(12-29-2020, 02:58 PM)JaG4LyFe Wrote:

(12-29-2020, 04:17 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: I'm not missing the concept, I just completely disagree. I absolutely do not think that picks #60 through #120 are loaded with O-Linemen almost as good as the top tier. In fact, I only see a 2-3 LT's, maybe 4 in this draft, that I would even bother selecting. LT is such an important part of the offense, especially when we are bringing in a highly touted rookie QB. We can not mess this up by putting some "bargain basement" OT in there to protect Trevor's blindside. 

I don't believe in giving up draft picks in order to trade up, unless it is for a franchise QB or maybe a franchise LT. In the case of this upcoming draft, I'm staying put and letting the board come to us. I'm certainly not gonna trade up for an injury prone TE with minimal blocking skills, no matter how dynamic he is as a receiver. I believe we have a stable of good, young WR's and we can address TE via free agency. 

The only LT's in this draft that I would trust to protect Lawrence's blindside are Penei Sewell, Christian Darrisaw, Liam Eichenberg and possibly Dillon Radunz. One of those top 3 should be there when we use the Rams pick in round 1. I would only draft Radunz in round 2, should all three of my top guys are gone by the time we are up with our second pick in round 1. I will also look for a RT prospect later in the draft as competition for Jawaan Taylor. It's a lot easier to find good RT's than it is to find good LT's in the NFL. 

I know we aren't gonna be good right away. I would be perfectly satisfied if we went 6-10 in 2021 as long as we show real progress along the way and get better every year. Hopefully, we can reach the playoffs by 2023 and start to become a league juggernaut, but first and foremost, we gotta do everything in our power to protect our franchise QB. We cannot afford a Joe Burrow situation. We have good, young receivers, a really good, young RB, a decent interior O-Line, but the OT's are not good at all. They need immediate attention. I also would definitely address the TE situation, but I certainly wouldn't blow our chances at getting a really good LT in order to trade up and get a pure receiving TE like Pitts. I just don't think that is a smart move. 

This draft is extremely deep at WR. It's also fairly deep at RB, edge rusher, TE, CB, S and to a lesser degree DT. It is woefully thin at QB and LT after the first round and it lacks quality ILB's throughout. There is some really nice options at RT later in the draft and the same goes for OG and Center, up until the 5th round. How we draft on defense will all depend on who we hire as a Head Coach and what kind of system they run. I see a lot more depth at 3-4 OLB, than I see for 4-3 DE. We need at least 2 new pass rushers no matter what system we run. We were extremely thin this season and it showed. Josh Allen is the type of player that needs someone good on the D-Line to accompany him. As we saw in 2020, he is pretty uneffective on his own. 

We have a ton of holes to fill. There not all gonna be stars, but we can at least get upgrades at several positions to build a cohesive unit. We looked like the football version of the Bad News Bears out there this year, because of the lack of overall talent, especially on defense.

Outside of Sewell, those guys you listed are pedestrian at best. There's no LT tree we're going to pluck from in the draft. I'd rather franchise Robinson than draft one of those players

Pedestrian? Neither Darrisaw or Eichenberg have allowed a sack this season. In fact, Eichenberg hasn't allowed a sack since September of 2018. Darrisaw has allowed no sacks this year and just 5 hurries during that time. Granted Radunz opted out of a completely meaningless one game season this year, but he dominated the FCS in 2019 and also didn't allow a sack in his last season of play. We need to protect Lawrence at all cost. These guys are more than qualified, but instead, you'd rather keep Robinson? Are you insane? Robinson sucks in pass protection. I'd rather sit Lawrence for a year than subject him to playing behind Robinson and Taylor. Why would you risk a Joe Burrow situation with our new QB?

---