Khyber53

There's not a position on our roster that can't be upgraded in the draft. If the right guy at the time of the pick is a running back, then take him. We are literally a "the cupboard is bare" team right now. There's one sacred cow on the team that can't be replaced and he just got an extension this off-season to play DT for us. But there's still a spot to either side of him that can and should be replaced. Running back under appreciated in the league, well that's a load of bull. Undervalued does not mean under-utilized. If that RB can catch and can find the hole in the line and make something for us, it'd do so much for our offense. And if he can pick up the blitz and block like a demon? Heck, that'd be great. We had a guy like that. Dude played in the Super Bowl this year while our team took vacation and watched the game on TV.

I think we're going LB. We need to go LB. MLB, get a field general for the defense. There will never be another Luke, but it's time for his replacement to be found.

On paper and in hope, everything looks much better out there for the wideouts. And let's not forget Thielen who still has it and was our steady performer even when opposing teams knew he was all we had. Heck, give that guy some breathing room and he'll turn out an even better year. We need, need, need help at TE, though. That TE room is pretty mundane at best. Better line, better receivers, better get some performance out of Bryce and we'll be better than before. We did not set a high bar to jump over to count ourselves as "improved."

Well, okay then. Welcome to the team, hope you do for us what you did senior year in college, over and over again. Now let's see who we get at 39.

With the full knowledge that I will think I'm a genius if I get even one of these right... 33. Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon 39. Payton Wilson, LB, NC State 65. Cade Stover, TE Ohio State 101. Jonah Ellis, Edge, Utah 141. Nehemiah Pritchett, CB, Auburn 142. Blake Corum, RB, Michigan 240. Tyler Owens, S, Texas Tech

Okay, let's be honest about this. It happened a long time ago. It can't be changed. We made it to 2nd place that season and played in our second Super Bowl, two more than some older organizations have ever had and one more than most. It's time to let it go. It's time to let Cam go. Time just flows in one direction, we need to be looking downstream.

And offensive linemen.

No, they failed the Panthers. Cam, great as he was, was just a part of the Panthers, not the whole organization. They treated him like he could be enough, that he was Superman like he claimed he was. You can't rest a whole franchise's hopes on one man of flesh and bone. Eventually they can't reach the summit, eventually the wear and tear takes them down. They wanted Cam to be that guy. Cam wanted to be that guy. We all wanted to be that guy. We all just got blinded by the light.

Then let's let someone else take a swing at him instead.

The biggest knock on Cam was that Cam was such a superstar, once in a generation talent that the coaches leaned too heavily on him, that the rest of the team leaned too heavily on them, the management of the team just sat back and didn't build like they should have, and that in the end, no matter how much Cam believed he was that guy, one man can't win you a Super Bowl. Cam took up most the oxygen in the room, always has, always will, he's just that big of a deal. And sometimes that's just how it works out. Marino had the same effect. Rodgers was always a threat of being that way. The game revolves around the QB, doubtless, but there has to be more to it than that. We had other guys, certainly, like Luke and TD, Double Trouble and Jordan Gross. But it was the Cam show, make no bones about it. And we just never built it to be more than that.

Anyone can make a mistake and there's no better story than a redemption one. Still you've got to really look into who this kid is and what kind of man he'll be once he has a ton of money piled in front of him. Character really does matter, especially in this day. If the DUI was a one time situation, then snag him as he falls. If there's even a hint that the DUI just happened to be the first time he was caught, then let him go and be someone else's headache.

And the latest. A guy's wife goes missing, he knows she's gone, decides to head into work that day instead of calling the cops. Gives them a ring after he finishes his shift. Doesn't bother to join in the search parties, has a new girlfriend a couple of months later.

I'm going to harp on this once again. The one glaring advantage to having the #33 pick, the first one on day 2 is that there is going to be a full night to develop clarity on who is available. And there are very good chances that we can take the very best player available for the entire rest of the draft. I know we are needy at Edge, WR, CB and LB. And those are most likely going to be the most picked over positions for top end performers. On the flip side, there is an extremely good chance that neither an RB or a Safety will be picked in the first round. Perhaps only one TE would be gone by the end of the first round as well. Could we go RB or TE at 33 and find our man? Yeah, I think we really could. And I'm beginning to think we really should. Give me the best RB of the draft coming in at #33 and never let him forget all of those that passed on him. Get that rolling ball of butcher knives we need. Or get that sure handed, big TE who can work the seams in the defense and grind out the difficult yards. There's opportunity where we sit, as long as we don't fritter (Fitterer) it away by trading down to take more, lesser, players.

I think the economy outside of housing is actually the strongest it has been in a couple of decades, but housing hits everyone. If a person is already on a mortgage or has a long-term lease locked in, they need to just stay the course and ride this out. And make the most out of the job market... if there isn't more money for you where you are, move on and move up. Job loyalty sure is taking on a new appearance.

Like I said, all bubbles burst. Real estate ones just take longer. Look at how many years it took for it to break loose in 2008. More than a decade of rabidly refinancing mortgages and leveraging poorly vetted borrowers versus Freddie Mac's marching orders to buy up every mortgage that hit the secondary market and then the bundling of subprime mortgages with the intent of them failing to get the mortgage insurance payoff. So many pieces in place, so long to crumble completely... much like a house with termites slowly, slowly weakening here and there before finally it just falls into a pile of sawdust. Yeah, this bubble is about two years from bursting. Sell while the buyer's market is in play and then wait for the collapse, Of course, do it too soon and you find yourself floundering in the renters' market. It's a mess, isn't it?