And then you have the objective, reasonable and intelligent 4% minority want someone who'll contribute from a position of greater importance than that of a rover safety. There's also a 20% vocal fringe minority would like a quarterback, preferably Clausen, because he didn't play in the Big 12, and the remaining 1% whackjobs would prefer a middle linebacker with middling speed.

They always do. The Senior Bowl always seems to elevate defensive linemen.

He'll go earlier than he should because of the teams switching to a 3-4. I wouldn't be surprised to see Buffalo take him in the second. Maybe even the Chiefs with one of theirs. Personally, I don't know why they just don't take one of those guards that they've got laying around and switch him over. For teams desperate for a 6'3", 335 lbs. NT, there always seems to be a plethora of like specimens who play OG that never even get drafted.

Since we have some free agents mentioned in the thread, I'll bring this news up.

Thought it was interesting that soon after it came out that Titans guard Eugene Amano agreed to a $25 million for five years contract that NE guard Stephen Neal's agent said that Neal is not retiring and he will be a free agent.

Let the money flow. If he's not too expensive, KC might want Stephen.

I think Pioli will talk to Ben Watson's agent too.

Buffalo is going to take Dan Williams with it's first pick, just watch....unless a QB magically falls.

Thank you.

I'd like you all to take a look at a DT/NT from East Carolina and see what you think. I've only seen parts of about 4 games from this year, but I was very impressed.

I first started looking at them because I was interested in NT Jay Ross. I wasn't very impressed with him. Jay got pushed around a lot at the Texas VS Nation practices. He also did not look that good watching some of their games during the season.

Anyway this one defensive lineman really made an impression. He came out this year for the draft after having 59 tackles and 3 sacks. He missed one game against Memphis, so he did that in 12 games. That is pretty good for a NT that is 6'6", 330 lbs. He is only a junior so he is young. He is not a 1 year wonder. He had 37 tackles, 2 sacks last year and 40 tackles 1 sack the year before. His name is Linval Joseph.

If you watch some video of East Carolina's defense, you will see Linval pushing the offensive linemen around and creating some problems for the QB. East Carolina played some teams like Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Arkansas, UCF, and Houston. You might be able to see him play by watching some of their game videos.

We should have a convo of what we think the Chiefs will actually do, that'd be more interesting.

Found one highlight reel on
Youtube. Looks like he can get pretty low for such a big guy.

I hope it is a different process than it was last year. I think last year Pioli really did not understand the full needs of the Chiefs and he made a lot of his choices on his own.

This year he has people that he will hopefully listen to.

If they draft and pick free agents like they did last year, I'll probably still follow them but maybe I'll have to adopt another team until Pioli is gone.

Thats the part about last season that was the most frustrating. Pioli was supposed to be Mr. Everything, he knew we had no pass rush, so with the top pick he added a 5-Technique and told everyone "he won't get many sacks". WTF Pioli, we just set a record for least # of sacks in a season and you draft a defensive player that isn't supposed to get sacks?????

But then since he added Vrabel, I guess he felt like we'd be set in that category.

#97 Linval Joseph also had 13 tackles for loss and one blocked kick this season.

Most of the draft boards have him in the 5th, but I would imagine that NFL teams have noticed him. Also as pointed out about Cam Thomas, big men will be in demand and he will probably go earlier than expected.

Sorry to take over the thread with this info, but I thought people might be interested.

I checked and he is invited to the NFL Combine.

01/20/10 - East Carolina junior defensive tackle Linval Joseph will forego his senior season and enter the 2010 National Football League Draft according to a confirmatory announcement by the league Tuesday. He was included among a list of 53 players released by the NFL who have been granted special eligibility for this year's draft, scheduled for April 22-24. Joseph met the league's three-year eligibility rule and submitted a written application in which he renounced his remaining college football eligibility with the Pirates. The Santa Fe (Fla.) High School product was a two-time All-Conference USA performer who recorded 60 tackles this year - a team-high 13.0 of those coming behind the line of scrimmage for lost yardage. He was credited with five or more stops on six occasions and was the unit's co-leader with 14 quarterback hurries, tallying a combined six in division and conference championship-clinching wins vs. Southern Miss and Houston. In 41 career games, Joseph booked a total of 143 tackles, 29.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks.
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings...2010&genpos=DT

I guess I'm contributing to your thread by giving you other players that might be considered besides Cam Thomas for NT. Another player is Torell Troup. I won't go into all of the detail on him, but I think he would also be a good 3, 4, or maybe even 5th round selection.

Also take a look at Central Michigan's WR Antonio Brown as a possible 5th round pick. He's not real big but he can play some WR and also return kick offs and punts for the Chiefs.

Back on the subject of Pioli's draft last year.

In the months leading up to the draft we knew they needed to do something about QB, center, right guard, right tackle, and receiver on offense. On defense they needed NT, DE, and LBs, since they were moving to a 3-4 defense. I don't think safety was as big a need until after they cut Bernard Pollard. They also needed to improve the kicker position.

When you look at the free agents signed, trades, and the results of the draft, it was very disappointing. Matt Cassel was brought in for QB. I still have hope that he can get better. Mike Goff and Andy Alleman was the answer at right guard. Eric Ghiaciuc was brought in for center. Ike Ndukwe and Colin Brown would take care of right tackle. Bobby Engram, Amani Toomer, Quinten Lawrence, and Ashley Lelie, were supposed to fix our WR need. Mike Vrabel, Zach Thomas, Corey Mays, and Monty Beisel were going to help the LB position. Tyson Jackson and Alex Magee would man the defensive line. Travis Daniels, Mike Brown, and Donald Washington wound make the secondary stronger. Ryan Succop would be the kicker.

So how many of our needs were met?

Again, I'm just hoping that this next year will be better.

He also looks good in videos where he's not the featured player. He looks like he hustles and works at it each play. That video listed him at 315 but I've seen him listed as high as 330. He's 6'6" so put on the feed bag and get him up to 340.