Rookie or Vet- who goes where?

We currently have needs all over the team, in this discussion give your opinion of whether the position of need should be filled by a Rookie from the draft or a veteran available in free agency and why.

For example: I think the Safety position should be filled by a veteran player. I would like to see us sign Jairus Byrd or Donte Whitner. JB is the best safety available and Whitner is aggressive and set a tone for the secondary that has been missing. I would not draft a rookie safety because we drafted two last year.

Positions of Need (If you didn't know):

WR
TE (2nd string)
T
G
DE
NT
ILB
OLB
CB
FS
SS
P
PR\KR

WR - Impact rookie
TE (2nd string) - Vet
T - Rookie
G - Rookie
DE - Either
NT - If we're staying in 3-4 are there really any true, good NTs? Vet
ILB - Rookie
OLB - If we let Orakpo go, probably gonna need a vet, otherwise, rookie
CB - Vet
FS - Vet
SS - Vet
P - Vet
PR\KR - Either

Would a rookie tandem at Guard and Tackle work? That is one half of you line adjusting to the NFL. Also the 4 or 5 best tackles can be taken before our first selection. I would maybe fill the tackle position in FA and draft a guard.

I don't care where they come from, they have to have ability. When you lock yourself into a decision like this you end up forcing a decision that ends up back firing on you.
Square peg in a round hole.

This kid Aaron Donald from Pitt sounds like a beast. He is under sized but is aggressive. I wouldn't mind taking him in the second and Chris Borland or Shayne Skov in the 3rd. Although there would be a size disadvantage with both Borland and Donald on the field at the same time.

One I'll chime in on is going to be the returner.

We've been struggling to fill this spot for years with rookies and young players. At this point I think we should just pay a proven return man and have it settled for sure. Jacoby Jones or Dexter McCluster would fit nicely.


FAILED EXPERIMENTS in past years:
*Brandon Banks
*Devin Thomas
*Marcus Mason
*Terrence Austin
*Byron Westbrook
*Anthony Armstrong
*Niles Paul
*Aldrick Robinson
*Evan Royster
*Richard Crawford (although he may still be an option if not needed on D)
*Chris Thompson
*Nick Williams


All were young players who weren't able to step up and be the man on returns, except for Crawford who won a game for us but then was injured. Joshua Morgan was our other attempt and he was just serviceable at best.

One I'll chime in on is going to be the returner.

We've been struggling to fill this spot for years with rookies and young players. At this point I think we should just pay a proven return man and have it settled for sure. Jacoby Jones or Dexter McCluster would fit nicely.


FAILED EXPERIMENTS in past years:
*Brandon Banks
*Devin Thomas
*Marcus Mason
*Terrence Austin
*Byron Westbrook
*Anthony Armstrong
*Niles Paul
*Aldrick Robinson
*Evan Royster
*Richard Crawford (although he may still be an option if not needed on D)
*Chris Thompson
*Nick Williams


All were young players who weren't able to step up and be the man on returns, except for Crawford who won a game for us but then was injured. Joshua Morgan was our other attempt and he was just serviceable at best.

I think I'll be happiest of all of the names mentioned here and around the site about free agents if we sign McCluster. We haven't had a quality return man since Brian Mitchell. Think about it, James Thrash? Randle-Fail? Banks? Some of the names listed above are just pathetic. I think we must lead the league the past 20 years in players who are finish the season on our roster and are then out of the NFL completely the following opening day.

Would a rookie tandem at Guard and Tackle work? That is one half of you line adjusting to the NFL. Also the 4 or 5 best tackles can be taken before our first selection. I would maybe fill the tackle position in FA and draft a guard.

A rookie guard and tackle on the same side sounds like a disaster to me.

One I'll chime in on is going to be the returner.

We've been struggling to fill this spot for years with rookies and young players. At this point I think we should just pay a proven return man and have it settled for sure. Jacoby Jones or Dexter McCluster would fit nicely.


I think that we have not targeted Special teams guys who do only special teams. Shanahan seemed to think any fast guy could be a kick returner. WRONG!!

I would like us to draft a player like Dri Archer who has blazing speed and would understand that his role is being the KR\PR.

Brandon Banks was a good return man, he just lost focus on his job. Do you agree?

I think I'll be happiest of all of the names mentioned here and around the site about free agents if we sign McCluster. We haven't had a quality return man since Brian Mitchell. Think about it, James Thrash? Randle-Fail? Banks? Some of the names listed above are just pathetic. I think we must lead the league the past 20 years in players who are finish the season on our roster and are then out of the NFL completely the following opening day.

Returners and kickers until we found Kai have been a revolving door for a LONG time.

I still can't explain what happened to Randle El. He was great with the Steelers, then just lost it when he suited up for us.


Glad we solved that issue at the QB position finally. Theismann was our last legitimate franchise QB. Williams and Rypien had great years, but didn't last long.