[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by skinster

Let me clarify my statements . I would prefer ayers/2nd/3rd to kerrigan not because kerrigan isnt better than ayers. It is clear that he is. But at the same time I do not believe their impact on the field to be all that different for OUR team. My reasoning for this has to do with my own personal philosophies about the 3-4 defense, which I'm sure I will get alot of backlash for expressing.

1. I like one OLB to be a more natural linebacker (how I view harrison/matthews) and one player to be a more natural DE (how I view woodley/ware/hali), I feel the complement each other well. We cannot have two OLB pass rush on every play, so kerrigan/orakpos potential will not be realized. I am worried that it will end up like a Ware/Spencer combo, which I do not like.

2. I think that for our OLBs to be able to effectively do their job, we first need a better DL. I am a big believer in the DE's wrecking enough havoc to free up the OLBs. I think kerrigan's pass rushing talents will not be maximized until we improve our front.

3. I just want to emphasize that I DO want kerrigan over ayers on our team, I just think that the difference between their two impacts on the field given the situation of our team is worth having the late 2nd and late 3rd. Our draft could have had 3 2nd round picks, a first, and a third. That would be sick. After Jarvis Jenkins, we could have had Stephen Paea, Rodney Hudson, Marvin Austin, Daquan Bowers, Torrey smith, Mikel Leshoure and Ben Ijalana are some options we could have taken. And we could have gotten Randall Cobb/ someone else or still have done that miami trade and get hankerson, then Helu at the end of the third without having to give up all those picks.

James Harrison and Clay Matthews are premiere pass rushers in this league. They live and die rushing the passer (along with stopping the run, etc).

You're operating under the absolutely false assumptions that once a player is picked, the position is addressed and that we can't fix up the D-line further in future drafts so that Kerrigan and Rak finally to maximize their potential. This is the draft, not an a la carte line. When a good player falls to you, you pick the good player more often than not. The times you don't are when you already have too much depth or it's at a less "premier" position like RB, TE, FB. And of course, there's always next year's crop of DL to pick.