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I wanted to get a feel for what positions Dennis Allen values as he builds his team.
First things up is the defense and specifically the Dline.
Cam Jordan is locked in at LDE and that measures up with him spending big money on Lamar Woodley to secure the LDE spot. Tanoh Kpassagnon and Payton Turner have similar size to Justin Tuck and will tandem the RDE. Malcolm Roach at LDT isn't going to cut it as that's spot is usually reserved for a much bigger body DT. Pat Simms and Justin Ellis were both over 310 with Ellis being the rookie NT drafted in 3rd round. A veteran + a 3rd round rookie suggest that they won't chase a wide body two-down guy much. RDT is a different story as they signed Antonio Johnson that year who was a consistent contributor for the Texans and had (6) sacks for them the year prior. This is where I see Rankins coming in as a good fit.
It's also clear he prefers a veteran unit on the dline. I expect a NT to be drafted but not until the later rounds. While it's a 4-3 in structure there are a ton of 3-4 pieces which points to DA wanting to be a hybrid of sorts. The Todd Grantham hire makes more sense. It also makes it clear why we walked away from Kris Richard who has a preference for strict 4-3 principals.
Now for the LB's.
Pete Warner is the same type of no nonsense WLB that Miles Burris was and while Sio More is showing up here as a drafted WLB he's tracking with similar size/weight/speed to Demario Davis. He was a LB that came out of college with pass rush ability but was placed in an off-ball position. Those two are prototypes for what DA wants. The SLB position is being manned by Zach Baun and is definitely upgradeable. Khalil Mack manned this spot for DA in Oakland and prior to that he asked Von Miller to play the Sam position for him in Denver.
Both came in around 6'2 245 6'3 250-255 and were primarily pass-rushers but could set the edge vs a TE on base downs. Both were 1st round investments and it just so happens this draft has a number of those guys. Get familiar with the names: Derrick Hall, Felix Anudike, and Byron Young. I feel as they'll all be available to some degree when we pick.
Finally the Defensive Backs
Lattimore at LCB = Hayden and Terrell Brown( / Carlos Rodgers could be looked at as Adebo, Alontae Taylor, and Bradley Roby. He's got options here and talent that he didn't have in Oakland. Matthew and Maye could be seen as Woodson and Tyvonn Branch. I'm still in favor of Adebo moving here and taking over the PJ Williams/Usama young role of being the 3rd Safety and in a pinch Nickel or Outside corner but time will tell how we fill it.
On offense it appears as though DA is already moving towards a more consistent power run game.
Derek Carr is QB1 with Winston as the backup. That's much better than a year ago.
RB is sticky and you can see Darren McFadden was a hold over and Latavius Murray was drafted in a later round to go along with Maurice Jones Drew. Saints will definitely draft an RB but since this is a 3WR 1 TE system I don't think it's a position they'll chase either. Kamara + Ingram seems to represent those two and they are likely to draft a guy mid to late round as a hammer. Roschon Johnson from Texas would seem like an ideal late find. As much as I'd like a Zach Charbonnet, I don't know that we'll invest in a runner that early.
WR1 and WR2 and WR3 seem like Ideal fits for Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed, and Chris Olave. What's missing is that longer 6'4 WR in the Andre Holmes mold. Perhaps Olave could expand on working the slot more (fits Denarius Moore mold) and then you bring in a DJ Chark or Mack Hollins as WR#2. Bumping Rashid to a #4 role. That would leave the drafting of a bigger bodied 6'2 WR or returning Tre'Quan Smith. That would give Carr multiple contested catch options on the outside and speed guy in the slot.
TE seems secure with the resigning of Juwan Johnson who fits the Ausberry move TE role. Nick Kasa was drafted as more of a blocking TE and I think Trautman fits that role, why Taysom can moonlight as the Mychal Rivera role. There's potential for a draft pick and or a FA here but not sure it'll be high due to depth.
On the offensive line Allen has already started to build a power o-line with the drafting of Penning at LT. LG is a toss-up as he also drafted a G that year to compete with an aging veteran. Sound familiar? I see that same thing happening but not until middle round ie 3rd or later. In his two years as Raiders HC he made OT more important as he signed Donald Penn, drafted Menelik Watson and also signed another T to a big contract.
In all I see the areas of need as SLB (or Edge), WR, OG, DT. RB. I think you can fill WR and one of the DT spots in FA and take care of Edge, OG, DT, and RB in the draft. How the picks pan out I'm not sure but again, most value seems to be at Edge with 1st pick and then a toss up between OG and DT with 2nd pick. There's a guard by the name of Steve Avila who I think would be worthy of that 2nd rounder. He's got similar size to Gabe Jackson who DA was also responsible for drafting.
First things up is the defense and specifically the Dline.
Cam Jordan is locked in at LDE and that measures up with him spending big money on Lamar Woodley to secure the LDE spot. Tanoh Kpassagnon and Payton Turner have similar size to Justin Tuck and will tandem the RDE. Malcolm Roach at LDT isn't going to cut it as that's spot is usually reserved for a much bigger body DT. Pat Simms and Justin Ellis were both over 310 with Ellis being the rookie NT drafted in 3rd round. A veteran + a 3rd round rookie suggest that they won't chase a wide body two-down guy much. RDT is a different story as they signed Antonio Johnson that year who was a consistent contributor for the Texans and had (6) sacks for them the year prior. This is where I see Rankins coming in as a good fit.
It's also clear he prefers a veteran unit on the dline. I expect a NT to be drafted but not until the later rounds. While it's a 4-3 in structure there are a ton of 3-4 pieces which points to DA wanting to be a hybrid of sorts. The Todd Grantham hire makes more sense. It also makes it clear why we walked away from Kris Richard who has a preference for strict 4-3 principals.
Now for the LB's.
Pete Warner is the same type of no nonsense WLB that Miles Burris was and while Sio More is showing up here as a drafted WLB he's tracking with similar size/weight/speed to Demario Davis. He was a LB that came out of college with pass rush ability but was placed in an off-ball position. Those two are prototypes for what DA wants. The SLB position is being manned by Zach Baun and is definitely upgradeable. Khalil Mack manned this spot for DA in Oakland and prior to that he asked Von Miller to play the Sam position for him in Denver.
Both came in around 6'2 245 6'3 250-255 and were primarily pass-rushers but could set the edge vs a TE on base downs. Both were 1st round investments and it just so happens this draft has a number of those guys. Get familiar with the names: Derrick Hall, Felix Anudike, and Byron Young. I feel as they'll all be available to some degree when we pick.
Finally the Defensive Backs
Lattimore at LCB = Hayden and Terrell Brown( / Carlos Rodgers could be looked at as Adebo, Alontae Taylor, and Bradley Roby. He's got options here and talent that he didn't have in Oakland. Matthew and Maye could be seen as Woodson and Tyvonn Branch. I'm still in favor of Adebo moving here and taking over the PJ Williams/Usama young role of being the 3rd Safety and in a pinch Nickel or Outside corner but time will tell how we fill it.
On offense it appears as though DA is already moving towards a more consistent power run game.
Derek Carr is QB1 with Winston as the backup. That's much better than a year ago.
RB is sticky and you can see Darren McFadden was a hold over and Latavius Murray was drafted in a later round to go along with Maurice Jones Drew. Saints will definitely draft an RB but since this is a 3WR 1 TE system I don't think it's a position they'll chase either. Kamara + Ingram seems to represent those two and they are likely to draft a guy mid to late round as a hammer. Roschon Johnson from Texas would seem like an ideal late find. As much as I'd like a Zach Charbonnet, I don't know that we'll invest in a runner that early.
WR1 and WR2 and WR3 seem like Ideal fits for Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed, and Chris Olave. What's missing is that longer 6'4 WR in the Andre Holmes mold. Perhaps Olave could expand on working the slot more (fits Denarius Moore mold) and then you bring in a DJ Chark or Mack Hollins as WR#2. Bumping Rashid to a #4 role. That would leave the drafting of a bigger bodied 6'2 WR or returning Tre'Quan Smith. That would give Carr multiple contested catch options on the outside and speed guy in the slot.
TE seems secure with the resigning of Juwan Johnson who fits the Ausberry move TE role. Nick Kasa was drafted as more of a blocking TE and I think Trautman fits that role, why Taysom can moonlight as the Mychal Rivera role. There's potential for a draft pick and or a FA here but not sure it'll be high due to depth.
On the offensive line Allen has already started to build a power o-line with the drafting of Penning at LT. LG is a toss-up as he also drafted a G that year to compete with an aging veteran. Sound familiar? I see that same thing happening but not until middle round ie 3rd or later. In his two years as Raiders HC he made OT more important as he signed Donald Penn, drafted Menelik Watson and also signed another T to a big contract.
In all I see the areas of need as SLB (or Edge), WR, OG, DT. RB. I think you can fill WR and one of the DT spots in FA and take care of Edge, OG, DT, and RB in the draft. How the picks pan out I'm not sure but again, most value seems to be at Edge with 1st pick and then a toss up between OG and DT with 2nd pick. There's a guard by the name of Steve Avila who I think would be worthy of that 2nd rounder. He's got similar size to Gabe Jackson who DA was also responsible for drafting.
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