04-08-2019, 11:54 AM
(04-03-2019, 07:52 PM)OSUfan Wrote: He played LT in college but you have no idea what he was drafted to play. To my knowledge he never took the field for the Bengals as a LT. Andre Smith played LT in college as well.
(04-05-2019, 02:13 PM)Hammerstripes Wrote: He did fill in one game when Levi Jones was hurt, but they never made the push to put him over there after Levi started having knee problems
Willie was our starting LT his rookie year (Joe Walter was RT). They moved him to RT after Kevin Sargent came back from his neck injury and Walter was on his last legs, and he stuck there. Smith was drafted to play RT -- one of the reasons for his holdout is that we told him he was a RT and refused to pay him LT money.
Your Von Miller point is a good one -- it's true that many teams are drafting smaller, speed rushers and sending them from both sides. But IMO that underscores the point that what we really need is two LTs; guys who can move their feet well enough to stay in front of and block those speed rushers. When I read that Jawaan Taylor "projects as an NFL RT," that tells me that some scouts think he has slower feet and may struggle to block speed rushers like Miller. When I read that Jonah Williams "projects as an NFL RT or OG," that tells me that some scouts think he has really slow feet plus short arms, and may really struggle blocking speed rushers on the outside. Their grades are generally well below those of the top OTs drafted in prior years (who were projected to play LT) -- Ryan Ramczyk, Jack Conklin, Laramy Tunsil, etc. Which is why I wouldn't love either at 11.
