rawaction

No. Nobody in the Big 12 could stop him from catching the ball. To put that in perspective, nobody could stop household names like Kerry Meier, Quan Cosby, Brandon Banks, Eric Morris, Detron Lewis, and Dezmon Briscoe either along with guys like Maclin, Coffman, Iglesias, Dez Bryant, and Shipley. Texas Tech had 3 players with 74 catches or more. Saying nobody can stop Crabtree, to me, is like saying nobody could stop Andre Ware from completing passes. Not saying that Crabtree will be that type of bust, but just pointing out when your team throws the ball 667 times it's not hard to catch 97 passes if you a single iota of talent.

I missed the discussion but many people hit on my issue with Crabtree. He's considered top 5, like Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald, but he's not even in their class. Not because they have both blown up in the pros, but he wasn't the college WR that those 2 were nor is he close to the same type of athlete. I thought Maclin was pretty close to him (around the 8-15 range in top prospects) before when Crabtree was 6'3", but now that he only has 3/8" on him and Maclin has a step on him in speed, I think Maclin's just as good of a prospect. And I didn't even bring up the injury.

Injuries really hurt him early in his career. And that's really what lessened the fans' patience. When he did finally play he showed more promise than any QB in Bears history, and was among the best in the league for a while in 06. Then he hit rock bottom so hard and so often. The combination of these things did Rex in with Chicago fans.

I'm not a Crabtree fan, and I think Monroe is the best OT in the draft, and the 2nd best player available. (Curry 1st)

YESYESYESYES I don't want Coles. Never been a big fan. He's clearly lost a step, and isn't a great WR to begin with. If I'm bringing in a WR over 28, he'd better be a great route runner or a difference maker. Coles is not, IMO.

I'll take Brian Giles and Matt Harrison- SP Texas Rangers.

I don't know if the Braves are that far off from their roots. Since they didn't resign him, I'm a bit bewildered by the Texeira trade, but other than that they're playing Matt Diaz, Jeff Francoeur, Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, Gregor Blanco, Martin Prado, Jair Jurrjens (though they traded for him), Jo-Jo Reyes, Jorge Campillo, Charlie Morton, Chuck James, etc. Schafer is only 21, playing in AA and putting up an .849 OPS and a .254 EqA. I'd be afraid to bring him up for fear of rushing him. Brandon Jones has been playing some in the majors, but wasn't very good last year. I could understand wanting him to play more as he's 24 now, but he hasn't shown a lot of power and that's what their outfield is lacking. Francouer and Johnson have experience, so they aren't being thrown into the fire. But of those other names, Blanco and Prado are on the bench. The Braves MO would have been to trade Johnson and let Prado play. Three of Reyes, Campillo, Morton, or James will be in the bullpen or AAA if you assume Lowe, Jurrjens, Vazquez, Glavine are 1-4. Then you have the Japanese guy who could start pushing all 4 out. Though Schaffer is young, the Braves have gone with a younger players with less experience in the past. Granted guys like Andruw and Chipper were absolute can't misses, but AJ had 50 ABs over A ball and was 19 in a pennant race when called up. The Braves traded value for Vasquez. They were rumored to trade tons of young talent for Peavy, a good idea, but not their MO. They were even rumored to be close to giving up Escobar for Jermaine Dye. They would have had enough veteran leadership with a team with Chipper, Hudson, either Lowe or Vasquez, and Norton. Their best chance of competing with the Mets and Phils was hoping some of the young guys blow up ala Tampa. They took away the chance for a lot of those guys.

Word is, the Bears have made St. Clair a 3-year offer. No numbers, but rumored to be about 3-5Mil/year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the new guy gets similar money to Williams, that is still dwarfed by veteran franchise tackle type money. I would love to have two young bookend tackles operating under their non-top 10 rookie contracts. I don't get your concern about moving one of them to the right side. The Bears neglected the offensive line for far too long and they absolutely must be aggressive in upgrading it. They absolutely need a tackle this year, and will need at least another guard and a center in the next couple years. I would take one of those first round tackles in a heartbeat. Yeah, they do have to get a tackle. But do they have to get a potential franchise LT at 18 and play him at RT, where is value isn't 100% maximized? Or do they wait and get a guy that projects as only a RT (but a good one) and also get a top WR, DE, whatever in the 1st? If they go OT, they can get a top OT but not a top anything else. If they go WR or DE, they can get a top WR or DE and get a top RT, which is where they are playing the 1st round guy at anyway in the other scenario. I personally would get the franchise LT again. I don't think the difference from left to right side is as big as it used to be. Well then we are in agreement. I don't think the Bears will be able to 100% maximize the value of a WR, given their QB and OC issues. I'd be fine with DE, but with three capable players on the roster, it's simply not as big of a need as offensive line. Personally I'm not convinced Williams is a franchise LT. He was drafted last year A) because better guys were already gone and B) he was considered the most ready to start in the NFL. It's not like he was the best of the bunch. He might be the one whose best position ultimately is on the right side. True. My reasoning for asking the question was that the Bears have already seemingly etched Williams' name in stone at LT. I think the goal should have been to get a LT and put Williams on the right side to start. I do think he'll be decent though. He won't be the best OL in the world, but he won't embarrass himself on the left side like St. Clair did at various times last year.

What are the Braves doing? Trading prospects. Not giving kids a chance (Schaffer, B. Jones, etc.). Signing players over 35. This is the exact opposite of everything that made the Braves what they were in the 90s.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the new guy gets similar money to Williams, that is still dwarfed by veteran franchise tackle type money. I would love to have two young bookend tackles operating under their non-top 10 rookie contracts. I don't get your concern about moving one of them to the right side. The Bears neglected the offensive line for far too long and they absolutely must be aggressive in upgrading it. They absolutely need a tackle this year, and will need at least another guard and a center in the next couple years. I would take one of those first round tackles in a heartbeat. Yeah, they do have to get a tackle. But do they have to get a potential franchise LT at 18 and play him at RT, where is value isn't 100% maximized? Or do they wait and get a guy that projects as only a RT (but a good one) and also get a top WR, DE, whatever in the 1st? If they go OT, they can get a top OT but not a top anything else. If they go WR or DE, they can get a top WR or DE and get a top RT, which is where they are playing the 1st round guy at anyway in the other scenario. I personally would get the franchise LT again. I don't think the difference from left to right side is as big as it used to be.

Yeah, I gotta think he's a top-10 lock. I was surprised to see him being mentioned as possibly being around the Bears pick. I was talking about Andre.

82. Lindstrom 83. Pablo Sandoval 84. Duchscherer 85. Kouzmanoff 86. Anibal Sanchez 87. Sean Marshall 88. Kevin Gregg 89. Pettite 90. Oliver Perez 91. Aaron Cook 92. Mike Gonzalez 93. Chris Perez 94. Wandy Rodriguez 95. Franceour 96. Joey Devine 97. Chad Qualls 98. H. Matsui 99. Nelson Cruz 100. Bonderman 101. Lastings Milledge 102. Placido Polanco 103. Werth 104. Jason Giambi 105. Greene 106. Adam Laroche 107. Randy Wolf 108. Carlos Gomez 109. Sheets 110. Dioner Navarro 111 Tori Hunter 112 Grant Balfour 8th Round 113 Rich Hill 114 Fuzzy Logistics 115 Northside Baseball 116 Northside Baseball 117 Alamo Stealth 118 Northside Baseball 119 The Eyes of Texas 120 Harrys Budcrew 121 Quakers 122 Tampa Bay Rays 123 NC Cubs 124 Severe Tooterstorms 125 Lynx 126 Fire Sale (Buddiga) 127 The Fighting Manginos 128 Saber Metrics

I too was going to take Sheets. But instead, I will go with: Grant Balfour and Rich Hill

Uh, not too much.

My draft board has taking a beating the last 11 picks. I had listed in this order: Chris Perez Divine Milledge Qualls Francouer Nelson Cruz Werth

That's part of my point though. If you get Oher, he was rated higher by most than Williams last draft until he decided to go back to school. Oher likely doesn't even get a chance to compete at LT if he is drafted. But that is where he offers the most value. If you draft Oher and play him at OG or RT, you are not getting the most out of his potential. Additionally, you can get an experienced OG like Levitre or an experienced RT like Loadholt in the 2nd. My point is (and I guess I coulda been more clear) that is it worth picking a potential LT at 18 and playing him at RT when you can get a RT at 49 and not waste his potential, and get something else that can help the team at 18 (DE, WR)?

That's part of my point though. If you get Oher, he was rated higher by most than Williams last draft until he decided to go back to school. Oher likely doesn't even get a chance to compete at LT if he is drafted. But that is where he offers the most value. If you draft Oher and play him at OG or RT, you are not getting the most out of his potential. Additionally, you can get an experienced OG like Levitre or an experienced RT like Loadholt in the 2nd. My point is (and I guess I coulda been more clear) that is it worth picking a potential LT at 18 and playing him at RT when you can get a RT at 49 and not waste his potential, and get something else that can help the team at 18 (DE, WR)?

You didn't read it correctly. They were talking about Vernon Davis, his brother. no, i think they were talking about both of them. It looks like you are right. I read it as "His brother Vernon looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane." And then the next thought was "Just like his brother, Vontae will test out of the gym." But after reading it again, it looks like what you said makes more sense.

The Bears have an interesting dilemma. They clearly have a major need for OT, but do they really go after one of the top guys at 18 (Oher, maybe even Britton and now Smith)? One thing to keep in mind is that they just spent a 1st rounder on Williams. If Oher is there, he is a guy that would have gone ahead of Williams if he'd came out last year. Do the Bears pick a guy with another early pick who may be better than Williams and can easily justify being on the left side ahead of Williams? Also, you have to factor in that the OL the Bears would draft could conceivably get the same, if not more money than Williams. Do the Bears try to save some face with the Williams pick by waiting til the 2nd to go OL and getting a true RT and paying him like a RT, instead of potentially like a LT? Also, a guy I am starting to like is Robert Ayres. Hopefully, he doesn't work himself above the 49th pick area for the Bears in the 2nd. But he may be the most complete package at DE. We all know about Johnson's issues. Brown may not be a DE in run downs. Maybin and English are undersized. Ayres has good size, is a good pass rusher, and probably better vs. the run than any of these guys vs. the run. I still think 18 is a great place to be for a trade down, potentially with Miami who could go after a OLB (Maybin) and has multiple 2nd rounders.

You didn't read it correctly. They were talking about Vernon Davis, his brother.

The Andre Smith saga continues. First he gets suspended for Alabama's bowl game. Then he shows up at the combine and announces he's fat and not going to do anything. Then today, he completely no-shows the combine. Mayock is dropping him way down the board.

I just discovered this thread was here. My payment will go out today.

I will select. JD Drew and Matt Capps

Thats funny, cause I never even took Dempster to begin with. Guess thats what the preranking was and time rand out. Though when I opened the draft room, it ws still my pick. And the player listings show Dempster as a free agent. It looks like Juan's adding Dempster to the roster of the manager who drafted him has been wiped out. Damnit, that's me.