Moore has a blog post celebrating the Falcons' draft windfall, which at first made me think I could buy us both some nice party hats. Alas, Terence Moore had to go and not have the same opinion as me. The nerve.
Next, Falcons officials must use all those nice draft picks in April on the definitive guys for their franchise. We're talking about linemen. Offense, defense. It doesn't matter. Just as long as they are the antithesis of what the Falcons have gotten lately. So these linemen should be larger than smurfs, and they shouldn't spend much time in the trainer's room.
The part about what we got for Schaub is, of course, deadly accurate. We ripped off the Texans. I don't even think the boys at Battle Red Blog would disagree with that, though they're understandably very optimistic about Matt Schaub. But it's the second paragraph which causes me to shake my head slowly in the direction of the AJC's offices.
He's half right. We do need linemen, especially offense, and if certain players are already gone we should absolutely go ahead and chase some. But with the first overall pick, I don't want a defensive lineman unless our better options are already gone. It's no secret that I've been jotting down LaRon Landry's name in my journal with little hearts around it, and so please realize that this is a pretty biased opinion. But the Falcons have been soul-sappingly inept at safety for years. The simple fact that Crocker and Milloy were average and actually managed to be better than most safeties we've had over the last ten years is enough to tell you that we could use a playmaker back there. If Landry's gone, obviously a guy like Jamaal Anderson is a big temptation, and one we should consider. But if we're serious about building up a heavy offensive line, we need to put our faith in Chauncey Davis (who looks to me like a pretty solid end) and take somebody like Levi Brown. There's no excuse for ignoring Landry if he's waiting around for us at the #8 spot.
And don't even get me started on Moore's assertion that we should trade up for Calvin Johnson if we can. Wide receiver is a weak point, but we just went out and grabbed guys like Joe Horn, Derrick Hamilton and Fred Gibson for a reason: to try to fill those gaps. The kind of trade it would take to move up and grab Johnson would leave us without many of the key draft picks that could make this such a windfall for us. I don't care how many fans want to see Johnson and how great a face he'll put on this franchise. If we draft him, we're essentially conceding the kind of solid team that wins games for a flashy passing game. And God knows it's been a very long time since that worked for us.
To take this one step further, I want you to envision a trade that would send our first round pick, a second or two, and let's say a fourth rounder to the Lions in exchange for their spot. That's the only way we can be sure to get Johnson, and it might even take moving up to the #1 spot. That's a Landry, a Brown, or an Anderson, a possible defensive or offensive lineman in the second round, and a value running back or receiver in the fourth, let's say. Are three good players worth giving up for one great one? My answer's no.
What's yours?