Let's play a game. What could of been? (Choosing players we let go, draft. or sign)

[HailGreen28]

Thats just it. Williams wanted a Archuleta too play around the line of scrimmage in his 46 defense, which Clark is too small to play.

OK, please explain where I'm wrong, cause i really don't KNOW Gregg's scheme. I thought we didn't run anything like a "46" D. I thought we ran basically a 4-3 cover two with everybody having gap responsibility in the run.

Are you saying that's what we run, and asking Clark to step up and fill his gap on the runs is too much to ask? You may be right, I'm just asking is that what you're thinking, or something else or did Gregg actually run the 46 D?

[Nighthawk]

I start all my what could have beens with what I consider to be the biggest "what the hell were they thinking."

Marty Schottenheimer's 2001 1st Round Draft pick at #15 WR Rod "50/50" Gardner over G Steve Hutchinson.

Hmmm, lets see. We pass over a 4 year starter at Michigan, a 4 time All-Big Ten, 2 time All-American who would go on to be a 6 time Pro-Bowler, 6 time All-Pro.

We passed him over for Rod "Freakin" Gardner. :doh:

[SonOfWashington]

I hate looking at the draft in retrospect. It's a total crapshoot. What if we had drafted Tom Brady? Things like that. You just never know.

[Going Commando]

To me the biggest what if that effects our team right now is if we hadn't ****ed up our 2008 coaching search?

What if we had hired Jim Schwartz to be the HC instead of Zorn? And then what if he had hired Jim Zorn to be his OC and QB coach while he took over the D? I think Schwartz will be a terrific head coach and I would love to have had him here with Zorn in a position of less responsibility. We interviewed Schwartz, why the hell didn't we hire him?

Zorn could have actually flourished under those circumstances.

[Quincy]

What is the point of this thread??

Wishful thinking?

[Shilsu]

Here's my realistic scenario.

2004

DON'T trade for Clinton Portis. DON'T trade for Mark Brunell. DON'T trade for James Thrash.

Trade away Champ Bailey for a 2nd rounder at worst. If not, make him play and franchise him again the next year.

With our third rounder intact without Mark Brunell, we wouldn't have to trade up for Chris Cooley. This also means we'd keep our original position in the fifth round, where we very well may have taken Jake Scott as depth, as shown by the fact we took two tackles in the fifth and sixth round that year.

2005

RESIGN Antonio Pierce.

In hindsight, Jason Campbell was a horrible pick, but that's hindsight. You have to trust your scouting department, or else there's no reason for having one. So trade our 2006 first and 2005 second to trade up for Jason Campbell.

With our fifth round pick (James Thrash), we take Trent Cole.

Now here are some big mistakes. In the fourth we took Manuel White, who projected as Chris Cooley's backup. We could have taken anybody else instead: Duke Preston, Jason Brown, Darren Sproles, Chris Canty. All certifiable needs we would have. Let's say Duke Preston or Jason Brown since center was a need.

In the seventh round, instead of taking Nemo Broughton, we could have taken Jay Ratliff.

2006

RESIGN Ryan Clark. DON'T trade for Brandon Lloyd. While the scouting department may have felt Lloyd was a talent, a third and a fourth is TOO much.

DON'T trade up for Rocky McIntosh. Trading up is rarely worth it (Bill Polian), and I like McIntosh but he isn't that type of player to trade up for.

With our second round pick, we take Maurice Jones Drew.

With our fourth pick (Jason Campbell), we take Brandon Marshall.

RESIGN Derrick Dockery for cheaper DURING the season.

And DON'T trade for TJ Duckett.

2007

At this point, it's hard to tell exactly where we'd be picking. BECAUSE we would have Jake Scott and Derrick Dockery on the roster, we would not need to trade for Pete Kendall.

In the first round, let's take Lawrence Timmons since we will need an outside linebacker at this point.

In the second round (Rocky McIntosh), Sidney Rice.

2008-2009

At this point, it almost doesn't matter who we take with our full slate of picks in 2008. Furthermore, we probably don't even trade a 2nd and 6th for Jason Taylor.

In 2008 or 2009, we'll probably have established Jason Campbell is not the quarterback we want and can acquire somebody else via trading up in the draft, or trading for one. Who knows what the butterfly effect holds.

Just for kicks, let's say in 2008 and 2009, we picked up Sam Baker, Mike Pollak, and Michael Oher because at this point Chris Samuels is aging, Randy Thomas is aging, Casey Rabach's contract is expiring, Duke Preston seems crappy, and Jon Jansen is also aging.

Going into 2010, a hypothetical lineup:

QB - Colt Brennan

RB - Maurice Jones Drew, Rock Cartwright, Mike Sellers

LT - Sam Baker

LG - Derrick Dockery

C - Mike Pollak

RG - Jake Scott

RT - Michael Oher

WR - Brandon Marshall, Santana Moss, Sidney Rice, Antwaan Randle El

TE - Chris Cooley

DE - Andre Carter, Trent Cole, Jeremy Jarmon

DT - Jay Ratliff, Albert Haynesworth, Cornelius Griffin

LB - Lawrence Timmons, Antonio Pierce, HB Blades

CB - Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall, Fred Smoot

S - Sean Taylor (hey this is my fantasy), Ryan Clark

And this is not even mentioning any holes we might be able to fill through free agency, or some gems who we picked up as depth with a slew of draft picks, but just haven't gotten the opportunity to shine yet. PLUS the 2010 draft.

[kiingspadee]

Wonderful Shilsu.

[Boss_Hogg]

so what about all the other teams that passed on these players?

[Brianbien83]

You'll have to go to their message boards to find out what they would have done...