Sean Taylor

[Russ Smith]

The more I think about it the more inclined I am to say if Eli and Ben are gone we should just draft Sean Taylor and try to trade Wilson. #3 is usually way too high for a safety but this kid is the 2nd coming of kenny Easley, I really think he's the best player in the whole draft.

Wilfork could help us, Roy Williams, but to me the clearcut best player on the board at #3 is going to be Sean Taylor. I'm starting to think like Sec 11, take Taylor, take a CB in round 2, address other needs in FA. If someone like Philip Rivers slides to round 2 take him, if not focus on the defense.

Another guy who impressed me last night was Marquise Hill with LSU, I've always felt teammate Marcus Spears was the better prospect but last night Hill was VERY impressive. Spears must have been injured he was coming out of the game quite a bit last night. Made a nice play on the pick for the TD but overall I thought Hill outplayed him last night. Hill is already declared for the draft I haven't heard if Spears will or not.

 

[PACardsFan]

I spend a little time on the Giants board & they are clamoring for Taylor with the 4th pick. They are pretty savvy fans & most of them think Taylor is the best talent on the board, including Eli. Maybe the best safety to come out in a generation. I wouldn't have a problem with that pick although I'd still lean towards Big Ben, only because Manning will be gone.

 

[Renz]

Originally posted by Russ Smith
I'm starting to think like Sec 11

Okay, now you're scaring me!

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Russ Smith
If someone like Philip Rivers slides to round 2 take him, if not focus on the defense.

Finally! He sees the light!

 

[Russ Smith]

Originally posted by PACardsFan
I spend a little time on the Giants board & they are clamoring for Taylor with the 4th pick. They are pretty savvy fans & most of them think Taylor is the best talent on the board, including Eli. Maybe the best safety to come out in a generation. I wouldn't have a problem with that pick although I'd still lean towards Big Ben, only because Manning will be gone.

I agree, I keep seeing the name Ronnie Lott used for Taylor but frankly he really reminds me more of Easley. Being a UCLA fan I'm probably biased but I always felt when healthy Easley was better than Lott, big hitter, played the run and a much better coverage Safety. Lott was moved from CB because he wasn't a great coverage guy, Easley was so good Seattle thought about moving him TO CB but didn't.

Taylor is about the same size as Easley and probably even faster. Obviously we have needs all over the field so taking a safety when we have Wilson is not the "Sexy" pick, but if Ben and Eli are gone I'm starting to think he makes the most sense. As Wally said last week look at how well Ed Reed is playing, and realize that taylor is a MUCH better player than Reed was at Miami.

 

[pinnacle]

Russ: Jurecki was kind of pumping for Taylor this morning before they got sidelined by the Suns trade (they obviously switched topics). His thought was that you tell Adrian to lose 10 or 15 lbs and move to corner. His theory is you just assign him to a guy at the line of scrimmage - it does not involve Adrian trying to figure out who he is supposed to take and where he is supposed to be (as required at safety).

I am not sure if Wilson is fast enough - and he seems like a straight ahead type player...but I figured I would throw out what I heard on the radio..

 

[Russ Smith]

Originally posted by pinnacle
Russ: Jurecki was kind of pumping for Taylor this morning before they got sidelined by the Suns trade (they obviously switched topics). His thought was that you tell Adrian to lose 10 or 15 lbs and move to corner. His theory is you just assign him to a guy at the line of scrimmage - it does not involve Adrian trying to figure out who he is supposed to take and where he is supposed to be (as required at safety).

I am not sure if Wilson is fast enough - and he seems like a straight ahead type player...but I figured I would throw out what I heard on the radio..

Yeah I just don't believe Wilson is a CB. He's athletic and yeah he could lose weight, but CB is about ability to change directions, stop on a dime, coverage, the very stuff Wilson had problems with at Safety. I can't get that play out of my mind against Detroit where he somehow winds up man to man on Charles Rogers who makes no move at all and winds up 10 yards behind Wilson but drops the easy play. 2 plays later he beat him again for a TD. Rogers is of course fast as hell but the NFL is full of fast WR's who would torch Wilson at CB.

I thought he played better later in the year and he probably would have trade value.

I guess the one concern is technically Taylor is a FS which is of course Dexter Jackson's spot, so he'd be playing SS here. He's clearly talented enough to do so but he would be sort of changing positions here.
Typically I'd say it was utter nonsense to take a safety that high but players like Taylor don't come along every year.

 

[Stout]

See, there are lots of blue-chip type players there, and if the QBs are gone (sadly, though I want one of them, I cannot justify us trading up right now with picks), we have to get one of them. I don't want us trading down unless it meets this criteria:

We get a boatload of picks/talent
The 2 QBs are off the board
We don't trade down more than a few slots
We trade down to maybe 10, but do it in increments

IMO, we HAVE to get a blue-chip impact player, and after Ben and Eli, it should be Best Available Athlete. NO MORE REACHES!!!

Taylor wouldn't be a bad pick at all, IMO. Dare I say, it would give us a plethora of Safeties?

 

[Ryanwb]

there is money invested in Wilson and Jackson...where do one of these guys go. Wilson to CB? No way!

 

[kerouac9]

Originally posted by Ryanwb
there is money invested in Wilson and Jackson...where do one of these guys go. Wilson to CB? No way!

Actually, Adrian Wilson is only a restricted free agent (I'm pretty sure) now. We can tender him with a mid-level offer, and if a team decides to sign him to an offer sheet, we'll recoup the draft pick (3rd rounder) that we used on him. There could be worse deals, especially considering this draft.

If he takes the tender, we could use a New England-style nickel package with 3 safeties and two cornerbacks. Because our SSs would be so athletic, they should be able to either cover zones, blitz from crazy angles, or simple match up in man coverage and allow corners to do their thing.

It's an interesting idea. I haven't seen Sean Taylor (I don't follow college football that closely), but I thought that Roy Williams was going to be the next great safety...?

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by kerouac9
but I thought that Roy Williams was going to be the next great safety...?

Can't there be 2 great safteys in the NFL? R. Williams is a stud.

 

[kerouac9]

Originally posted by Pariah
Can't there be 2 great safteys in the NFL? R. Williams is a stud.

I meant to say "next Ronnie Lott". Got lost trying to do two things at once. It seems to me (from what I'm reading) that Sean Taylor might be a little more polished and disciplined than Roy was coming out of college. That's a good thing.

What do people think about Lee Evans from Wisconsin as the second-round pick?

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by kerouac9
I meant to say "next Ronnie Lott". Got lost trying to do two things at once. It seems to me (from what I'm reading) that Sean Taylor might be a little more polished and disciplined than Roy was coming out of college. That's a good thing.

What do people think about Lee Evans from Wisconsin as the second-round pick?

Roy, to me, was a better run down defender than Taylor, but not by much.

The difference is that Taylor might be a significantly better pass defender. Plus he is a better size/speed athlete.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I've posted before that the 2 best players i've seen this past year are Taylor and Will Smith.I would have no problem with Taylor at 3.Would it really be worth it to pass up his talent in favor of Wilson.That being said,i think Ben or Eli will be there at 3.Also,i don't know where Strait from Oklahoma is rated but if he is there in round 2 then he would be a great pick.Better than Vasher in my opinion.My dream draft scenario is to somehow trade down and be able to get Taylor and Will Smith.Also,i couldn't help but think of Ben when i was watching JOhn Navarre get pummeled time after time by USC's defense.I think people are overrating his mobility because he hasn't played against anywhere near the kind of athletes that USC defense has and that he will be seeing on Sunday's.I think that's the biggest risk with Ben.At least Manning has played against LSU's defense and has seen that kind of talent.

 

[Brian]

Hey all,

Haven't posted for awhile, but I had to get in on some of this,

First, I was at the Minny game and left with a HUGE grin on my face, great win. I'm not gonna re-hash that arguement, but I left grinning because we have the number 3 pick. To me there are 2 franchise-type players in this draft (Eli and Ben) and two EXTREMELY talented blue-chip players (Fitzgerald and Taylor) where the Cards have a big need.

I'm delighted. Tickled pink. Big-grin-on-my-face-kinda-happy. WE'RE GONNA GET ONE OF THEM!! Unless the Cards screw this up and trade down, either Manning, Big-Ben, Fitzgerald (the true Heisman winner) or Taylor will be wearing a Cardinal uniform next year.

Best case scenario 1a) we draft Ben

Best case scenario 1b) we draft Eli

Best case scenario 1c) we draft Fitzgerald and get Rivers in round two (but I think he'll be gone by then)

Overall, we get one of those three immediate-can-change-a-game-in-one-play kinda guys.

What's not to love?

Unless they trade down, in which case I'll swear them off until training camp opens........................


And by the way, if we don't nail down Fassell NOW, it will be the biggest blunder since not getting Leftwich

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by Cbus cardsfan
Also,i don't know where Strait from Oklahoma is rated but if he is there in round 2 then he would be a great pick.Better than Vasher in my opinion.

I think every mock I've seen has Strait going in the first--always before Vasher.

HarleyRider: I'm with you in the sense that I think we'll land a great player in the first; there are a lot of options, but I pray that if we don't take Eli or Ben we don't take a QB on day one. I'd rather see a CB selected in the 2nd (and maybe the 3rd, too).

 

[Brian]

Last night Strait was the best player on defense for the number 1 rated defense, he REALLY impressed me, no way he slips to round two...

 

[Russ Smith]

Originally posted by HarleyRider
Last night Strait was the best player on defense for the number 1 rated defense, he REALLY impressed me, no way he slips to round two...

Yeah he really played well last night, I still think that was a fumble on that one play where he hit the guy just after the ball got there.

Anybody else think Stoops was going to hit Lynn Swann when he said LSU had the #1 defense at halftime? Stoops stopped, glared at him and then barked "#1 scoring defense WE have the #1 defense overall." Pretty funny he really looked pissed when he said it.

LSU/USC would be a great game, USC has a so so run game but they have a marvelous passing attack, it would be interesting to see if they could move the ball on LSU with that great DL and secondary, and it would be equally interesting to see how well LSU would do against the USC pass rush. I think LSU has a better defense but I think USC clearly has the better offense.