Quote Originally Posted by Goldenfleece
If that were the situation, I'd either take Ngata or try to trade down and target Cromartie, Pope, or Carpenter.

Cromartie has a great combination of speed and size, but he is an injury risk and didn't see as much game time as most college prospects coming out. Otherwise, he'd be rated higher.

Pope tied with Klopfenstein for the third fastest 40 (Davis and Scheffler were 1 and 2), tied for second in the broad jump, and tied second in the vertical jump at the Combine. When you talk about the type of player that doesn't come along very often, I think fast 6'8" giant with leaping ability and soft hands qualifies! Can anyone say endzone target? If not for Vernon Davis, I think Pope would be getting a lot more hype.

The reason I like Carpenter over some of the other linebackers available is that it seems to me he fits our need perfectly. At the Combine, he ran better than Greenway and pretty comparably to Ryans but at 15 lbs. heavier and with an ankle that still wasn't 100% (he broke it in the last game of the season). He's good against the run, and our run defense has been awful. Guys like Lawson and Wimbley are basically pure pass rushers who are considered liabilities against the run. Bobby did line up at RDE sometimes, and he has proven to be an effective pass rusher both there and at his regular SLB spot. He tallied 8 sacks last year. He has been consistent since his rookie year and has proven himself capable of doing basically everything that we need.

Thank you someone who will mention Bobby Carpenters name on this board and actually knows about him like he can be a tweener like people want or a strongside linebacker!