Solid points but the rankings aren’t based on this years production. Otherwise, Fletcher is a top 5/6 LB. Curry as a dynasty LB2 is pretty good value, imo, as I don’t see how Seattle can keep him out of the middle in a couple of years.

You have it right about Curry being a SLB this year (as it stands now), same goes for Cushing and Maualuga. In each case that allows the coaching staff to start their three most talented LB’s. However, Cushing will have to beat our Diles in Houston and I’m not convinced that’s a given, though, if you follow the money it’s implied.

Tatupu is considered an LB2 by most but he’ll show up as an LB3/4 when the rankings expand. He could come back as Seattle goes to more cover two, helps out the safeties and is freed to make plays. But last year, when Seattle blitzed to compensate for Kearney’s injury, he came up with goose eggs for sacks, passes defensed decreased and his tackle numbers fell again, suggesting he could not run the play down. Maybe it was the scheme, maybe it was Seattle’s 29th ranked pass D, but that last point is a concern.

Speaking of Kearney, he has been injured 2 out of the last 3 years – not a good thing in a passing division. They’ll be depending on Redding and Lawrence to step up as it may be mid-season before Kearney is fully back, good luck with that.

I’ll try to get some re-draft rankings up in the next 10 days or so.

no idea why i mentioned Witherspoon in with the DBs. duh….

Some other general commentary:

Most of the DL stuff I agree with, although I think KVB will do a bit better than you predict. This is also an “odd” season, so Peppers will have a cruddy year.

LB – Ruud will take top honors this year I think. Switching from the T2 to a more MLB-oriented 4-3 is going to send his tackles sky high. No way does Ware break 20 sacks again. Without the sacks, he’s a LB2. Harrison will probably be in the teens again, but his issue will be that he probably wont’ play on special teams as much anymore, so he’ll lose a good 12-18 tackles, which will drop him to upper LB2 I believe. I’m also looking at big drops for Kirk Morrison. The slow-mo read-and-react that he’s going to be in this year killed Tatupu, it’ll kill him (and Howard with him). DQJackson also will be a case of water finding it’s way back downhill where it belongs. He’s not an elite talent, he doesn’t belong in the group. 2008 was an anomaly. Solid calls on Durant and Lofton. 3-down MLBs with upside like those guys make great value picks. Also, before drafting Curry, there’s talk that he’ll be SLB, not WLB, and that Hill will end up as WLB.

DB – Weddle and Wilson will see HUGE drops in production I think. Weddle is a solid tackler, but a healthy Cooper and especially a healthy Merriman will remove a lot of Weddle’s tackle opportunities. Wilson has to contend with Yeremiah Bell. Neither of those guys will break 75 solos. There’s only so many tackles to go around after Crowder gets his 80-85ish. I think Rhodes might have some issues getting tackle opportunities simply because NYJ now have Harris AND Scott in the middle. Love seeing Marshall up there, and Oshi at 2 is spot on, if not #1. Dude flies under the radar but is insanely talented. I’m interested to see how Witherspoon does back at WLB where he belongs. Also, I wonder if the drafting of Chung means a reduction in tackle ops for Merriweather.

cool stuff Tav, love discussing IDP!

The defensive line is a concern, not the talent. From what little I saw teams were able to get lineman on him consistently enough throughout a game to wear him down last year. A healthy Red Bryant and the addition of Colin Cole (from GB) will help this year but those concerns were enough for him slip below the arbitrary 25 player ranking.

Another factor is the declining number of sacks (over the years) and solo tackles for the past two years. A 10 tackle difference is insignificant. A drop of 24 solos within two years (while statistically insignificant) is enough to drop him to mid/low LB2 territory.

You could easily slot him below Urlacher in the rankings and few would object, though as it stands now, I believe they’d be disappointed as the year wore on.