My Controversial List

[thriftyrocker]

Sporting News does something similar each year. This year Peyton was beat out for the #1 slot by.... Walter Jones.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=t ... &type=lgns

Not to split hairs (it's impossible to make any list like this), but I would question how Julian Peterson is in the top 5 and Lofa Tatupu is at the bottom, how one Barber is in the 40s and the other is in the 80s (age matters how?), and how Vince Young is in the 60s and Mike Vick isn't on the list. But whatever.

[Atog]

This is gonna be labeled as "dumb", but I would take Michael Vick. As Jim Mora once said, people love this dude. He's still young, and he is of course a double threat.

Assuming that we're doing a 32-team snake draft, if I were a GM I'd love to get Vick, but I wouldn't spend a first or second pick on him.
Vick is really a wild card, some people would rate him as a Top-5 QB with his running, but other people would put him out of the top 15.

[GMoney]

I agree that OLine is huegly important. But not 1st round pick important. I would be surprised if Manning, Manning, Palmer, McNabb, Hasselbeck, Vick, Brady arent the first 7 picks off the board.

Top LTs and RBs would probably follow along with elite DEs. something like.... Peppers, Strahan, Ogunleye, Freeny, and maybe Mario Williams. RBs: LT, Larry Johnson, McGhahee, Reggie Bush, and probably Shaun Alexander. LTs: Walter Jones, and the next 3 best (cant really think of them off the top of my head)

so that 21 picks. 11 left in the first round. id say they would look something like: Bailey, Polamalu, Ray Lewis, Merriman, Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, Urlacher, Deangelo Hall, Daunta Robinson, Antonio Gates, Sean Taylor.

so there is round 1 of the draft.

[WickedSmaat]

I think most of you are correct that O-Line is important, but the first few picks should be the BASE of your team. You want to be solid with an RB, QB, or a solid DE or LB. But OLiine isn't something you would be putting into those few rounds. I feel like it would be something to try and wait on almost like a decent QB in fantasy ball.

[cardiac cats]

I would have to include these players as the most important:

Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, LT, Clinton Portis, Steve Smith, Larry Fitzgerald, Walter Jones, Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden, Julius Peppers, Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Sean Taylor, and Ed Reed

[citybirds27]

I agree that OLine is huegly important. But not 1st round pick important. I would be surprised if Manning, Manning, Palmer, McNabb, Hasselbeck, Vick, Brady arent the first 7 picks off the board.

Top LTs and RBs would probably follow along with elite DEs. something like.... Peppers, Strahan, Ogunleye, Freeny, and maybe Mario Williams. RBs: LT, Larry Johnson, McGhahee, Reggie Bush, and probably Shaun Alexander. LTs: Walter Jones, and the next 3 best (cant really think of them off the top of my head)

so that 21 picks. 11 left in the first round. id say they would look something like: Bailey, Polamalu, Ray Lewis, Merriman, Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, Urlacher, Deangelo Hall, Daunta Robinson, Antonio Gates, Sean Taylor.

so there is round 1 of the draft.

Thats where your faulting my friend.

[eaglesrule]

one quick comment, Vick is NOT a double threat. His passing is not good. He is a unique athletic talent, but his 150 yards passing, 100 yards rushing isn't any better, in fact its a little worse, than the normal qb's who can approach three hundred yards passing.

It is jsut that he does what he does with such style. But at the end of the day, good players sell tickets, but so do winning teams.

And I would be stunned if they ran something like this, and he was picked before palmer, either of the mannings, brady, mcnabb. At that nexus, I think the tickets come into play with how tantalizing his talent is. But, thats it with him, tantalizing.

[Atog]

I would be surprised if Manning, Manning, Palmer, McNabb, Hasselbeck, Vick, Brady arent the first 7 picks off the board.

I'd rather have LT than any of those guys except Peyton.

[eaglesrule]

why?

Running back is becoming a demphasized position in temrs of having your one stud.

While LT is awesome, and he would definitely be in the firts round, I wouldn't see any runnign back getting taken before QB.

A team would be so much better of going with a manning, brady, mcnabb, palmer, then taking a "b" list back. Both for overall draft strategy and salary cap purposes.

I would think a team would be better off with a mcnabb and and a decent to good back like thomas jones, warrick dunn, tiki (he would rate "decent" because of his age in this exercise). I seriosuly think that teams would let the runnign backs fall a little bit, since there are a more good runnig backs than qb's.

I mean you can see it in action almost all the time. When an expansion team comes out, or a team is rebuilding, more often than the other positions, they take the qb. Not always, but frequently enough to tell you something.

[maddog60]

I would be surprised if Manning, Manning, Palmer, McNabb, Hasselbeck, Vick, Brady arent the first 7 picks off the board.

I'd rather have LT than any of those guys except Peyton.

While I would agree teams are built in the trenches, and I think LT is the best player at his given position, there is a very simple reason premium QBs should be the top 10 or so. Position scarcity.

LT is great, hands down the best RB in football, but look at how many great RB talents there are in the NFL. Look at how easy it is for teams to find instant producers at RB. Already, Maroney, Bush, and Addai are making significant impact. Many teams have the luxury of 2 good RBs, not a one team has the luxury of keeping two good QBs.

QBs on the level of Peyton, Brady, Palmer, McNabb, etc there may only be 10 or 12 total, and that's being generous. Getting one of these types while you can is a must for any team, and it'd be well worth waiting till the 2nd round to get the best available RB or Left Tackle.