[Husker] Suh , hope he does not get sent to Detroit

[Mark Landin]

On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Duane Feldman <dlfeldman at ameritech.net>wrote:

> To address a couple of points below:
>
> Right now, I'm finding it hard to believe that Suh doesn't end up in
> Detroit.  I'm not sure that is any worse that ending up in St. Louis from a
> team standpoint, as neither will be in a Superbowl in the near future.  My
> reasoning:  St. Louis needs a QB as well as a DT and the draft is much
> deeper in DT's than QB's.  Therefore Bradford and one of the second-round
> DT's that performed well in the Combines looks better than Suh and no QB or
> a weak QB.


The are a few things that disfavor Bradford as #1 pick for St. Loius:

1) Risk. Bradford has unanswered questions about: a) his injury (injured his
AC joint twice this year, hasn't thrown since, and no NFL doctor has cleared
him to even play yet); b) his durability (has 4 serious injuries and 2
surgeries in 29 starts playing behind a pretty good OL) and c) ability to
play an NFL game (He thrived in a spread offense, but that's not what the
NFL runs. Texas Tech QB's have had the same problem. Is Bradford a "system"
QB?) That's a pretty big set of risks for that draft spot compared to the
relative "safety" of both Suh and McCoy. (Claussen has both injury issues,
and attitude/leadership issues too. I really doubt the Rams are serious
about him.)

2) Ohter team needs. The Rams aren't just a QB away from greatness. If you
draft Bradford, you pretty much need to play him (#1 guys don't hold
clipboards). But the Rams have serious WR issues and some OL concerns too.
Any QB will struggle to make a difference without some additional upgrades
on the offense. A DT, on the other hand, could probably come in and make an
impact without as much "help".

3) Draft depth: Bradford and Claussen aren't the only QB's in the draft.
Tebow, C. McCoy, Pike, and Snead figure to be available at the beginning of
the 2nd round, and the Rams have first pick that round too. Does the QB
class drop off faster than the DT class?

4) Long-term planning: Next year's QB class might be better (many analysts
thought Jake Locker would have been #1 QB if he'd come out), while the DT
class next year is unlikely to have a Suh/McCoy player. Again, since a
rookie QB is unlikely to be effective without some other offensive upgrades,
the Rams may plan to go with Bulger again (he did well at times in 09, but
again he had no WR), or pick up someone in free agency, to bridge the gap
until next year.

5) Smoke and mirrors: While the media keeps saying the Rams rate Bradford
highly, GM Devaney also says "Trust no one". The Rams' interest in Bradford
might just be to scare someone like Washington into thinking they'll need to
trade up to the Rams spot if they really want Bradford.

6) Strategy: GM Devaney and HC Spagnoulo have espoused the "Best Player
Available" method of drafting. I don't know where everyone is ranked (and
even if Devaney showed us his board, see #5 above), it's hard to believe
that Bradford would outgrade Suh or McCoy. He may get a grade bump because
QB's have more "value" than DT's, but even that may not be enough. Bradford
may represent too much of a "reach", even if he does clear medically. If you
do reach, how FAR do you reach? If Bradford was the #3 player on the Rams
board, maybe they reach for him. But what if he's 5? or 10? or 20? Suh and
McCoy are very likely to lead the Rams' board ... they do everyone else's!

I think Suh is the pick, unless St. Louis can bait someone into their spot
(and they still might end up with Suh depending on who that is and where
they end up drafting as a result). If the Rams pick up McNabb as is being
rumored, then it's Suh for sure.

>

 --
"He's old enough to know what's right and young enough not to choose it.
He's strong enough to win the world and weak enough to lose it." - Neal
Peart