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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

2011 NFL Draft Rumors: Andy Dalton To Titans, Falcons Bucs, Steelers Looking For Trade

Yesterday we got the report from Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network that the Titans were considering spending the 8th pick in the draft on Andy Dalton. Wes Bunting of the National Football Post said in his chat today that he isn't buying that. I have also heard that the people inside the Titans draft room had a good laugh when they saw that report.

I know Dalton has become a hot name over the last couple of months, but he isn't worth the 8th pick in this draft for the Titans. I would be all for them making a move to trade down 10-12 picks to take him but not at 8. That is just my opinion, and SuperHorn wrote an article that will post a little later on why the Titans should take Dalton at 8.

This team has so many needs, and I just don't think they can afford to take Dalton, or any other quarterback for that matter, with the 8th pick. They needs to build a foundation for the franchise for years to come. Taking a quarterback with that pick puts all of the eggs in one basket. Sure it will be the best pick ever if the guy ends up being a star, but if he isn't the Titans will be back in the same spot this time next year.

If they do trade back and pick up and extra second and third, they could pick Dalton and still add quality defensive players in the second and third because this draft has a lot of depth at defensive lineman and a lot of linebackers that have second round(ish) grades. Peter King of SI claims that the Atlanta Falcons may try to trade up in the draft for a wide receiver. The targets for the Atlanta Falcons are obviously Julio Jones and A.J. Green. The Falcons would likely need to give up the farm for A.J. Green, but someone like Julio Jones is a realistic shot, as the Falcons would likely just need to leapfrog the St. Louis Rams at pick 14. That doesn't effect the Jaguars too much, but another need for the Falcons is a defensive end and they could look to jump into the mid-teens to get one of the top tier defensive ends. Depending on if Gene Smith is targeting a quarterback in Round 1, it could be beneficial for the Jaguars to be in play there.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik was on the Pete Prisco show yesterday afternoon and mentioned they're not afraid to move around in the first round to get who they have targeted. A few minutes after making that comment, he mentioned that he'd been on the phone with Jaguars general manager Gene Smith earlier in the week. Reading way too much into it, it could be setup for a draft day trade if a certain player falls to pick 16. Gene Smith has also mentioned their looking to move around in the draft, up or down.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are rumored to want to pair up Maurkice Pouncey with his twin brother Mike Pouncey. The Steelers currently have the 31st overall pick, so in order to make that a reality they'd need to move up into the mid-teens. It's likely they'd have to get ahead of the Miami Dolphins at pick 15, but he could potentially be available at pick 16 as well. A trade like that, coming from 30 to 16, could net the Jaguars potentially an extra second round pick, but likely a 3rd round pick and potentially a later pick. The Steelers don't really strike me as the type of team who trades up, however.

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