02-07-2024, 05:31 PM
(02-07-2024, 04:58 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Or if the 18th pick doesn't actually start their first year or two, are you ok with a 1st rounder playing very little to no snaps their first year or two?
This is the million dollar question for me. I'm a big fan of the OT class and have been all year, but I think more is made of their... plug & play-ness than is warranted. I'm not even talking about whether I like them or not. I'm just saying whether they're ready to do whatever they do, and most of them are not even close imo. Paul, Mims, Guyton, Kingsley, Fautanu and others who'll be around at 18- it'll take time not just for them to be good, but to be even passable. So it almost necessitates signing a free agent anyway.
To some extent it's a function of how good we are. We already have great expectations as a team and it's hard to see many of these players being plugged right into a Super Bowl lineup. On another team with a better OL foundation like Detroit or Philly? Sure. But we're nowhere near that category. We don't have the same margin for error.
I think Latham is the exception. And I don't know how I feel about Fuaga yet. He could be too. But otherwise I think whoever we take will have to be stashed for a year regardless, and like you said, I'm not sure we're willing to make that investment.
