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Holy Smokes!! It's our pick!

Looks like our mock draft pick is going to preempt my TE piece. Briefly, here's the lowdown: Zach Miller is an awesome route-runner and receiver who was hurt too much by his combine performance. Tight end is a "skill position" and therefore is less about a player's forty or bench and more about his ability to see holes in the zone and compete for jump balls. Miller is the best receiver in the draft and the Hawks might just be lucky enough to have him fall to them. Also, tight end has a vast middle class this year. The best of which is Kevin Boss. I would be elated to see Boss in Seahawk grey next year. But on to our pick...
For the next 60 minutes I will keep this thread open so everyone can discuss who we should pick. To narrow the discussion here is a short list of players I'm considering in no particular order: Paul Soliai, Baraka Atkins, Kevin Boss, Josh Beekman, Allen Barbre, Brandon Frye, and James Marten.

Soliai is the best talent. Atkins could be a force at defensive end. Both have shown that most deadly character flaw, though, lack of motivation. Boss is a second round talent who suffered a shoulder injury that has pushed his stock way down. I think he is far and away the best available talent of the remaining tight ends, but, again, it's a deep class. Beekman is severely undersized for the guard position and is probably more of a center prospect in the NFL. Barbre, Frye and Marten are all quality guards, but one is almost certainly going to slip to the second day.

Boss fills the most pressing need, but if Marcus Tubbs fails to return healthy, Soliai could be godsend for a team that couldn't stop the long run in Tubbs' absence. Atkins is a nice combination of need and value, the kind of third rounder with first round talent. Truthfully, I'm not too worried about his character concerns. He's very smart player and one that could take off under the right coaching.

So, roughly, I'd rank them: Atkins, Boss, Soliai. Now it's your turn. Take it away.

Poll
The Pick?
Allen Barbre
0 votes
Brandon Frye
0 votes
James Marten
0 votes
Baraka Atkins
4 votes
Paul Soliai
4 votes
Kevin Boss
1 votes
Josh Beekman
1 votes

10 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 16 comments

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Comments

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Hmmmm
I think you take the chance of getting Boss next round (or trade some picks around to get him) and take Soliai or Atkins. Both have their drawbacks, so I think Soliai, just by the virtue of his talent.

Tough decision and I am glad I don't have to make it.

Beer...giving kidneys and livers something to do since ancient times.

by Ben in Va on Apr 24, 2007 12:08 PM PDT   0 recs

What I wrote was longer
but Ben pretty much sums it up, Soliai now, Boss next round.

by LantermanC on Apr 24, 2007 12:12 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Anyone who reads this site even semi-regularly...
knows I'm very high on Soliai, but two things worry me about him. He's not a hard worker, and he doesn't really fit Marshall's system. FWIW, Seattle seems to be interested in Atkins in real life.
so it goes

by John Morgan on Apr 24, 2007 12:12 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

That worries me too
The pick of Soliai makes me uneasy just for that reason, but I like his talent. I think if he had Stevens issues (law trouble) I would say no.
Beer...giving kidneys and livers something to do since ancient times.

by Ben in Va on Apr 24, 2007 12:15 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

What was he suspended for
it says unspecified team rule violation

by LantermanC on Apr 24, 2007 12:17 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It was never disclosed
It was a team rules violation that got him suspended for the Armed Forces Bowl. It wasn't anything though that ended up on a police blotter.

My best un-educated guess is he was out late partying or something along those lines and he got made an example of. If it was the U of Miami the coach probably would have given him two aspirin and told him to forget about it.

Beer...giving kidneys and livers something to do since ancient times.

by Ben in Va on Apr 24, 2007 12:24 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Yeah, Soliai's problem isn't really...
violent-miscreantism say in the vein of Rey Lewis or Pacman Jones, but he's not a hard worker and needs a disciplinarian coach to get the most out of his potential. I'm not sure that's Holmgren. Meanwhile, I think Atkins and Holmgren would get together like PB&J. Both are rational, Holmgren could talk Atkins in to productivity, whereas I think Soliai needs to be punished into productivity.

Oh, and DE is definitely a need for the Hawks.

so it goes

by John Morgan on Apr 24, 2007 12:30 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It said at nflscouts or whatever
that Atkins played NT and DT as well as DE, is this possible in the NFL if he goes up from 270?

by LantermanC on Apr 24, 2007 12:15 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I gotta go with Soliai
just because of Tubbs concerns
V. 1.0, mutherf***er, know what I'm sayin'?

by Scruffy Lefty on Apr 24, 2007 12:09 PM PDT   0 recs

I never heard of Boss til just now
But I love him.  From what I read, He's 6'7" with basketball skills.  His stock dropped because of shoulder injury, and he loks to be a bit raw at first from playing in Western Oregon.  I love him.  We won't need him to play out of his mind this year, and can developm him for next year. That being said, it looks as though he could be had in the 4th, 5th, and maybe even 6th round (hopefully), if we want to risk it.
Atkins looks good, but I wonder how much we need a DE, and a guy with motivation isn't something I'd see us draft, unless we think Lofa and Kerney's constant motor will help rev him up.
I actually LOVE Soliai because I think Tubbs will always be injury prone, and while I love our DT's, we need a big run stuffer, and Soliai is 350 pounds. His biggest knock is character and appearing sluggish, but... again, with only 2 bad apples on a team, I think he will be a good boy (though this doesn't apply to the cross country team I'm on now).  And with the weight thing, we rotate our tackles a lot so I like him at his big 350 weight.
I'm leaning toward Soliai because I hope Boss will be availalble in round 4 (I know we're not doing round 4 on these websites).  IF you think Boss's stock is rising too much as of late, I"d take Boss.  But for now, my vote is take an area of Need and one where we have good value for the round.

by LantermanC on Apr 24, 2007 12:11 PM PDT   0 recs

So, it looks like everyone is leaning towards...
Soliai. That's understandable given the way our run defense dissolved late last season. Too bad, I wanted to use this pic:

Kung Lao played by Alex Smith.

so it goes

by John Morgan on Apr 24, 2007 12:26 PM PDT   0 recs

Also
I believe Soliai was an offensive lineman at one time. The guy is huge (345) and one I could see taking up two offensive lineman at a time, freeing up the DE or a blitzer to get into the backfield.

I gotta believe he made just the one mistake, learned his lesson and will move on. He has absolutely 0 history of dumb behavior.

Beer...giving kidneys and livers something to do since ancient times.

by Ben in Va on Apr 24, 2007 12:27 PM PDT   0 recs

Yeah, Soliai is the best two-gapper not named...
Allan Branch and given our strength at LB I think it would be great to have someone to keep the blockers off them.
so it goes

by John Morgan on Apr 24, 2007 12:32 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I'm almost indifferent between the three
DT isn't that big of a need with Tubbs out because we still have Darby, Bernard, Terrill, and Davis
And DE we have Kerney, Fischer, and Tapp.
So I feel only TE is where we're not deep, but I like how all three of these guys are 2nd round talents and dropped for things I don't consider too serious.
Can't go wrong

by LantermanC on Apr 24, 2007 12:32 PM PDT   0 recs

Out of curiosity
How come you like Boss of Patrick TE from Delaware?  Upside and height?  better fit for our offense?

by LantermanC on Apr 24, 2007 12:37 PM PDT   0 recs

Boss is big, fast, has a 35.5 vert and the...
kind of frame to become a plus blocker. Really, nothing not to like. Any of these guys could be a steal. I'm having a tough time with the SOliai pick, his work ethic really concerns me.
so it goes

by John Morgan on Apr 24, 2007 12:45 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

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