02-13-2022, 12:59 PM
(02-13-2022, 12:39 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I've seen his position in mock drafts range WILDLY from 32 all the way up to, like, the Giants' pick at #5.
I will say that, back in 2012, we really wanted David DeCastro at 21, but we told ourselves all off season that there was no way he'd be there.
Come draft day and the son of a gun was sitting right there waiting for us.
We ended up trading down (It netted us a 3rd round pick that we used on Brandon Thompson, so basically a wasted trade down), but he was there. He lasted until 24 and he was considered, at the time, one of the best guard prospects in the class and in the last few years.
Interior Linemen just tend to slip in the draft. Probably for the same reason teams like the Bengals never give guards and centers big money. They're considered "less important" positions; essentially you throw players in there that can't play OT due to physical limitations. You can see this in action when we took a LT in the 2nd round who we knew was not athletic enough to play tackle and just hoped he would pick up the complexities of the guard position in his rookie year (spoiler alert: he did not).
There are exceptions like Quenton Nelson and Alijah Vera-Tucker who go in the top 10 to top 15 picks at guard but, generally, the first guard is taken in the late first round or early second round each year.
Overall, since 1976, the average draft position of the first guard taken in the NFL is around pick 25, late in the first round (There weren't always 32 teams, so the average may be a slot or two off, but this was just done with quick math).
And center actually has an even worse draft history with only one center going in the top 15 since 1993 in Steve Everitt (and he was the only one since 1976).
Overall, since 1976, the average draft position of the first center taken in the NFL is around pick 37, early in the 2nd round (There weren't always 32 teams, so the average may be a slot or two off, but this was just done with quick math).
If Linderbaum is still there around 24, I would hope we trade up, but obviously we don't really do that. So let's just hope the devaluing of the position continues and we get our guy at 32 haha.
He isn't a perfect center prospect, after all. He's undersized at only about 290 lbs and may struggle with larger nose tackles in the NFL.
I do think he's a perfect fit for our offense though, which is why he's my number one target in this draft class.
Very interesting thanks for taking the time to research.
If you look at our team we re actually pretty solid especially if we sign some of FA and additional 1 or 2 free agents.
With that being said it affords the opportunity to trade up in the draft a little to land a coveted draft pick.
Winning the Super Bowl will put us in a position we have never been in before.
Free Agents will be calling to see if we may want them.
It will sure be interesting to watch this off season.
