happyrid Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I can hardly believe people are wringing their hands over the loss of Collins. The guy was a 6-year career back-up. He turned a handful of good games last season into a ticket out of town. He's nowhere near the LT that Whit has been. If Collins had been half the team guy Whit is, Collins would have filled the gap at LG. Collins refused to play G. I also find it hard to believe people who say we have to take an OT with a 1rst or 2d round pick because Collins left. Talk about an overreaction. I think our depth and talent at every single position means we do not "have to" take any particular position in the first 2 rounds. However, because a talented young OT/OG would make us better now. And it makes sense long term to line up Whit's eventual replacement. And because this is said to be one of the strongest OL drafts in the past decade. It just makes sense to me that there is a good chance that BPA in one of the first 3 rounds is going to be a versatile OL... In short, I don't think we "have to" take OL in any round. But I would bet that we will take one pretty early because there's not a whole lot of major needs elsewhere either and the value could be too good to pass up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldcat Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I agree thats great in theory, but how often does a 2nd round pick turn out as good as whit? Maybe a quarter of the time? Im just saying, im concerned about the oline if we dont do something in FA. Theres still time to do stuff, but id be a lot happier with a starting C or LG or LT signed in FA and let Whit and Pollack take the remaining two spots. Use the draft pick to back up and eventually take over. If you assume all your draft picks are bound to fail, then you certainly have problems making a 'build through the draft' strategy work. And of course, we haven't had all that much luck in FA with drafting OL players either. Travelle Wharton, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrid Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Another thing that makes me think we go OL in the first 3 rounds... Since Marvin has been here, we have never used our first 3 picks on 1 side of the ball. Which means there is likely going to be at least 1 offensive player taken in the first 3 rounds. Probably not a TE. Probably not a WR. Maybe a RB or QB in the 3rd... But OL just seems the most likely offensive position for an early selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrid Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 If you assume all your draft picks are bound to fail, then you certainly have problems making a 'build through the draft' strategy work. And of course, we haven't had all that much luck in FA with drafting OL players either. Travelle Wharton, anyone? We also got Pollak in FA who panned out. Wharton probably would have been good for us had he not blown his knee out in the preseason. I think we are going to end up addressing the OL both with a low priced ($2M per season?) free agent and with a draft pick in the first 3 rounds. If we do that, we will have a lot of different options and the versatility of guys like Whitworth and Pollak make it a lot easier to shuffle things around and get the best 5 on the field. The 1 thing that is really needed is a guy who can back up LT for if Whit goes down. That is where I think we probably need to go OL pretty early in the draft, because as of now, Hawkinson would probably be the #2 LT. And that seems like a bit of a stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBandJoeyV Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 If you assume all your draft picks are bound to fail, then you certainly have problems making a 'build through the draft' strategy work. And of course, we haven't had all that much luck in FA with drafting OL players either. Travelle Wharton, anyone? Well I dont assume any of our draft picks are going to fail, but it helps not to rely too much on them. For example, in the first round of 2012 draft we drafted Dre. Dre didnt do anything his first year but we were protected because we had a decent FA pickup in T-new that allowed dre not to have to start right away. Same thing in 2013, we drafted Hunt in the 2nd round. Didnt have to play much right away cause we had a FA guy like gillbery that could take solid snaps at DE. My main point is just that I hope we pick up a proven decent lineman in FA. A guy with starting experience. Doesnt necessarily have to be a stud, just a guy that can start and be decent if need be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldcat Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 We also got Pollak in FA who panned out. Wharton probably would have been good for us had he not blown his knee out in the preseason. I think we are going to end up addressing the OL both with a low priced ($2M per season?) free agent and with a draft pick in the first 3 rounds. If we do that, we will have a lot of different options and the versatility of guys like Whitworth and Pollak make it a lot easier to shuffle things around and get the best 5 on the field. The 1 thing that is really needed is a guy who can back up LT for if Whit goes down. That is where I think we probably need to go OL pretty early in the draft, because as of now, Hawkinson would probably be the #2 LT. And that seems like a bit of a stretch. Seems reasonable - maybe even a little derby of cheap FA candidates like we did at DE and CB a time or two. But it could be that Hawkinson is coming along better and they don't have to go so high. On the other hand, we aren't exactly busting with depth on the OL. Robinson, Boling who so far is iffy at best, that T J Johnson 7th rounder. Maybe this is the year to go draft a couple more OL like everyone says Hue likes to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I wish M Johnson could have been retained. I think his skill set is pretty much on par with the kind of player Clowney will be. As for Collins, I think he got overpaid and I don't think he's worth the deal he got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengals1181 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 We also got Pollak in FA who panned out. Wharton probably would have been good for us had he not blown his knee out in the preseason. I think we are going to end up addressing the OL both with a low priced ($2M per season?) free agent and with a draft pick in the first 3 rounds. If we do that, we will have a lot of different options and the versatility of guys like Whitworth and Pollak make it a lot easier to shuffle things around and get the best 5 on the field. The 1 thing that is really needed is a guy who can back up LT for if Whit goes down. That is where I think we probably need to go OL pretty early in the draft, because as of now, Hawkinson would probably be the #2 LT. And that seems like a bit of a stretch. exactly. The team currently has no viable backup to Whit or longterm replacement. And honestly, no decent backup for Andre either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.