to agree that great teams have great lines. I really wanted us to pick up another O-lineman and a quality D-lineman. But, while our depth isn't that good, our starting lines are more than adequate. Moreover, fielding a bunch of quality players at skill positions in West Coast spread formations would, arguably, make some teams less eager to blitz.

I was getting really nervous about our O-line, but Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas going down in two straight games to a torn bicep and broken foot were really flukey. Otherwise we had about the frequency of injuries any offensive line should expect, maybe a little more.

There's no doubt our front five will have to start restocking for the future, but it's not like the guys we have now are keeling over left and right. We should be fine without the fluke injuries for at least this season. But next April going after another highly ranked guard and tackle should be a priority.

As 'ol Ken Beatrice used to say, "defense wins championships and offense puts people in the stands."

I really love the fact that there are so many optimists on The Warpath and people are getting behind the team.

I'm sorry I can't be one of them. I still think Cerrato is not a legitimate General Manager and I think their picks and constant infatuation with wide receivers is simply put, a recipe for disaster.

I would have preferred for them to have gone out and taken Campbell and possibly John Greco - or traded up to pick up Merling.

Ah well, we'll see what happens, no?

And the answer is a resounding "no". If defense did win champiionships, we should have done a whole lot better in 2004 when we had the #3 ranked D in the NFL. We finished a whopping 6-10.

Defense win championships. hands down. you just have to have the offense to accomodate that defense. not allowing the other team to score is more important than scoring, but some scoring must be done... after all thats what determines a winner.

As 'ol Ken Beatrice used to say, "defense wins championships and offense puts people in the stands."

I really love the fact that there are so many optimists on The Warpath and people are getting behind the team.

I'm sorry I can't be one of them. I still think Cerrato is not a legitimate General Manager and I think their picks and constant infatuation with wide receivers is simply put, a recipe for disaster.

I would have preferred for them to have gone out and taken Campbell and possibly John Greco - or traded up to pick up Merling.

Ah well, we'll see what happens, no?

I've got to agree. I loved the trade back, but it seems like using all your top picks on the same skill set seems like you are playing the odds. I also don't like the recent track record of USC offensive picks in the NFL, hope Im wrong.
And the standard cop-out line of the weekend is "we took the guys that were highest on OUR board, regardless of position." Since it was THEIR board, that means they took whoever the hell they wanted. I'm sorry, but what is wrong with drafting for needs when you have glaring needs and are confident in your evaluations.
But hey, I'm glad that this is clearly Vinny's team now, so we will know who is accountable. Whoever made the calls on Lloyd and Arch, as well as Peirce, should have been fired, and maybe they have been for all I know.
And yeah, defense does win championships. The Giants D-line got to Brady. That's the only thing that could have beaten the Pats.

how am I brown nosing?

Or were you referring to Kiper?

Neither, it was VC.

I gotta say I was impressed with Vinny during the draft. And it seems like he really stuck to his guns, because he talked about how they were drafting the BPA and that's why they took guys like Fred Davis and Malcolm Kelly even though we had other needs, he said those were the top guys on our board, and he stuck with those picks probably knowing that some of the fan base would go berserk and question his intelligence about it. I was one of those fans right after it happened, but I've learned a lot about these guys the last couple days and now I do believe that all these picks can work out for us and make an impact.

Defense win championships. hands down. you just have to have the offense to accomodate that defense. not allowing the other team to score is more important than scoring, but some scoring must be done... after all thats what determines a winner.

If what you say is true, then why didn't we win a championship in 2004?

If what you say is true, then why didn't we win a championship in 2004?

Lets be clear - defense wins championships but it isn't like you can't have any offense at all. Your offense has to be able to maintain possession to some extent and ultimately, score the ball -

Now, that can be mitigated to some extent by having elite special teams (which we didn't have in 2004) or if you have a defense that creates turnovers (which we didn't have in 2004).

If we had an elite special teams unit and created turnovers then we would have won in 2004. Unfortunately, what we had was a tough defense that limited opponents yards but did not get many takeaways. Our special teams were average.

Additionally, I think we had some questionable coaching that year to compound things.

In general though - defense will win you championships. And someone else on this thread made the comment - just look at the current NFL champs. If they were all built on one side of the ball there is no way they would have stopped the machine.

Incidentally, Justin Tuck was the 74th pick overall in his draft. Just food for thought - that while we were taking three receivers, there were probably talented pass rushers who could have helped us waiting to be drafted.