My official endorsement for the 21st overall pick.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Really good post.

I share your hesitation with Houston being unable to keep up with tight ends and the like. I do think if he rounded down a few pounds he'd be better suited to do so.

My question, though: do you think Hali has been a net positive or a net negative for the defense this year?

Your answer to that is my answer to this issue. Hali is pretty freaking lousy at dropping into coverage, but his passrushing makes everybody's life easier. Adding another amazing passrusher will have the same effect.

Especially when we do drop Hali, we'll at least know somebody else can get to the QB. When Hali dropped in 2010, we got bupkiss.

Regarding the offensive line...

I do believe our OL can hold together one more year, warts and all. I do not share that confidence with our OLB corps.

Hali -- All Pro

Vrabel -- purely mentor role, can do nothing on the field

Studebaker -- the OLB you guys seem to want, good at dropping and decent at playing the run, but is not a reliable passrusher

Sheffield -- huge question mark coming back from the injury

We definitely need help at the position, and if Houston drops to us we're lucky.

It's not that we don't need help at that position, it's that we need depth at that position. Studebaker, while not a world beater, held his own when he was on the field. And he's shown he can cover. Houston has not and it's questionable if he will be able to do so, especially at the NFL level. And he definitely won't at 270 lbs.

I don't see how the Chiefs can draft a project at that position (and Houston will be a project as he's never been asked to do anything other than rush the passer from a three point stance) when there are bigger holes on the roster.

If a guy like Reed or Acho is there in the second, or Herzlich in the fourth (who, if he checks out medically, is prototype for the strong side OLB spot) or Keiser (who played a OLB in a 3-4 for Stanford this past season) in the fifth, then sure, but the first rounder needs to plug a gap where we have a real need. OT, NT, WR, C all have priority over drafting a guy who looks to be the same type of player as Hali is, without the proven track record of what Hali has accomplished in the NFL.

I don't want Hali on the strong side. I definitely don't want Houston on the strong side as a 3-4 OLB. And I don't think that Houston wants to do anything other than rush the passer, which is why he showed up at 270 lbs. You go to the combine with a specific agenda. If he wanted to show 3-4 teams he could be a standup OLB, he would have came in a 250/255. The guy obviously wants to be a designated pass rusher in a 4-3. And I don't blame him. It's what he's done his entire college career.