In today's weekly John McClain chat over at Chron Headquarters, he again proposed the idea of trading up in this year's draft. He's hot and heavy for Von Miller, Texas A&M's star linebacker with the insane burst, and wants to get up to #5 to select him:
[Comment From Todd]
Thanks for the chat General and Happy National Margarita Day. If you were the Texans GM, would there be any players worthy of trading up for an earlier first round pick?
John McClain: Thanks and same to you. Shoot, yeah. I believe they should make every effort to trade up, but I would try to save my second-round pick. Give up a 3 and a 4. It would take a first-round pick next year and more to go high enough to get CB Patrick Peterson, I believe. I think trading up with Arizona to get OLB Von Miller would be realistic -- if the Cardinals want to trade down.
I've got nothing but respect for Miller, who I think is one of the most talented players available in this year's draft, but to me this reeks of desperation. Perhaps the Texans brass will be motivated by the fact that one more sub-par season will likely cost them their jobs, but trading up higher in the draft is almost always a bad idea. Trading up into the Top 5, considering the cost of the deal and the opulent contracts handed out at that position, is nearly insane.
I'm not a doom-and-gloom guy at this point of the offseason, but I'd say the Texans defense still has a ton of unsettled positions: nose tackle, outside linebacker, both safety spots, and at least one starting corner need to be found, and that's counting on full recoveries by DeMeco Ryans and Connor Barwin. While some of that can be found on the free agent market, there's also a chance, however small, that there won't be a free agent market this year. Besides, Oshiomogho Atogwe is a free agent now, and the Texans have yet to get involved with him. If the Texans aren't going to be able to come up with concrete answers to their problems, then they need to get as many potential answers as they can. Know how you do that? Not trading up in the NFL Draft. In fact, assuming the only "elite" player in the draft that is more likely than not to be on the board at #11 is Julio Jones, it makes a lot more sense to ransom that pick off to a team that is desperate for a receiver and pick up even more draft picks.
It's one thing to bring in a big dollar cornerback like Nnamdi Asomugha, who we all know can play in the NFL, and say you've answered a problem. It's another to give up the draft picks to draft someone like Miller at #5, then pay him as if he's a sure-fire solution when he hasn't played an NFL game yet. Teams that aren't leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the field on talent shouldn't be trading up unless an elite player falls outside of the big money range or they're acquiring (what they believe) is their franchise quarterback. These Texans just don't have the talent base yet to trade multiple picks away to fill one hole well. Jason Babin thinks so, too.
What say you BRB: Trade up? Trade down? Keep it?