(02-26-2024, 01:42 PM)Caldrac Wrote:

(02-26-2024, 12:04 PM)cland Wrote: My only problem with drafting a center at pick #17 is the positional value.  There have only been 8 first-round centers picked since 2000, and JPJ would be the highest draft pick used on a center, other than Mike Pouncey (Dolphins 2011) at #15 in that timeframe.  The good news is that the success rate seems to be high with multiple pro-bowl selections amongst those 8, but that makes sense in the fact that your choosing the #1 rated center with any first round pick.

So according to NFL logic, [doing math] you'd only draft JPJ if he is so dominant at that position that he's the number 1 center in 3 years.

Yeah. I cited my opinion on this decision in the college forum. I think JPJ has to test off the charts this Sunday. His RAS probably needs to grade out nothing short of an 8.3 or better. He looks good on film, now you're just kind of hoping the measurements, the strength, the footwork, etc. All of that matches up with the player we see on film.

The other thing they could do, is, maybe sign a veteran free agent at Center that's clearly better than Fortner as it stands today. Maybe on a 2, 3 year deal with some easy outs, and then you make the decision to draft JPJ with the intent of playing him at LG or RG as a rookie. This is nothing new for this staff and football team. 

They've been doing it for awhile now. Fortner was predominately a guard at Kentucky and a one year starter at Center. You look at how they've tried different things with Walker Little. So, again, you can always find a way to justify a player's selection by manipulating the position they'll play and by projecting their long term worth. 

We did the same thing with Brandon Linder over time when we took him out of Miami years ago. It worked out play wise. Unfortunately he could just never physically hold up with his durability.

As a Texans fan this rings my panic bell a little bit.  Several Texans GMs kept drafting OL guys that they planned on starting at positions they hadn't played in college, and on several occasions they just weren't as good at the new "projected" position.  It reminds me of the "we're going to start our best 5 lineman" approach, the problem is that your 3rd best OL player whose at tackle may not be your best guard.  The individual positions themselves require a unique skill set, some OL can be shifted and some just can't, assuming they can--without having seen it--just adds one more unknown to the draft lottery.

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