The way I see it, our Primary needs are: DE, NT, OLB, & OT ... Secondary needs are: CB, TE, G, C, ILB, & RB. Areas of little (if any) need are: QB, WR, & Safety.
If, as some say, you always draft the best player on the board regardless of position we could very well be drafting Stafford or Sanchez at #9. Crabtree or Maclin would also be possible options. I'm not really sold on any of the likely available players at #9.
I think a better way is to look at your overall needs & how you can fill them best - players like Jarron Gilbert (DE), Ron Brace (NT), Connor Barwin (OLB), & Troy Kropog (OLT) will all be drafted somewhere between #25 & 60. Getting all 4 players ought to be relatively easy, if we were to trade down from #9. Taking the trade that some have proposed with Detroit, for instance, would give us picks #20 & 33. From there, we could either take Ty Jackson if available (then wouldn't need Gilbert), or trade down closer to 25 & take Gilbert, picking up another 3rd rd pick. Take Barwin with the 33rd pick, Brace at 41, then we could package some later picks to move up to around #50 for Kropog.
Thompson has done a very good job of filling out the roster with good, young depth at most positions, but it's time for him to shift his focus from obtaining as many picks as possible to obtaining as many QUALITY picks as possible. In order to remain competitive and be on the radar as a SB contender, any team needs to find at least 2 (ideally 3) quality eventual starters in each draft. That's most easily done in rds 1 & 2. Ted's strength seems to be in the 2nd round, so the more picks we get there, the better off we'll be.
