12:01AM March 2, 2005

[e16bball]

There probably arent any OL worthy of the 9th pick, especially at guard. We can definitely find a pretty decent center in the third round.

The only way we could probably address T or G early in the draft would be by trading down from number 9 and picking up a 2nd rounder in the process. That would probably leave us drafting anywhere from 11 to 17. At that point in the first, we could justify taking Alex Barron from Florida State or Jammal Brown from Oklahoma, who are basically the consensus 2 best tackles in the draft. In the second round, we might have a chance at any of the top guards, who are Elton Brown from UVA, David Baas from Michigan (might convert to C), and Marcus Johnson from Ole Miss. The tackles who might be available and worth a 2nd rounder include Logan Mankins from Fresno St. (might convert to G), Adam Terry from Syracuse, and Khalif Barnes from Washington.

With the current state of our line, though, and assuming that Samuels is still around, I think our best course is to take either Mike Williams or Braylon Edwards if they are still available at 9. Mel Kiper's most recent mock has us selecting Williams. We could then address C in the third and our offense would be upgraded a great deal. Now if neither of those WRs is there, we are probably best off trading down, picking up a second rounder, and selecting the best available DE in the first. We could then take Baas in the 2nd and convert him to C, where I think he would dominate. In the 3rd, we could address WR, as there will be a couple of possible sneaky steals.

That's just my opinion, though, and I wonder what anyone else thinks about those scenarios?