Alan Branch

[smma]

Check out his stats here
http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/playerDetail.jsp?yr=2006&org=418&player=80

He is not the right pick for the Bucs. He averages less than 2 tackles per game and has only 2 sacks all season.
He is a bigger version of Booger!

Your drafting "potential" or "intangibiles" again.

Compare him to Mebane from Cal
http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/playerDetail.jsp?yr=2006&org=107&player=52

much more production and you can get him in the 2nd round.
His build is more like the Bucs like as well. His strength is the push up the middle.

[SunnyD]

Branch is an absoluete beast. Stats dont mean as much as you are making them out too.

[Skull and Bones]

Branch is asked to plug up running lanes more than anything else.  And that is what will get him drafted high just like Ngata last year.  Mebane is a good college DT but he might be too small for the NFL.  We'll have to wait to see what his true measurables really are at the combine.  Branch is a good athlete for his size and might make a good playmaker in a 1 gap scheme but that would be up to the scouts/coaches to decide.  I wouldn't have a problem if we decide to draft him.  A stud DT is something we've needed since Sapp.

[alldaway]

Branch is not your typical run plugger.  Think of him more like Wilfork/Henderson type of a player.  He can play undertackle in this defensive scheme.

[cvillebucfan]

Branch is not your explosive, quick twitch, quick penetrating DT. Branch is your Hovan, your brute in the middle that plays the run much better than rushing the passer.

[alldaway]

Branch is not your explosive, quick twitch, quick penetrating DT. Branch is your Hovan, your brute in the middle that plays the run much better than rushing the passer.

Branch is nothing like Hovan. 

[cvillebucfan]

Branch is not your explosive, quick twitch, quick penetrating DT. Branch is your Hovan, your brute in the middle that plays the run much better than rushing the passer.

Branch is nothing like Hovan.

He is not like Warren Sapp, Tommie Harris or Kevin Williams either...

[alldaway]

Branch is not your explosive, quick twitch, quick penetrating DT. Branch is your Hovan, your brute in the middle that plays the run much better than rushing the passer.

Branch is nothing like Hovan.

He is not like Warren Sapp, Tommie Harris or Kevin Williams either...

He is more like Shaun Rogers in Detroit for Marinelli and Henderson.

[cvillebucfan]

I like Branch and love the big ten but if you are looking for a one gap penetrating DT Branch does not fit that mold. The guys that fit that mold more so are Amobe Okoye, Tank Tyler, Nate Dorsey, Marcus Thomas. If we picked up Branch I wouldn't be upset but I think you can get a better fit with one of the options I just listed in R2.

[alldaway]

I like Branch and love the big ten but if you are looking for a one gap penetrating DT Branch does not fit that mold. The guys that fit that mold more so are Amobe Okoye, Tank Tyler, Nate Dorsey, Marcus Thomas. If we picked up Branch I wouldn't be upset but I think you can get a better fit with one of the options I just listed in R2.

Vince Wilfork can be an one gap penetrating DT.  Size is not an issue as long as they can do what the scheme asks them to do.

[SunnyD]

oh just for the record...I love Hovan. Anyway...I think a huge need of ours is DT. Hovan is a run stuffing brute but his amout of sacks has steadliy declined since his 5 sack year in 2000 or 2001 I dont remember. We need a stud UT that can push up the middle and drive the QB out into the ends or maybe get the sack himself. How many sacks do our DTs combined have this year?

[smma]

I think SunnyD is right on point. Branch isn't that penetrator that flushes the QB to the ends.  The Louisville kid Okoye is.
Does Branch fit this defense as well as some on the others mentioned?
Seems like the Tampa two needs QB pressue over run stuffing.

For a DT, I would like to take Marcus Thomas with our round 2 pick from Indy. Thomas has problems, but he is a top 10 talent. He is a force in the middle in every sense of the word and he will drop due to his off-filed problems.

For a DT, I would like to take Marcus Thomas with our round 2 pick from Indy. Thomas has problems, but he is a top 10 talent. He is a force in the middle in every sense of the word and he will drop due to his off-filed problems.

I'm a huge fan of trading down a few picks for an extra #2, and selecting Glenn Dorsey.  We could get an excellent DE in the second round.  Then go some combination of S/CB/WR/Brian Leonard/OT with our other two #2's.

That will depend on FA, obviously...

[bradentonian]

For a DT, I would like to take Marcus Thomas with our round 2 pick from Indy. Thomas has problems, but he is a top 10 talent. He is a force in the middle in every sense of the word and he will drop due to his off-filed problems.

I'm a huge fan of trading down a few picks for an extra #2, and selecting Glenn Dorsey. We could get an excellent DE in the second round. Then go some combination of S/CB/WR/Brian Leonard/OT with our other two #2's.

That will depend on FA, obviously...

I have a feeling that Dorsey's stock will rise to mid-1st