(02-20-2022, 01:43 AM)Bullseye Wrote:

(02-20-2022, 01:08 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: Normally, I agree with the vast majority of your takes, but I couldn't disagree with you more on this topic. I've seen at least 75% of the Crimson Tide's games last season and I was very underwhelmed by what I saw in Evan Neal. He got off balance too much and was beaten way too many times last season. Luckily for him, he had the best and most pro ready QB in the NCAA. Bryce Young has great pocket awareness and very good field vision he knew when to get rid of the ball to avoid sacks and pressures. If not for him, I truly believe we would not be talking about Neal as a potential #1 pick or possibly even a first rounder. IMO, he's just a slightly above average, RT only prospect. With that said, let's look at another angle as well.

Alabama has several OT's that are currently playing in the NFL. None are stars and many just aren't good. James Carpenter was Alabama's LT and went onto be drafted #25 overall by Seattle in 2011. He was very underwhelming and the Seahawks declined his 5th year option. Since then, he has moved from team to team after being pushed inside to OG. We all know what we have in Cam Robinson. He has been underwhelming, but he has finally gotten to a point where he is now serviceable, after a very long and bumpy road. Jonah Williams was LT for the Crimson Tide and was drafted #11 overall by the Bengals in 2019. He has been underwhelming as well. Living here in Cincinnati, I can tell you that all the sports talk radio since the Superbowl has been focused on finding a new LT and moving Williams either to RT or possibly inside to OG. Fans know that while he is Cincinnati's best O-Lineman, he certainly isn't cut out to be an NFL LT. Jedrick Wills was Alabama's star RT and was so highly regarded that the Cleveland Browns drafted him #10 overall to be their starting LT. He has been racked with penalty issues and injuries since coming into the league. Finally, we get our latest example, Alex Leatherwood. He played LT at Alabama while Evan Neal was relegated to RT. Leatherwood was drafted #17 overall by the Raiders in the last draft. He has been an unmitigated disaster accounting for 14 penalties and 8 sacks in his lone NFL season. He's so bad they had to move him inside to OG midway through the season, where he wasn't much better. Out of all of the Alabama OT's on this list, Cam Robinson may currently be the best one and it has taken him a long time to get to this point. Why gamble on another Alabama OT when history has told us over and over that these guys don't work out in the NFL?

We simply need to tag Cam Robinson for another season. Have him and Little compete for the starting LT position with the loser moving to RT and our OT spots are set for 2022. We look for an OT prospect in the mid rounds to serve as the Swing Tackle and possibly the RT of the future. That way we get a premier pass rusher with the #1 overall pick, the OT positions are secure and we can focus on the interior O-Line positions in free agency and the draft. IMO, this is a no-brainer. This is just not a good draft for OT's. No one OT sticks out as a premier player. We've held onto Cam Robinson this long and he's finally to a point where he can be trusted. Why ditch him for another rookie in a poor OT draft class? It just doesn't make sense.

(Emphasis added)

it's okay to disagree with me.  Everyone misses from time to time, and if I'm wrong with Neal, it wouldn't be my first or last miss.

The emphasized portion is what gives me pause about drafting Neal.  With the exception of Jedrick Willis, Alabama tackles under Nick Saban typically have not fared well. In fact, except for Wills, you have to go all the way back to Chris Samuels to find a stellar Alabama T.  I think what separates Neal is his length, athleticism and coaching.  I think he's a far better athlete than either Jonah Williams and Leatherwood.   In facr, I think he's a better athlete than Mekhi Becton.  But if I had a second concern, it would be his size.  Sometimes a T can get too big, and as a result he can't move well enough to be an effective pass protector.  To my knowledge, he hasn't had problems with his weight, and as long as he stays in the 340-360 range, I think he'll be okay.  Anything above that though, and he could get TL killed.  I've heard rumblings that the Jets are less than happy with Becton for that very reason (his weight).

Another reason I am more apt to take Neal at one vs. either of the edge rushers is that I am convinced we could find a viable edge rusher into the 3rd and 4th round, whereas I think the dropoff at T is substantial after Penning (maybe Kinnard) comes off the board. Another advantage to letting Cam walk and taking Neal is that we'd save about $7- 8 million off the cap hit (rookie wage scale vs. franchise tag).  We could use that money to get more help.  Of course, if you decided NOT to franchise Cam, you'd almost HAVE to go OL with that first pick at that point.

Another good point. Mekhi Becton is very similar to Neal's size and he is struggling. He dislocated his knee cap and only played 48 snaps last season. Like you said, there were rumors that he was unable to come back due to him gaining so much weight while he was injured. He was reportedly between 370-380 lbs. Now, there are rumors that the Jets may trade him. 

This draft is fairly deep at the Edge Rusher position, but I also believe this draft is very weak at OT. In fact, depending on what Ikem Ekwonu measures in, Trevor Penning might end up being my #1 overall OT. As far as letting Cam walk and taking Neal, why should cap savings even matter? We have a ton of cap space. Why not just keep the proven player for another season, rather than replace him with an unknown rookie? Money won't really matter when it comes to getting UFA's anyway. We can outspend almost any other team, but what good UFA is gonna want to come to a losing franchise with a troublesome GM, a clueless owner and a history of disputes with players when they have other options? We're gonna end up with 2nd and 3rd tier free agents due to the chaos of last season and the fact that we are a long way from even being a .500 team. 

Even if we didn't franchise Cam, we definitely do not have to go OT with the first pick. We drafted Walker Little to be the eventual starting LT, for better or for worse. He would step into the role he was drafted to fill. From there, we look for a starting RT and a Swing Tackle. They can be had later in the draft. RT's are consistently found in the middle rounds of the draft.

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