re: If this year is actually "the year" to win with Brees, what draft move would you make?

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Isaiah Simmons is pretty much the exact linebacker you would design if you had create a player for this defense. That is our biggest hole on the team, olb. But hes getting mocked in top 5. I'm not sure 2 1sts is even the beginning of what wed have to give up for that.

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He would have to slide. Top 5 would be too costly but defensive players slide all the time. Most likely spot for Simmons is 4th to Giants or 7th to Carolina. However, giants have a bad oline and a young franchise qb that they need to protect. Carolina seems to need and like Derrick Brown who some consider one of the top 3 players in the draft. Jags could go Kinclaw since they need interior too. In this circumstance I have Giants, Cards, Browns, and Jets all going tackles.

I get the fascination with Simmons, but while his ceiling is high, so is his bust potential. You can argue that he can play multiple positions on defense, I would argue that means he may not be a fit for any position. Is there a similar player in the NFL? And don’t tell me Tyrann Matthieu. Jabrill Peppers is an example of a first round pick who is a fantastic athlete with no clear position. Haasan Reddick is another. Both were first round picks who are struggling to find a fit on defense. If you draft Simmons, you better have a defensive coordinator with some imagination who knows exactly how to use him. I would make a safer, more straightforward pick.

#1- an immunologist with a vaccine.

I would do what it takes to get Justin Jefferson. Having a slot guy/third option to force a safety or a nickel corner away from Kamara and Cook would allow us to set fire to the league. Truly would be unguardable.

Everyone is talking about Simmons being the guy you’d trade up for but has everyone forgotten that it was Derrick Brown who came the closest to giving LSU a loss last year. Interior DL guys like him don’t come around very often. His ability to take on 2-3 blockers at a time and still put pressure on the QB allowed Auburn to sit back in that 3-1-7 defense all day and cover the middle of the field where Joe loved to do a lot of his damage.

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Everyone is talking about Simmons being the guy you’d trade up for but has everyone forgotten that it was Derrick Brown who came the closest to giving LSU a loss last year. Interior DL guys like him don’t come around very often. His ability to take on 2-3 blockers at a time and still put pressure on the QB allowed Auburn to sit back in that 3-1-7 defense all day and cover the middle of the field where Joe loved to do a lot of his damage.

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It is bc we are loaded at the interior defensive line. I feel like if you are giving up that much then you at least should fill a need. Also I can’t see him falling past Carolina and Jacksonville. He is considered by many as the third best player in the draft so Carolina could very well take him even if Simmons was on the board.

Exactly. What appears to be a need in April isn't always a need in September. People were riots when we picked Ram at 31 that year. Then 11 plays into the year he was thrust into the game at RT and never left. Now he's all pro. Trust your scout. Get good football players, regardless of position

It's because we dont even have a olb on this team that should be starting. You draft a rookie dl, wont make as much impact with our rotation being rather deep already there.

Literally the only position on the team, that we have no answer for is olb. We also need a lb that can play in Space, and athletic enough to control a sideline. That would free up demario davis to blitz more, and not have to play both sidelines. Isaiah thomas is built with a blueprint that we couldn't have done any better.

He would make an immediate impact in a way no other position could. We cant afford anyone that's a vet that can do that with around 9 million in cap space. So I dont see how this wont be a need later, that reasoning makes no sense. We aren't going to just grow an olb outside fa and draft.

Peppers had alot of questions about his size not translating to being a tweener. Go read draft profiles. Every con was, size might not work in nfl for what he does in college, but so dynamic it's worth a shot.

Isaiah simmons does not have this problem. He is ideally sized for lb, the main position he would be playing.

Not saying he wont bust. Every single draft pick can bust. But we have "one year" under this scenario.

You said we don’t have a starting OLB? Demario Davis is our WLB so I’d say we have the best OLB in football. Alex Anzalone is the MLB and if he’s healthy he’s a damn good football player who can fly. His game is sideline to sideline so I think your concerns over speed at LB are unfounded considering 2 of the staring 3 are some of the fastest in the league at their position. Kiko Alonso also is a battle tested quality starting LB so I’m not very concerned about the position. Robertson can play all 3 positions and do it respectably and Kaden Ellis showed some talent in preseason last year. The team would love to add to the position no question but I don’t think they are losing sleep about it either. If it came down to a CB, LB, WR or OL and all had the same grades on their draft boards you can almost be sure they take the OL or the CB. They have proven they can get by with less talent at LB or WR and still be effective.