Regarding Curry, I do believe Pioli will take him if given the opportunity because Pioli does value versatility, leadership, and talent and it seems Curry possesses all three. Among other things, 3-4 schemes feature linebackers blitzing from any or all 4 LB slots. Adding Curry to the existing mix will only make that unit more solid, short-term and for the long-haul. As far as his blitzing ability goes, the fact that he could and would come from any position (disguised or otherwise) would tend to make him even more dangerous in an NFL defense. He is the kind of guy who will be the QB of whatever defense he plays for and landing a defensive franchise QB in the top 5 is every bit as good as landing an offensive franchise QB in the draft range.

Now in light of the argument I’ve just made, I have every reason to believe that Detroit may end up taking Curry which means Pioli may have to go another way which is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, with Stafford still on the board, trading down becomes a very real possibility. But if Curry goes to Detroit and we don’t/can’t trade down, then I definitely believe that Pioli will opt to anchor his 3-4 with the 3rd overall pick by selecting Raji. Filling our need for RT by taking LT (when we already have one) would be a wasted pick. Crabtree has a screw in his foot which means he’ll most likely never be what he could have been – trust me, just ask any NFL receiver who’s had that done and they’ll tell you the same thing that I’m telling you – i.e., they always lose some burst and/or speed. And let’s face it, even before the foot issue, Crabtree is not what you’d call a speed receiver. We have 3 pretty good possessions receivers as it is, we hardly need another.

I hope we just take the best OT- not the sexy pick, but it is what we need for Cassel. Period.

It all boils down to that phone when we are on the clock, I think we might slide down and try to get Crabtree in the process if we don’t use our #3.

Trading down with the Donkeys could land us two picks where we could pick up an OL like Ebon Britton or Michael Oher, and then Tyson Jackson (who would be a Richard Seymour type DE in the 3-4) or someone like Everette Brown, or vise versa. I think it will be interesting to see what we do with Tamba Hali. Can he stand up a be our pass rushing OLB?

What complicates everything more (or makes things more simple, depending on how you look at it) is that we are going to run a hybrid 3-4. We’re going to be flexible, as Pendergast ran a similar defense in AZ. It won’t be all 4-3 or all 3-4, its going to change from play to play. Interesting stuff indeed.

Tank Tyler also interviewed on Sirius today. I missed the interview, but the rest of the day he was referred to as “Chief’s nose tackle Tank Tyler”.