(03-13-2021, 08:59 AM)Bullseye Wrote:

(03-13-2021, 02:33 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: There is nothing I wouldn't do to get an upgrade at OT. If that means I have to slightly overpay to move up in the draft and get one of the franchise OT's, I will. If all the guys I wanted at #25 are gone. Then I use that pick and next year's first round pick to trade for a good, young, established NFL OT. I'm not gonna reach for a guy at #25 that I have graded much lower, but I absolutely refuse to go into next season starting a subpar LT like Cam Robinson. We will have too much invested in Trevor Lawrence to risk both of our edges being wide open due to bad players at the OT spots. 

(Emphasis supplied by TheOLine matters)

There is nothing you wouldn't do?  Couple of ways to address that.  First, we could beat every team to the punch by taking a LT at #1 overall.  I don't think ANYONE would be in favor of that, no matter how big of a whole we considered LT to be.  Second, just because you are eager to adequately address LT, doesn't mean the other teams are willing to help us address that position by trading down.  Aside from them possibly needing a LT of their own, they have other players at other positions they may think are worth that spot.  There is no guarantee they would be willing to trade down.  Now like I said in the other thread, Baalke had repeatedly proven willing to move up to get the player he wants.  If he has the requisite influence in the room, we may be willing to move up to address the position.  But there has to be a guy on the board worth getting, and there has to be a team willing to move down at our price (or close to it).  While I am in no way privy to the workings of the other 31 teams in the league, the only team I can see at the moment who may want to drop to 25 is New England.  They have the most desperate need for QB, WR and TE.  There is a school of thought that they pick too low to get one of the top 4 signal callers (maybe top 5).  There is also thought in some circles the one guy they may be able to get at QB, Mac Jones, is closer to a late first early second round pick than the others.  There is a similar dynamic at WR and TE.  After the top three of Chase, Smith and Waddle, there is a perceived drop at the position, and after Pitts, there is the thought Firermuth is a late 1 early 2nd round guy.  They are accustomed to picking that low.  Assuming there is no player at a defensive position that takes precedence, I could see New England trading back.

Quote:I agree that more NFL teams are gonna be looking for OT's in the draft and now it looks like not much will be left at #25. Instead of franchising Cam as some misguided insurance policy. I would pull that tag today and bring in Riley Reiff on a 3-4 year deal. Since it looks like Trent Williams is set to re-sign with the Niners, Reiff is the next best option. I'd front load the crap out of a contract, guarantee almost all of the money and make it virtually impossible for any team to outbid us. He would be a HUGE upgrade at either OT position. I agree with D6 that he is an ideal RT, but based on how he played last season at LT, (only 1 sack and 1 penalty surrendered in over 1000 snaps,) he has proven he is a good LT as well. 

Reiff is still out there and Cam has yet to sign the franchise tag.  This can still happen if Reiff is open to signing somewhere else.

Obviously, that is not an option. The whole point of needing a LT is protecting your franchise QB. Without Lawrence, LT becomes less of a need. If we were to pass on a QB and #1 and just settled on keeping Mineshew, I wouldn't draft a LT in round 1, because who cares? It's not like Minshew was gonna take us anywhere. With Lawrence, if he's as good as advertised, he can lead this team into the playoffs, but he needs protection. Hence my insistence on getting him edge protection. My statement about doing whatever I have to do, starts with pick #25 and goes from there. 

As for trading up, I target teams who already have an established LT who may be up against the cap and might possibly want to trade down and acquire more picks in order to re-stock  due to the salary cap with cheap rookie talent. There are gonna be some of those teams out there. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that this year more teams would be willing to trade down, due to the cap. 

The Patriots just re-signed Newton, as a fallback plan. I don't see Belichik moving up to get a QB. The Patriots always seem to move back, rather than to trade up. I also see Mac Jones going much higher than people think. I have him off the board when the Pats select, so unless New England is willing to take a complete enigma like Trey Lance, I don't see them taking a QB in round 1. Currently, I have them selecting Jaylen Waddle at #15. Instead, I think they add a veteran QB that might get cut after the draft. Maybe someone like Jimmy G, Sam Darnold, Matt Ryan or Teddy Bridgewater. Signing Mitchell Trubisky could also be an option for them. 

As I said before, Reiff would be a HUGE upgrade for us at either OT position. We are in agreement on that. I sincerely hope we do. If we don't make a play for him, I believe that would be a clear sign that Meyer and Baalke have no intentions of upgrading either OT position.

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(03-13-2021, 09:09 AM)Bullseye Wrote:

(03-13-2021, 02:50 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: That is absolutely FALSE. That is just your opinion. Tristan Wirfs was a rookie last year and was one of the highest graded OT's in the NFL. How do you explain that? Mekhi Becton, Andrew Thomas and Tristan Wirfs were all chosen in the first round last season and according to PFF, all had higher blocking grades than Cam Robinson did last year and Jedrick Wills was only .2 behind Robinson. In fact, Austin Jackson was the only OT chosen in the first round and saw significant playing time, who had a significantly worse grade than Robinson. How do you explain that?

These are the facts. Your argument doesn't hold water. All players are different. You can't just say a blanket statement like no rookie LT will be better than Robinson. Some will and some won't.

I think it's possible for a rookie T to come in and upgrade Cam Robinson.  We've had two rookies do just that over the course of our franchise:  Boselli and Khalif Barnes.

The question for me is whether we will have access to the players who can step in and be a quality starter at LT from day one.

Most of the left tackles that can likely do that will likely be off the board by pick 25.  While Baalke has proven willing to trade up, that can't be relied upon at this stage to upgrade the position.

That's why all options are open. Signing Reiff immediately, would insure the position is upgraded and would resolve this entire issue.

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