Agree with James Altice, unfortunately we have pretty weak LB in Smith, so why not get the widely considered best defense player in the draft that happens to be a LB, IF he still there at #10. But as you say, Jones loves Smith, so chances are this won't happen. BTW, agree with you on the WAY OVERPAID DP, and that person in WH, too.

Last year, our run defense ranked 31st, next to last, and our pass defense ranked 11th. So one can make a case for Parsons, and draft a good CB later. IMO, this is where the biggest problem was, as we got run over by almost every RB we faced.

A 6 round Fanspeak Mock that gets us run stopping help we badly need, plus a very productive CB, 8 INTs, 38 BPUs;

LB, M Parsons
S, T Moerhig, TCU
CB, P Adebo, Stanford
DT, J Tufele, USC
Edge, P Jones II, Pitts
DT, T Slaton, FL

Of course who really knows how these picks will shake out. I respect the other opinions about 1st round LB picks, this is just my two cents of how to beef up our BAD run defense..