(04-26-2022, 10:25 PM)Jag149 Wrote:

(04-26-2022, 07:49 PM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: 1. Even if we are in a nickel most of the time, Walker will have no place to play when we are in a base 3-4. He's certainly not an OLB and we are already loaded at 3-4 DE and NT. If I'm spending a #1 overall pick on a player, I want him in there every down. Hutchinson can play every down in both schemes. 

2. We just spent a ton of money on Folorunso Fatukasi. I'm not budging on Davon Hamilton, I still think he will be a very good NFL player and I won't excuse him from the discussion. We also have Malcolm Brown and we signed Arden Key who is coming off his best year as a pro. I wouldn't sit any of these guys for an unproven Walker, who had limited success rushing the passer in college. He may have the tools to be a dominant pass rusher, but to this point he hasn't used them on the field. Why? I think it's gonna take 1 to 2 full seasons before we see any kind of production in the NFL from Walker. I just don't see him developing into the star pass rusher you'd need him to be to justify such a selection. If you are talking about taking him and then snagging Mafe at #33 (which is a long shot since I believe Mafe is gone near the bottom of round 1), I don't like it at all. I've stated my case for Walker, but as for Mafe, although I like him, I don't think he will be nearly as productive as Hutchinson at the next level and may not be perfectly suited for a 3-4 scheme either. IMO, a better scheme fit might be Nik Bonitto of Oklahoma. Hutchinson is just too good of a fit for scheme we would be using and the only reason I can see for Baalke to pass on him in favor of any other pass rusher at #1 would be his hatred of Harbaugh. 

3. I totally agree. Ideally, we could trade down, possibly adding a first rounder in 2023 and select one of the elite WR's we so desperately need. I just don't see that happening though. If we're gonna take a risk and go for broke, why not do something really daring that could really help this team in it's biggest area of need? Why not throw caution to the wind and just select Jameson Williams #1? Most of us wanted him all along before he got injured. He is making one of the more miraculous recoveries I've ever seen from such an injury and appears to be on his way to possibly being able to play the first game of the season, if he has no setbacks. I think we all can agree that Trevor Lawrence desperately needs a #1 receiver who can stretch the field and Williams certainly fits the mold. To me, this makes much more sense than trying to coach up a college 3-4 DE with very limited success as a pass rusher to reach his full potential.

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I have a question to all the posters wanting to draft Ekwonu #1. If we are indeed working on signing Robinson to a long term deal as reported, where do you play "Ickey"? You can't play him at LT for any time in the near future, because you have Robinson long term and if you play him at RT, you've basically admitted that drafting Walker Little was a mistake. If you play him at OG, how do you justify taking an OG #1 overall. It's a question that has me really perplexed. I really would like to get some insight.

Since I am in the minority that favor going with offensive line, I'll take a crack at it.  You play Ickey at OG.  Giving us Cam, Scherff, Ickey Little/Taylor.  Also Shatley/draftee at center.  Ickey or Neal can most likely jump right in at guard, tackle in a pinch but will need some pass protection refinement. This gives them time to do that.  It should give us a solid offensive line for the first time in a while. This will help the running backs, help our QB and let the receivers get downfield better.  In crunch time last year they had no chance getting downfield. This will help our offense stay on the field more (we were 31st in time of possession) and score more as well. It will help our defense as the offense will be less prone to go 3 and out  most of the first half. The D gave up 27 ppg last year. If they improve by 6 points  down to 21 they would have ranked between #7 and #15 last year. (LA was #15) I can believe by the offense staying on the field more and actually scoring more we can get half of that. The offense only average 14.something last year and needs to get into the mid 20's. If they don't I don't care how good the D is we will be here again next year. Drafting an edge rusher while a real need will not help them do that and the defense will continue to be stressed every game by the offense not able to move the ball when the game is in doubt.  The draft we went with Fowler,  Scherff was drafted right after that, we just paid him how much?  Looking at this year's prospects since there really is no true #1's I think of our pick as a top 10 pick not the magical #1. Who cares where Little was drafted if he plays a part in providing a solid O line for our offense. Thinking like that (pride) will keep us in the bottom third of the league forever. Yea I know I have a crackpot scheme...LOL

While I wouldn't be happy about drafting an OG #1 overall, I could at least deal with Ickey being picked, since he is my top rated OG. As long as he isn't used at LT, because he does not work well in space and is an average pass protector at best. Moving him inside to OG would allow him to work in a "phone booth" and would maximize his power and nastiness that he possesses. I don't feel the same about Evan Neal though. I'm not high on him at all and wouldn't even touch him at #33. 

With that said, I still don't see such a move being that beneficial to Trevor Lawrence. I believe 65% of the struggles of the O-Line last season could be directly attributed to Jawaan Taylor. He was visibly terrible and has been from the time we drafted him. Simply by moving him to the bench and replacing him with Walker Little should create a huge improvement in protection for our QB, but who is Trevor gonna throw to? I don't think drafting an OG would keep keep us on the field more, no matter how good they were, because we still lack receivers who can get open. The main issue our offense had last season was the lack of a running game when Robinson got injured and a complete lack of talent at WR and TE. We've done very little to change that. We've brought in an overpriced, average slot receiver and a TE with potential (Engram), but he's only on a 1 year deal. Hardly an investment in the future. IMO, a much better way to truly help the offense would be to draft a WR like Jameson Williams. If we're looking for a "homerun" pick among a sea of potential players with no standouts, why not address our biggest need with a guy most of the board had been clamoring for before he got injured? He's way, way ahead of schedule on his rehab and could be this team's version of CeeDee Lamb for the immediate future. 

I just think when people talk about giving Lawrence some help, the best way to do that would be giving him much, much better receivers than what we had last season. I'm certainly not advocating ignoring the O-Line. I'm not at all. I just believe good interior O-Line players could be found in the middle rounds of the draft and a swing tackle could be found in the later rounds. Taking an OG at #1 overall, just makes no sense to me. Yes, we'd be getting a good player. That is undeniable, but how much better would he be than an OG we could get in round 3 or 4 and how much of an offensive impact would an OG make in our offense compared to a big time WR?

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