If you remember in the previous draft, I was trying hard to push for this club to take defensive linemen when everyone believed that they should have taken offensive ones.
From what I saw on tape in 2013, was there was a better collection of those types of players than there are in this draft in the first round. The Cowboys made the move for Travis Frederick and it worked out for them but there were several players that they were holding on that had first round grades that were picked off the board while they were waiting to pick which they would have grabbed, instead of Frederick. In this draft, there is not that first round depth.
Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron [embedded_ad] Donald and he is a perfect scheme fit here but I am also looking at the value of a player like Notre Dame offensive lineman Zack Martin, who could start out as your guard then move to tackle when you are moving on from Doug Free. My plan would be to try and develop an offensive line of young starters that when I have to make that switch at quarterback, my young guy has a chance.
After seeing Rod Marinelli and Leon Lett work with these defensive linemen, you do not have to have Warren Sapp, even though that's nice but it isn't end all. These coaches have the ability to take good players and make them better and as a personnel man, I am taking that to the bank.
We saw guys like Jason Hatcher, Nick Hayden, George Selvie and even some of these players like Jarius Wynn have the best season of their career under Marinelli.
There is some really good value of defensive linemen in this draft in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. With all that being said, I am not against taking Donald at 16 if the is there but you should always keep an open mind about who is blocking these outstanding defensive fronts around the league and in this division.
