(12-21-2020, 09:24 AM)Bullseye Wrote:

(12-21-2020, 05:46 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: One thing to keep in mind is that Cam Robinson is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.  

Another thing to keep in mind is that the salary cap is going down next season, so there may be a lot of free agents available, some that we don't expect, and we have lots of cap room.    

I'm in the camp that says, if you draft a franchise QB, do everything possible to help him succeed, even if it means we have no defense at all next season.  I've seen too many top prospects go out there and get sacked to the point where it ruins their career, either because they have no pass protection, or because they can't find an open receiver.

Good observation.  I was thinking about what to do with Cam Robinson and the OL generally.

I think I would be inclined to keep Cam Robinson if it's reasonably possible to do so. 

Not because he can't be upgraded.  He certainly can't be.

But I will want insurance just in case the draft doesn't go the way we want in terms of OL availability after taking Trevor Lawrence first overall.  For that matter, I keep Norwell too.  Now even keeping those two, if the draft still goes the way we hope, I still invest in OL.  It would create competition and quality depth going forth.

With this in mind, what is the minimum amount of picks you would allocate towards the OL in this upcoming draft?

For me, even assuming Cam and Norwell are retained, that number would be 2-3.

This board has wanted Cann upgraded for how long?  Linder has been steady throughout his tenure, but he has missed time in almost every season, and while OL can play effectively into their 30s, Linder will be 29 going into next year.  RT Jawan Taylor was considered to be a fortunate find in the 2nd round, he is still maddeningly inconsistent after starting off decently this year.  Now keep in mind, there is no rule that states we have to spend all of our draft capital on the offensive line to try and fix it in its entirety within one season, if it's even possible to do so.  But if we have Trevor Lawrence, we MUST protect him.  I would love for Lawrence to be the equivalent of Andrew Luck in terms of quality, but if he's a Jaguars QB, I want him to have a much longer career than Luck (along with more Super Bowls than Luck).

While I wouldn't keep Cam Robinson, because both OT's have been awful this season, I definitely keep the interior intact. Norwell has played very well this season, Linder always has seemed to play pretty well when healthy and Cann has even stepped his game up. I like the depth we have on the interior as well. I would definitely re-sign Shatley, because he has been pretty decent when needed and we may not get a chance to add a Center of the future in this draft. I'd still try to add one in the draft if we can though. I liked Landon Dickerson of Alabama quite a bit, but he just suffered a knee injury. If we can't trade up to get OT Darrisaw, I really like Oklahoma's Center, Creed Humphrey. He might be there when we make our second pick in round 1. 

With that said our OT's have been awful in pass protection. I'd rather let Robinson go, find a older, yet reliable LT in free agency who would take a short term deal to compete with a player we take with our second pick in round 1 or at the top of round 2. As I said before, I'd trade up, whatever it takes to get Darrisaw, even if that means overpaying to get into the top 5. If we can't though, I take Liam Eichenberg of Notre Dame. He would be a significant upgrade over Robinson. When you FINALLY get a franchise QB, protect him at all cost. I'd also add another OT in the middle rounds as well, because as bad as Robinson has looked, Taylor may be worse. Unless he makes a significant step forward in 2021, he should not be starting we gotta find good competition for the RT spot and make that an open competition in 2021. Make it open to every O-Lineman on the team. We cannot go into 2021 expecting Robinson and Taylor to be our starting OT's. I would be devastated to have us finally have a franchise QB after 25 years, only to see him get destroyed like Burrow did a few weeks ago. One way or another upgrades to the OT position have to be made.

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