(02-20-2022, 10:44 AM)ATLjag Wrote: All good points...one of the better rational and thoughtful discussions by all I have read on this board in some time.

Ex-coach Dave Campo on 1010 this past week stated something that resonates with me.  Generally, he thinks Cam is a bottom 10 starting LT in the league, not worthy of another tag.  Although he acknowledged that he is one of the Jag's better linemen, that does mean much on a subpar line.  For me, Walker Little was drafted in round 2 to be a starting LT (with needed experience/development due to limited college reps).  He got some limited practice reps at RT so that he could perform in the game day active swing tackle role, but it is not his position of strength.  He showed late last season, in my mind, that he will be able to handle the LT role going forward, and a side benefit is that he is significantly less expensive. 

Taylor has been poor at RT, and needs to be upgraded.  The good thing is that there are options to adequately upgrade the RT spot, more cost effectively.  I am more of an advocate in signing a RT vet in free agency, such as Trent Brown or Morgan Moses.  If you want to find one in the draft, trade back or use round 2 or later.  If they draft Neal, I can see the merit, but I just don't think it is the best use of the 1st pick.

Swing tackle has been mentioned by some.  If Taylor was bad at RT, I do not want him potentially to need to be the starter at LT.  He would get Trevor annihilated.  He needs to be moved into OG, and provide backup RT only consideration.  The one guy seldom mentioned is Will Richardson that I think the team may re-sign.  He is a valued game day active swing player due to his versatility at both tackle and guard.  If not a Will Richardson fan, a young OT can be drafted in likely rounds 3 or 4 to develop and fill the swing role.

Thanks for the kudos and I, fr one, welcome your input.

Campo is a favorite of mine to listen to and I try to catch him when I can.  I heard that interview and I agreed with his assessment.  I think despite his propensity to pivot and roll outside LT, TL actually has very good pocket presence, and that pocket presence and his athleticism contributed a great deal to the team's improvement in sacks allowed in the first half of the season.

While I could get on board with your strategy, your approach is not without its downsides.  If you were to ride with a veteran RT from free agency, you'd lose the benefit of the versatility and depth of having two guys who could play LT at a fairly decent level if needed.  While we'd upgrade the OL from what we currently have, we'd lose the dynamic we saw with the Eagles in 2017 and the Jaguars from 1996-1999 with Boselli and Coleman.  Barring an investment of a later pick on a guy who could successfully play LT, we would be susceptible to the same issues that happened in 2018.  If weight is a concern with Neal, it's also a concern with Trent Brown-to say nothing of age.

I hasten to point out that the versatility arguments I made in favor of Neal did not, under any scenario I offered, employ Jawaan Taylor at LT.  To be clear, if we kept Cam and Taylor and drafted Neal, we;d have three guys who could provide decent reps at LT if needed (Neal, Little and Cam Robinson) and three who could provide the same at RT on at least a short term basis (Neal, Little, and in a worst case scenario Taylor).  The only positional versatility I would ascribe to Taylor at this point or in the forseeable future is him moving from RT inside to G.  But so far, he has been hostile to such a move.

Let me say that many of these rationales I had for Neal could also be satisfied by drafting Ekwonu, if you conclude he has the length to play T.  He certainly has the athletic ability to play T.  For me, the only questions I have on Ekwonu are his length and his technique, as his pass sets need work.

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