Randy Starks or Vince Wilfork
NFL Draft Mailbag
March 6, 2004
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@hotmail.com.
From: Tkisting@***.com
Sent: Friday, March 5, 2004 6:42 PM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: Packers pick
Dude, Packers will NOT take a QB in first round as favre is going to play 2-3 more years barring injury. Secondly, looks like the will address QB future need in free agency as they want to sign Billy Volek from Titans, due your homework, Packers have publicly said they are not interested in Henson. Packers are looking for DL, DB, linebackers before QB's
Lou: I need to "due my homework" as you say... Okay, fine. The Packers could use some defensive line help, no argument there. But at #25, they are in a no-man's land for DTs and DEs (especially DE, where the need is more acute). Might they get lucky and have a Randy Starks calibre player drop to them? Maybe. But I highly, highly doubt it. I don't even see DE Antwan Odom being there when the Packers pick, and he would be a stretch at that point anyway.
The Packers secondary needs lie more at the safety position than at corner. Which is too bad for Green Bay, since there will be solid CB talent on the board at #25. But would the Packers stretch to take a guy like UCLA safety Mike Ware at #25?? That would surprise me.
If there's any likelihood for the Pack to go with a non-QB pick, outside linebacker would make sense at this spot. D.J. Williams or Karlos Dansby to the Packers at #25 is not implausable.
What the pick will hinge on is if the Packers can secure a young solid backup QB with starter potential via free agency. Green Bay would like Volek, sure, and Volek is testing the free agent waters. But Volek says he wants to return to Nashville to play for the Titans, though he wants to see what his market value is.
Even if Volek decided to go elsewhere, it's no slam dunk that the Packers would get him. According to The Tennessean (the main newspaper in Nashville), teams interested in Volek include the Falcons, Chargers, Cardinals, Packers, Ravens, Browns and Cowboys.
I would imagine that Green Bay would prefer having someone like Phil Rivers over Drew Henson, but Rivers won't be there at #25 in all likelihood. And while the Packers may have expressed disinterest in public over Henson, remember that the NFL Draft is part strategy, part gamesmanship... We'll see how this plays out.
From: Robert Moody
Sent: Saturday, March 6, 2004 11:05 AM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: Wilfork/Starks
Aloha!
I'm a diehard 49er fan from Hawaii.
I'm really hoping my Niners will take a top-notch DT with their 1st pick this year.
Which player is the better fit for our team--Wilfork or Starks?
Or should we go WR or CB in the 1st round and take a DT later?
Lou: Not much has changed
since I projected how I would personally choose to conduct the first three rounds of the 49ers draft... But now, along with those picks, they also have Baltimore's second rounder (#51 overall). I could see San Francisco using that pick to take another rookie WR -- imagine them snagging both Lee Evans AND Rashaun Woods in that round? That'd help to take some of the T.O. sting away.
I think there's no question that if either Vince Wilfork or Randy Starks are on the board, the 49ers should take one of them. If they're both there... I'd take Wilfork.
Both guys are huge (as you have to be to play DT in the NFL). Wilfork however has an incredible quickness for a big man. On the pass rush he commands multiple blockers, and he's quick enough where on a short drop the QB can be in danger at any moment. More importantly, he's described as "immovable" and very difficult to run through. He doesn't have the blazing 40 yard dash speed of a Tommie Harris, but then again how many other guys that size do?
Starks is quick too -- maybe not as quick as Wilfork, but still he's speedy. He'll make an excellent pro, and it's not like he's a bad choice. It's like having two gorgeous women vying for your attention at a bar... either one you take is a good choice. Advantage: you.
Wilfork is more likely to be able to step in and make an immediate impact, and I think that gives him the edge over Starks. I also think that will have him off the board before the 49ers pick at #16. But we'll see...
