What's our greatest need now?

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by memphisskin

Hmm, Michael Strahan comes to mind as a large defensive end that fell to the second round...

If we're going to miss, I wouldn't mind missing on a 6'7" 290 lb DE. I hate the combine, all these numbers are an attempt to quantify something that can't be quantified. Those combine drills are just that, drills, who cares that he sucks at the shuttle cone, or doesn't run a 4.5 40 yd dash, or only does 15 reps on the bench press. At 6'7" he's going to knock down passes, at 290 he can be effective against the run, and obviously he played well enough during the season to merit 1st round attention. And long term, we've got a Pro Bowl at TE already, would it have hurt to draft Campbell?

Hmm, I don't know Strahan's exact combine numbers, but I would bet a dime to a dollar that his bench press wasn't the WORST of all D-Lineman at the combine. I'm also pretty sure he ran better than a 5.0.

With Campbell's size and great sophomore season he was expected to be a top 5 pick in the NFL at some point. His junior season was below expectations and his work ethic is questionable. If your are a D-I DE at the U and you can only bench 8 reps at 225 (pre-combine Jan. 2008), something is wrong. You're either weak or lazy. I don't want to miss on a pick where there are serious warning signs for a bust. Campbell's D-Line coach from UofM is now on staff with the Skins. Campbell was available at a reasonable point in the draft and the Skins didn't take him, to me that speaks volumes.

The combine is not just "drills". It measures raw physical ability and that raw physical ability is extremely important in the NFL. Every NFL team seems to think it's pretty important, otherwise they wouldn't bother to attend.

At 6' 7", 290 Campbell doesn't have a low center of gravity, he's weak, with a questionable work ethic. At strong-side DE he would be getting BLOWN-UP at the point of attack. After that happened a couple of times how willing is he going to be to get back in there and "step it up", not very is my guess. I'd take Phillip Daniels for the next 4-5 years over Campbell in a heartbeat.

Having two TEs that are receiving threats is very important and creates match-up issues for the opposing D.