With our late drafts pick I don’t us picking a RB first. We need a DB and OL who can start on Day 1.

With picks starting at the end of round 3, pretty hard to get guys you can count on to start as rookies. If we resign Barnes, why do we need OL? If Barnes and Satele leave, Joe Barksdale has a shot at starting, so does Heyer. Bruce Campbell needs to start producing. He probably belongs at tackle

We certainly need immediate help at CB and Dennis Allen has already stated that’s a priority so they’re sure to address it

D esp. DB & LB needs help; who stays and who goes will determine how much where

I checked out the You Tube clips of Robert Turbin. Based on the film I would expect him to go around the middle of the draft (~round 4), but he’s had some injury problems. He looks like the kind of runner who can be effective in a zone blocking system; and if he can learn to run underneath his pads and become more decisive picking holes inside he could improve as a runner. He is not too quick nor explosive and a little tight, not real fluid, not an elite athlete but is a good athlete, not always pretty to watch but stays on his feet. I agree he would project as a good special teams player. Could be a good fit for the Raiders if he’s available in the mid rounds or later.

The most impressive thing about him was the way he catches the ball. There were clips of him plucking the ball in stride running downfield, catching the ball over his shoulder like a WR. He runs tough and can dip his shoulder and smack some defenders downfield and looks like he has some vision when he has running space. However, he needs some space to operate, doesn’t seem to be able to attack the creases running inside/ confined spaces – appears slow to pick the hole, a little indecisive hitting up the gut, not quick starting or accelerating, and often runs upright into the line and loses a lot of explosion on impact because he’s not running under his pads (though he is a tough guy and will fight hard for yardage after contact and he’s strong especially in the upper body). He could improve considerably with coaching in his weaker areas and probably would need to be a good pro runner. I don’t see him breaking a lot of big runs in the pros like he did in the WAC. I only saw him block on one play in the clips, how do you know he’s a good blocker?

I doubt that Reggie McKenzie would pick a guy based on him being local, but on the You Tube sequence another guy came up from Boise St. via Stockton Doug Martin who looks like more of a sure thing. He has a smaller body than Turbin much quicker hitting the holes inside and can catch short passes facing the QB. Stocky build instinctive runner good toughness.

Also saw You Tube clips of Trent Richardson. Looks like the next LaDanian Tomlinson

More creative than Knapp you mean?

Let me clarify….Dennis Allen will not let Knapp be the Knapp of old he has higher expectations then Cable of Kiffin.

IMO Cale was clueless and had to lean on Knapp with a weaker roster and a horrible QB.

This year Knapp will be a better OC because he has DA to lean on and a roster of better players.

The O-Line has changed a lot since 2008 so we can all look to that area as well as to why McFadden has gotten better.
===============================
I agree with you – we definitely have better players. I just hope to hell you’re right. A unit can go from looking pretty good to looking crummy with a change of scheme and people not being comfortable.

Look how much worse our defense looked this year compared to last with the same players.

Knapp likes to run certain types of offenses. Even if we didn’t have the personnel I think he’d still want to run those offenses. That’s the only thing I’m worried about. Will our offense look as good trying to run these things.

Will our O-Line be as good switching back to a new scheme again.

Will DMC play as decisive?

Will our speed deamon WRs be able to run the precise timed routes?

Will Palmer be able to be athletic like Knapp says he is and do a lot of throws on the run, boot legs etc?

I always say if things are going well, don’t change everything. I don’t care if they switch the Defense to a 3-4, or if they change everything. It was horrible. It needs a huge change. But little things in scheme make a huge difference in the success or failure of a player. If that wasn’t the case than DeAngelo Hall (who’s very athletic) would’ve fit in our defense. Hall was a “Bust” in this scheme. He was a probowl player with the Falcons. Aso was a probowl player with us. He was suddenly lost with the Eagles.

If you try to force an square peg (even a very athletic one) into a round hole it just ain’t gonna work. Thus, my observations about McFadden not being as comfortable in the Zone Blocking Scheme. Aso not being as comfortable in the Zone coverage schemes. And Hall not being as comfortable in the man-to-man full time. And thus suddenly all looking like busts and seeming “out of place, a step behind and lost”