Irv Smith a Bengal

[OSUfan]

(03-29-2023, 08:08 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: I don't consider RT to be a question mark. We have SEVEN OTs on the roster. I feel fairly confident that a healthy Williams, Carman, or a healthy Collins (later in the year) can give us acceptable or better RT play. Jonah will play RT. What's he gonna do, sit out? Tank? No chance. Once you get past Wright, the chances that a rookie is gonna be better than Jonah in year 1 are VERY slim. Hell, I think landing one better than Carman/Collins are slim. 

Trading Jonah for peanuts and reaching for a tackle early is how you weaken RT this year AND miss an opportunity to improve the team elsewhere. TE, EDGE, and CB have deep classes. Get a stud there or at another spot. Let's not go all Billy Price. 

The FO did not want to trade him. Unless we get a haul (which we won't), he's going nowhere. Plug & plays will be gone by #28 and the next tier (who likely won't help this year) gone by #60. 

I am tired of the O line being a liability for this team and acceptable play is not the ceiling I would prefer to see. So you pass on a RT this year when you have Jonah rented for 1 year. Let's look at the 7 OTs:

Orlando Brown Jr. - non factor is playing LT
Jonah Williams - rented for this season
Jackson Carman - RT possibility
Hakeen Adeniji - depth not starting material
D'ante Smith - nope
Devin Cochran - don't think so
La'el Collins - is not going to be ready for the season and is a prime target for cap cut and injury settlement. Did not play great when he was healthy.
Cody Ford - listed at OG but rumor is he will get to compete for RT.

Darnell Wright not Dawand Jones are a reach with the 28th selection and the gap between Wright and Jones is a slim one and yes I believe either of them could be as good or better than Jonah at RT as a rookie. Worst case is you have your RT for '24 with a year under their belt and you still have Carman as the 6th man to play either OT or OG spots in an emergency.

I believe you are being a bit dramatic with your draft assessment by stating that players outside of the top 60 selections are not going to help a team in their first year. I believe there is plenty of data that would prove that theory to be inaccurate. The fearmongering reference to Billy Price was hysterical though.