A Very Falcoholic Discussion: Where Do We Go From Here?

is draft a speedy and smart pass rushing LB or E that isn’t named Abraham.

The formula is simple. Let’s say X = number of talented rushers and that I (chance of INT), Y (hurried throws), and Z (Sacks) all equal X. With more X, you get more Y, Z, and a greater I. It’s so simple it hurts. X = YZI. Increase X, increase Y,Z, and I.

If our first pick this draft is an offensive player, I’ll eat my Roddy White jersey.

No order:
1. Cut Brooking, Grady and Weiner. Brooking is a liability, we won’t need Grady if Trey Lewis is healthy/we draft the up-and-coming DT our team desperately needs and Weiner could probably start his social security countdown in the not-so-distant future.

2. Re-sign Koenen, Boley and Roddy.

3. Draft (in this order) a pass-rushing/hard hitting OLB, blocking TE w/ solid hands (Pettigrew PLEASE!), ridiculously fat/strong/mobile OT (to hopefully take Clabo’s starting spot) and a bruising RB (to spot Turner).

4. Sign Albert “I’ll Step On Ya Face” Haynesworth! If we don’t pursue an OT in the draft, I’d like to see us make a run at Jordan Gross. The Panthers franchised him last year, so he’ll be set to jump ship IMO.

I’ll talk more later but for now…

D-line and O-line, in that order. Of course, if a good LB was available, I’d consider that too. I wouldn’t draft a skill position player until the sixth or seventh round.

We don’t have to make a sexy pick, or make a splash…we can address our most pressing needs, and that’s on the line.

Right now, I say it’s either a smart pass rusher in the back 7 (safety or LB)…someone who can break through when we bring heat…something we didn’t do on Saturday.

That might mean Brooking goes, but maybe it’s time to start upgrading positions we are merely “good” at. We have some nice young LBs in Nicholas, Boley, and Lofton, but adding a ball hawking, qb levelling, rookie might be what really need to get some more juice out of this corp.

Outside of that – another O-Lineman…maybe a Right Tackle, D-Tackle in the vein of Grady (ideally, it’d be great if Trey Lewis came back healthy), and a play-making Tight End.

The good thing is that we can address some of these positions in Free Agency for much less than we’d have to spend on a “skill position”

Look at the Ravens, Titans & Vikings. An outstanding D + an outstanding running game = playoffs. We’ve got the running game and a passing game that could make us one of the truly special teams in the league if we can develop our D.
We chose Ryan over Dorsey in ‘08 (which was absolutely brilliant), but now it is time to concentrate on finding a Haynesworth-esque DT to build around. Imagine the pressure we could take off our ends and secondary if we had the Viking’s DTs.

Well, as much as I am on the record of replacing Brooking as quickly as possible, my first day on the job would go like this. Fly in Albert Haynesworth, hand him a blank check with Arthur Blank’s signature on it, and tell him to go hog wild. The team needs somebody who can get pressure from the middle, not just a run stuffer who can take up space. Haynesworth could do both. On any given play, either he or Abraham would not be double teamed. Can you imagine how effective those two on the same line would be? Having that would get more pressure on its own, but it would free up the linebackers to make more plays at well. I believe in building from the inside out. On defense, which has proved to be the more pressing need, that starts with an elite defensive tackle.

As The Comrade, my first priority is to get glizshibbleflam plastered after such a phenomenal success of a season.

I’d invite Michael Irvin, he knows how to party. Then I’d wake up in a week in Las Vegas, with a cigarette holder clenched in my teeth and begin moving forward preparing for the giant party we’re going to throw after next year’s playoff run, and first back to back winning season in ATL (probably by evaluating free agents, and polishing Mike Smith’s monocle)