(02-20-2022, 05:25 PM)Bullseye Wrote:

(02-20-2022, 04:53 PM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: If he gets franchised, he doesn't have a choice. You either play RT or you don't get paid. Period. I'm not giving him the LT spot. He has to earn it in camp by beating out Little.

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You and I differ on this. That is not a given. Neal could come in and be a disaster like Luke Joekel.

Of course that's always a possibility. 

Every team's history is replete with can't miss prospects that did exactly that.

You are old enough to remember Tony Mandarich.

Go back to the1998 draft.  Could you have convinced the Chargers that Ryan Leaf was going to fail?  There was extensive debate between who was the better QB prospect between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf.  Could anyone tell the Cardinals fans  that Andre Wadsworth was not the second coming of Bruce Smith?

The hundreds at the town center who applauded the selection of Justin Blackmon in 2012 also couldn't be convinced at the time that Blackmon would wash out of the league within 2 years.

But here's the thing.  Just because you have an earlier draft miss doesn't mean you never invest another high pick at the position.

Should Our misses with Gabbert and Bortles precluded us from drafting TL?

Should Derrick Harvey's and Dante Fowler's status as busts stop us from considering KT or Hutchinson at 1?

Make your best evaluation of his talent, ability, and character and the rest of the guys on the board, then make your best guess and make the pick and hope for the best.

Wow! That's a "blast from the past." I haven't heard the name Tony Mandarich in a very long time. LOL.

I totally agree 1000%. I used Joekel as an example, because even though I was definitely not a fan of his when we drafted him, there were fans who were absolutely convinced he was gonna be the next Tony Boselli. I loathed Texas A&M OT's because they all had one thing in common. They had good feet, but they lacked functional strength and got dominated by bull rushers. Ever since Joekel failed, many people on the board have gotten "gun shy" when it comes to possibly drafting an OT in round 1. For years, I have been begging us to use a first round pick on a LT and we never have. It's just this particular draft when I don't wanna do it. The quality isn't there. This is just a bad OT class. 

I would be ecstatic if there was a Trent Williams or Tyron Smith type LT in this draft. I would easily take that OT #1 overall, but in this draft I see no one better than a Jonah Williams type LT and that type of LT isn't even close to being worthy of a #1 pick. I just don't think after extensive hours of watching Neal play in games, that he is any better than an average RT. It's just what I see. On top of that, his weight issues are a big red flag, imo. In my evaluation, my aversion to taking an OT #1 overall has nothing to do with using that pick on that position. It has everything to do with my low opinion of this particular OT class in general. Had we not desperately needed a QB last year, I would've drafted Penei Sewell #1 overall.

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