Would you guys flip your lid if we took Jake Long OT???

[CoachTsurfing]

He is the the best linemen coming out of the draft. We could move him to LT and put Brick on the right side. Then get Faneca from the steelers, maybe draft another guard in the later rounds. We'd have a nice looking O line??? Or do you think we need to upgrade other positions more???

[drago]

why would be play a finess player in brick, into a mauler's spot at RT? I don't know who long is, if he's good, i'm all for taking him and playing him at RT. The last thing we need is more finess pussies on the O-line.

[Irish Jet]

I would because we have D'Brick who is playing well and getting better. IMO he'll be a great player though.

[drago]

I would because we have D'Brick who is playing well and getting better. IMO he'll be a great player though.

if there is a mauler RT that we can get in either the first or second round, that can step in and play immediatly, coupling that with the addition of faneca (doubtful, i know) our biggest weakness becomes our biggest strength overnight. If we can dodge the injury bug in that unit we are looking at a 10 win season.

[bitonti]

you have it backward - Long would be the RT

and NO i would be psyched if that was the pick

it would drastically upgrade a starting position from day 1.

and to be honest Im not sure if Jake Long will ever be a good NFL LT.

[124]

Long would have to be the RT, IMO. I would not be as pissed as if we take Darren McFadden, I'll say that much.

[CoachTsurfing]

Long would have to be the RT, IMO. I would not be as pissed as if we take Darren McFadden, I'll say that much.

I would only take Mcfadden if we were going to trade him to the Cowboys for their firsts or a better offer, or if we traded T.J. for at least a second round pick.

[124]

I would only take Mcfadden if we were going to trade him to the Cowboys for their firsts or a better offer, or if we traded T.J. for at least a second round pick.

What is with everyone wanting the Cowboys to draft or trade for McFadden? They are one of three teams that has zero interest in him. Marion The Barbarian and Juilus Jones are arguably the best 1-2 punch in the league and even if Jones doesn't choose to re-sign, Barber can handle the load.

[Irish Jet]

What is with everyone wanting the Cowboys to draft or trade for McFadden? They are one of three teams that has zero interest in him. Marion The Barbarian and Juilus Jones are arguably the best 1-2 punch in the league and even if Jones doesn't choose to re-sign, Barber can handle the load.

Over on Cowboys pride they told me that Jerry Jones absolutely loves him. Supposedly that is why they traded for Clevelands pick this year assuming that would put them in position to get him.

[CobraVerde]

DEFENSE.

[CoachTsurfing]

DEFENSE.

to be honest, I don't care if they go o or d line. Just get some people that can either block or tackle.

[124]

Over on Cowboys pride they told me that Jerry Jones absolutely loves him. Supposedly that is why they traded for Clevelands pick this year assuming that would put them in position to get him.

Jerry Jones would officialy become the biggest dumbass ever if Dallas did that when they have Marion The Barbarian. But hey, how about you trade us Marion and your 2 1st round picks and we'll gladly give you "Run DMC".

[Irish Jet]

Jerry Jones would officialy become the biggest dumbass ever if Dallas did that when they have Marion The Barbarian. But hey, how about you trade us Marion and your 2 1st round picks and we'll gladly give you "Run DMC".

I absolutely love Marion Barber, he really may be my favourite HB in the league. That play vs the Pats was one of the highlights of this season.

Julius Jones hasn't lived up to his rookie expectations though.

[Iceman88]

124 the entire reason Jones was cool with the Browns trade was he wanted McFadden very badly. He loves the guy and also didn't Jones go to University of Arkansas?

[Irish Jet]

124 the entire reason Jones was cool with the Browns trade was he wanted McFadden very badly. He loves the guy and also didn't Jones go to University of Arkansas?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Jones

Indeed, he played guard too.

[Damaged89]

Jake Long would not be a bad thing at all. I want one of the Longs if we have a top 5 pick and can't trade down.

[nyjetsjetsjets]

yeah, jones went to arkansas and loves the razorbacks. both jimmy johnson and barry switzer were teammates of his on that team. he also realizes how good the guy is. barber is a very good running back, but mcfadden could be very special. i would love the 2 first rounders and barber for mcfadden though. i honestly think jones might do it too. the two first rounders won't be superhigh anyways.

[124]

If Jerry Jones draft Darren McFadden the Dallas Cowboys will be the laughing stock of the NFL. Give us Marion Barber, do not have him be in a running back competition that he'd easily win.

[CoachTsurfing]

their two picks and marion would be a steal. I would then try and trade our Jones for a second round. Then with the two firsts we could address o and d line.

[124]

their two picks and marion would be a steal. I would then try and trade our Jones for a second round. Then with the two firsts we could address o and d line.

Yes it would be. Marion The Barbarian is the man. It was a shame when the Jets did not draft him a few years ago. His dad was a Jet after all.

[MasonJet]

to be honest, I don't care if they go o or d line. Just get some people that can either block or tackle.

Bingo.

[TrojanHorse]

Jake Long is a great pick for any team with the opportunity to get him...I'm not sure how long he'll stay on the board though....If he's unavailable, there's another good tackle in Sam Baker...he's just been suffering with a bad hammy all season.

[The Troll]

If we took a right tackle with a top five pick, yes, I would flip my lid.

[pjam76]

I don't know.. Will he improve the offensive line? So far Mangold and DBrick haven't. Yeah they have talent and they've been playing ok, but 2 first round picks who are part of one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL isn't something to brag about.

I'm afraid we'd take Long and next season people would come up with another excuse that the 2 remaining OL need to go. I'm sorry but if Mangold and DBrick were as good as they were supposed to be, the line should have improved somewhat. There is something seriously wrong with the way this team prepares or plays...

2 OL won't make the line great, but it should make it better, not worse.....What will 3 OL do next season?

I'd rather them take a guy like McFadden or a top tier DL.. I'm tired of players like DBrick who are ok, but nothing to brag about.

[Sperm Edwards]

I don't know.. Will he improve the offensive line? So far Mangold and DBrick haven't. Yeah they have talent and they've been playing ok, but 2 first round picks who are part of one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL isn't something to brag about.

I'm afraid we'd take Long and next season people would come up with another excuse that the 2 remaining OL need to go. I'm sorry but if Mangold and DBrick were as good as they were supposed to be, the line should have improved somewhat. There is something seriously wrong with the way this team prepares or plays...

2 OL won't make the line great, but it should make it better, not worse.....What will 3 OL do next season?

I'd rather them take a guy like McFadden or a top tier DL.. I'm tired of players like DBrick who are ok, but nothing to brag about.

See but that's the thing. You expect McFadden to be worlds better at his position than Brick was supposed to be at his. The reality is Brick was a premiere prospect like McFadden is going to be. You're purely looking at his pick in hindsight. At the time, he was called the best LT prospect since Orlando Pace. He was not expected to be "ok" by any stretch. We expected a dominant pass-blocker & a decent run-blocker. He's fallen short of that, but to be fair he's just a kid in his 2nd season & doesn't exactly have a lot of help next to him at LG.

[serphnx]

See but that's the thing. You expect McFadden to be worlds better at his position than Brick was supposed to be at his. The reality is Brick was a premiere prospect like McFadden is going to be. You're purely looking at his pick in hindsight. At the time, he was called the best LT prospect since Orlando Pace. He was not expected to be "ok" by any stretch. We expected a dominant pass-blocker & a decent run-blocker. He's fallen short of that, but to be fair he's just a kid in his 2nd season & doesn't exactly have a lot of help next to him at LG.

What? No he wasn't. He was expected to struggle in run blocking and there were questions about his size. He was nowhere near the prospect Pace was. That is why he was a bad pick. If you're going to take LT in the top 5 they have to have the size, speed, agility, endurance, durability and potential technique wise to be a rock at that position, to actually develop into a top LT and be a franchise player.

Pace pretty much did it right away btw. Definitely after his first year he was already dominant. People like to say how hard the position is to play, but really, you should be showing whether you have it or not a lot sooner than people are giving Brick a pass for.

In hindsight, the Brick pick actually looks better than it did at the time. Because to be honest that draft wasn't exactly that great anyway. I mean Ngata woulda been a great pick for us there, but Bush, Cutler, Williams, Young, Leinart are all underwhelming. That was not nearly as great a top 40 that it was projected to be.

[Sperm Edwards]

Bull. He was not at all expected to "struggle" in run-blocking. He was supposed to be at least an average run-blocker with the potential to be much more if he added some bulk. At least that's what I recall pretty-much everyone saying. I didn't read a single article, review, or post saying he was expected to "struggle" at anything.

I didn't really like the pick b/c that draft supposedly had so many good OT prospects & burning the #4 pick on one seemed like a waste to me.

But that was my entire point: he was NOT expected to be a "so-so" player. If he was, he would have had NO chance of going in the top-5 of a deep draft & one in which so many solid OT prospects were coming out. He was expected to be an elite lineman.

Ngata was the only player I wanted at #4 back then if we were unable to trade down (which was my first preference).

[serphnx]

Bull. He was not at all expected to "struggle" in run-blocking. He was supposed to be at least an average run-blocker with the potential to be much more if he added some bulk. At least that's what I recall pretty-much everyone saying. I didn't read a single article, review, or post saying he was expected to "struggle" at anything.

I didn't really like the pick b/c that draft supposedly had so many good OT prospects & burning the #4 pick on one seemed like a waste to me.

But that was my entire point: he was NOT expected to be a "so-so" player. If he was, he would have had NO chance of going in the top-5 of a deep draft & one in which so many solid OT prospects were coming out. He was expected to be an elite lineman.

Ngata was the only player I wanted at #4 back then if we were unable to trade down (which was my first preference).

Too many ifs. Too much average. A top OT draft pick is not projected to be "average" in any facet, and certainly isn't undersized in the first place. It was a bad pick. How can you compare a Brick to an Ogden or Pace coming out of college? It should be apparent I think to everyone that Ogden and Pace were much better prospects.

[Sperm Edwards]

Too many ifs. Too much average. A top OT draft pick is not projected to be "average" in any facet, and certainly isn't undersized in the first place. It was a bad pick. How can you compare a Brick to an Ogden or Pace coming out of college? It should be apparent I think to everyone that Ogden and Pace were much better prospects.

No one said he was as good of a prospect as either of those two. What I kept hearing was that he was the best LT prospect SINCE those two. Doesn't mean he was their equal.

And I agree with you completely. An OL prospect taken that high should have zero weaknesses in his game. Otherwise take him 10-20 slots later. And if he's gone by then, then he's gone. Take someone else.

I was actually shocked when we didn't take Ngata, since we were switching to a 3-4 & didn't even have a NT adequate for a FOUR-man front. He seemed like such the obvious choice to me; almost like this was the PERFECT draft to switch to a 3-4 b/c a NT prospect like that just doesn't come around that often.

[serphnx]

I was actually shocked when we didn't take Ngata, since we were switching to a 3-4 & didn't even have a NT adequate for a FOUR-man front. He seemed like such the obvious choice to me; almost like this was the PERFECT draft to switch to a 3-4 b/c a NT prospect like that just doesn't come around that often.

I wasn't. Brick was the safe pick. Our O-line was identified as a huge weakness by the fans and media. Herm's strategy of drafting Defense essentially soured NY on him. If the new regime started off with another D pick, it would have faced a huge amount of criticism, and Tangini didn't want to deal with that. Sure it would only be criticism for maybe a few hours until they picked Mangold, but they didn't want to face it anyway.

The cowardliness continued with Mangini sticking with Chad because he did not want to face fan, media and player backlash over the move, although to be honest most of the fanbase was clamoring for it, so that should not have been a worry.

[Irish Jet]

I don't believe top 5 picks should be spent on O-line. Not because I don't feel it's important but if you at the best O-lines in the league (The Colts, Pats etc.) they are largely built around low round picks and undrafted free agents. Building a great O-line is all good talent evaluation, finding the right people for your scheme and good coaching.

[CoachTsurfing]

No one said he was as good of a prospect as either of those two. What I kept hearing was that he was the best LT prospect SINCE those two. Doesn't mean he was their equal.

And I agree with you completely. An OL prospect taken that high should have zero weaknesses in his game. Otherwise take him 10-20 slots later. And if he's gone by then, then he's gone. Take someone else.

I was actually shocked when we didn't take Ngata, since we were switching to a 3-4 & didn't even have a NT adequate for a FOUR-man front. He seemed like such the obvious choice to me; almost like this was the PERFECT draft to switch to a 3-4 b/c a NT prospect like that just doesn't come around that often.

I'll be honest, I wanted Bush or Cutler with our first pick. I thought Ngata chosen with our first pick would have been too high. I loved the Mangold pick. I think this drafts pick we have to have a play maker whether it's o line, d line, cb, or lb. QB if Kellen sucks. If we trade Jones, then I say we go the Mcfadden route. Jones is a good rb. We just need a good rt and guard. But if we could trade him for a second and get younger and better rb. Do it. Trading down for Sam Baker would also be a good route depending how much we can get for a top 5 pick. How many of you would be pissed if Kellen comes out and wins the rest of our games and we don't go to the playoffs???

[Barton]

Jake Long should be pretty good, but havent we taken enough Olineman in the 1st round recently? I think Bender is the future RT fwiw.

The G position needs to be addressed, bottom line. FA should have some good options.

[drago]

I don't believe top 5 picks should be spent on O-line. Not because I don't feel it's important but if you at the best O-lines in the league (The Colts, Pats etc.) they are largely built around low round picks and undrafted free agents. Building a great O-line is all good talent evaluation, finding the right people for your scheme and good coaching.

Pace was a number two (or one, i forgot) pick. I can't think of too many players that were more worth their pick than him, Peyton Manning comes to mind. If you truly have an overwhelming talent in the offensive line, i am all for grabbing them in the top five.

Brick was supposed to be that talent, and he still could be. If you put Pace in place of brick, on this team, he wouldn't look nearly as good as he actually is. Look at Seattle, as soon as Hutchinson left, Walter Jones has been a mediocre player. Same in KC, it took Shields, Roof, and Waters to be dominant at their positions. By splitting them up i bet they would be above averge and not much more (aside from shields, that man is insane).

I can't think of a bigger handicap in the NFL right now than having Clarke next to Brick and Mangold, he sucks the skill out of the entire line.

[CoachTsurfing]

I think brick gets better with a good guard next to him.