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McKay has begun his Falcon era focusing a lot on defense in the draft. Of his 15 picks, 9 have been defense, including 5 of the first 8 taken in the first 4 rounds.

Are we going to go defense primarily again this year? Especially considering our woes we've had on that side of the ball this year?

Most people have been pointing out that CB, DE, and S are big needs for this upcoming draft, while OL, RB have also been mentioned? Because of the problems our defense has had, should the defensive needs take priority?

Come our pick in Round 1, should the Falcons be thinking about the best available defensive player?

Or do you think the Falcons can fix some of these defensive problems with some low-key veteran signings in the off-season?

Seeing how bad the defense can be I think the falcon's go defense also 3 out of 4 picks.If a running back dropped like Deangleo Williams for me it would be a no brainer.Remember stephan jackson dropping a few years ago.Darryl Tapp I am looking at as well as a corner and safety whoever is highest on the board.I think the def tackle position needs to be reevaluated altohugh Babineaux is a rookie not sure he can stop the run andShopshire not sure he will do much.

I really like Tapp personally. I just think he might be a reach with our #1. Now of course things can/will change.

I think we might consider trading Schaub depending on what we could get for him and drafting a quarterback in the later rounds. I think he will want to start and I think he could start for several teams in this league right now. We can't let this kid walk for nothing.

The backs are a definate question mark for me. I hope Dunn returns next season but I am not willing to pay 5 mil for him. Duckett has shown, thus far, he is a #2 situational back. I really don't think we have much of a chance at Bush, Williams or Maroney.

I think the pick needs to be a defensive back. I would say defensiive end but the kids from B.C. and N.C. State will be long gone and I don't see another end worth taking with our #1.

Needs imo, no particular order:

A safety that can provide over the top support (free agency)
A safety with instincts that is very physical
A safety that will tear your head off if you want to go over the middle
A corner with press/bump-and-run ability
A guard allowing Lehr to compete with McClure
A speed rushing defensive end

Offensively I feel we have two areas of concern:

Blitz pickup
Michael Jenkins and Roddy White need to step up and Michael is showing signs of doing so. Roddy has also caught a pass in his last couple of games so maybe he is progressing. Vicks needs targets other than Finneran, Crumpler and Griffith. Why we don't try to isolate Dunn on a backer downfield is beyond me.

Defensive secondary early and often, even if that means trading Schaub and moving up in the second round.

P.S. I really thought Scott and Carpenter would be better than what they are/have been.

We need a big physical corner...there are to many big phyisical recievers in our division...I also though Scott and Carpenter would be better...before the season started I thought they were an underrated part of our defense...well there goes that...I wouldn't mind seeing Scott try and play corner...he did in college and I don't think we ever really gave him a real chance to do it in the NFL...he'd probably fall flat on his face but he's big and fast so I'd give it a shot...

Well things are probably going to change over the next 6 months of course. Look at the DE situation around this time last year:

Pollack and James were considered definite 1st rounders, with Spears, Dan Cody, and Roth rounding out the "consensus" Top 5. Demarcus Ware and Shawne Merriman came out of nowhere to leapfrog all 5. Granted, Ware and Merriman were DE/LB hybrids, but most 4-3 teams considered them viable options at DE. Pollack, COdy, and Roth all got moved to LB, when few at this ti me last year thought they would go that way.

I don't want to even try to predict the future, but I'm sure at least half of the names that we've been batting back and forth as potential first day picks now, won't even be options come April.

I kinda like the idea of trading Schaub this offseason for some help in the secondary or a DL. Good QBs are so important in this league that GMs will give a lot more for them. Seeing the way Schaub has come in and performed when Vick was hurt has made his value soar. If we could get a good, young DE or CB for him or another 1st rd pick, I would say let's do it. We can probably find another decent QB in the 3rd or 4th that will back up Vick. We also have Randall on the practice squad that could move up into a backup role. I was looking at some of the options, and I think we could get the kid from NW Basanez in the mid to late rounds. He looks pretty solid having only thrown 1 INT in over 250 attempts. If we could get a 1st rd pick in return for Schaub, I would say we will have a very good chance at getting one of the better DEs, CBs, or RBs. Let's say someone like DET decides to give up on Harrington and Mooch really likes Schaub. They don't want to give up anything on defense, but they don't mind giving up their mid 1st. That right now would mean somewhere around #15. On most mocks, that would possibly get us Maroney, Mario Williams, Jon Scott, or maybe even a chance to move up in the draft to get someone really special like Reggie Bush (I know, I'm dreaming)! All speculation right now, but a lot is possible when you consider we could have a lot more chips to play.

I have proposed this ever since Schaub was drafted that he would be traded for a 1st or 2nd rounder.The only way Schaub is going to return a first rounder is if he plays more.I don't think as limited as we have seen Schaub play teams are giving up a first.If Schaub can put up big games there is a chance the falcon's could get a good first rounder.Don't forget Deangleo Williams as a possible player.He needs more media attention but he can be a game breaker and is a big fast back.

The interesting thing is someone already offered a 1st round pick for him this past offseason. I'm excited that he's proven himself again this season to be a decent starter, and he could end up getting another opportunity or two to show what he can do. Evidently, Schaub was looking like a 1st rd pick before he had some issues with his shoulder or something, which demoted him to the 3rd round. So, since he has established that his health isn't an issue, his value has come back up to where it should have been. Now, a team in need of a QB could get a tested, 1st rd talent for the salary of a 3rd rounder. They just have to realize the level of compensation ATL wants for that commodity. I like the position we are in because we very well could find a solid QB to replace Schaub and come out ahead.

Who offered a first rounder for Schaub?

I think we're going to have to think outside the box a bit in this draft as the best players will all be gone by pick 15 or 20, and I doubt we're going to have that bad of a year.