Quote:
Originally Posted by Roy P
No, no, and ummmm no.
I've advocated drafting interior linemen. The question has been, what's a "reach" for getting them in the draft. I was wanting Eric Wood in the 2nd round, he was a first round pick by the Bills last year. I considered Max Unger in the 2nd, but had Barwin as a 1st round talent that was the BPA, so I couldn't fault the Texans because the defense NEEDED a pass-rushing specialist opposite of Mario. I looked at Caldwell as being a 4th round talent when we took him in the 3rd, I was giving more significance to our Secondary and wanted Bulldog CB Asher Allen. However, when we selected in the 4th CB Glover Quinn (who arguably is as good if not better than My Guy Asher), there were not any OL prospects that I was hot after. So perhaps we did a good thing in getting Caldwell when we did.
Go back another draft for a second. We drafted OT Duane Brown in the 1st round, I thought that was a reach but understood the NEED of getting a LT and they were coming off the board quickly. We didn't have a 2nd round pick in that draft. If we had been able to get an OL, I was impressed with Mike Pollack, but would have selected RB Ray Rice instead. In the 3rd round, we drafted CB Antuan Molden and RB Steve Slaton - looking at OL candidates there; I was really high on Jeremy Zuttah.
Moral of the story, the 2nd round is probably the best time to get an impactful OL (especially interior players) but there are probably other impactful players at other positions that will tempt you. The third round is where you can get the best of the "left overs" who haven't been snagged, but can probably start within 2 years. The 4th round and higher are anybody's guess when it comes to OL. I'm not saying you can't get a good OL late in the draft, but on the 2nd day of the draft if you are selecting an OL, you won't be confident that THAT player will be improving your team. So, again, drafting Caldwell in the 3rd was probably smart strategy. We'll be able to see this weekend if that was really the case.
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Ive said this before, I am not as high on Caldwell as most. I watched him alot at Alabama and wasnt that impressed. He has a tendency to reach when in space and get off balance alot. That isnt a good quality to have in this system or any for that matter. Hopefully they have corrected that or he'll have been a wasted pick. I suspect that is why he hasnt cracked the lineup thus far. Hope Im wrong, we'll see.
Anyway my point is I dont see Caldwell as an upgrade. Like I said the OL is to important and not good enough to not upgrade, if you have a quality guy available, that could help immediately. Oher was there for the taking and could of played inside (huge upgrade) and in a pinch swung outside. Cushing has turned out a worthy pick (so far) but IMO Oher was the BPA and a need.
I dont want it to sound like im crying over spilt milk, im not. I like what Cushing has brought to this team physically and attitude wise. Im just saying my priority for building a winning team would be to solidify the trenches first. Thats just my philosophy. Therefore OL and DL will always come before any position unless of course a player at another position is a far superior talent.