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2022 Offensive Line (Seniors)

Sign a C in FA and draft Tom on Day 3

Tom is a tackle for me, and his experience is at T. There is no reason to move him to C. He tested really well for a tackle, and I think he is a late Day 1 value at T.

Anyway from the testing, I have 5 Day 1 values at Tackle:

1. Trevor Penning LT
2. Abraham Lucas RT
3. Ikem Ekwonu LT
4. Charles Cross LT
5. Zach Tom LT

The rest of interest to me are Day 3, developmental

6. Zach Thomas SDSU
7. Braxton Jones S Utah
8. Marcus McKethan, UNC
9. Kellen Diesch, ASU
10. Nick Zakelj, Fordham
11. Dare Rosenthal, UK
 
For the Guards, from the measurements I have:

Day 1:
1. Chris Paul, TUL
2. Tyler Smith, TUL
3. Dylan Parham, MEM

DAY 2:
4. Austin Deculus, G, LSU

DAY 3
5. Kenyon Green, G, TAMU
6. Lecitus Smith, G, VT
 
Hard for me to understand why Centers like James Empey and Doug Kramer weren’t invited to the combine.
 
Same for Bam Olaseni and his 88 3/8” wingspan - who I thought was the best OT at the Shrine Game.

Somebody is going to steal a few of these offensive lineman in the draft.
 
Can I get a starting RT with pick #102? I’m not seeing it. I’m hoping I’m wrong.
 
Same for Bam Olaseni and his 88 3/8” wingspan - who I thought was the best OT at the Shrine Game.

Somebody is going to steal a few of these offensive lineman in the draft.
Dear Hillbilly, may I ax you a question?

And you nose how much I respect your take and KFC as well!

In your opinion, how definitive are physical measurables in terms of projecting a prospect from college to pro?

It just seems to me there is a tremendous "bias" at all levels in football for binary thought such as:

bigger is better

faster is better

etc.

Just seems to me a lot of kids who could be really good ball players are just excluded.

Or is it as simple as just having bottom line thresholds on 40s - verticals - wing span whatever

and any kid who doesn't meet spec is just out?
 
Dear Hillbilly, may I ax you a question?

And you nose how much I respect your take and KFC as well!

In your opinion, how definitive are physical measurables in terms of projecting a prospect from college to pro?

It just seems to me there is a tremendous "bias" at all levels in football for binary thought such as:

bigger is better

faster is better

etc.

Just seems to me a lot of kids who could be really good ball players are just excluded.

Or is it as simple as just having bottom line thresholds on 40s - verticals - wing span whatever

and any kid who doesn't meet spec is just out?

Well I’m not sure anything is definitive when it comes to predicting humans and what they’re going to achieve in the next 10 years of their life - but I certainly believe measurables and athleticism matter more times than they don’t matter when evaluating athletes.

I think most people understand that just because you have the measurables and athleticism, it doesn’t mean you’re a great player. I think they also understand that just because you don’t have the measurables, it doesn’t mean you’re not a great player. It’s a matter of valuing all the information properly.

Teams view the draft differently. Some teams view the draft as a tool for acquiring superstars, while other teams view the draft as a means to fill holes. They’ll hope for a superstar if they can get one, but it’s not necessarily how they view the draft.

It’s the same with recruiting. Some programs are trying to find superstars while others are trying to fill holes.

If you’re a program that has the benefit of passing over recruits because they’re an inch or two shorter, 20 pounds lighter, or a few steps slower, then you have the benefit of culling in order to find potential superstars that meet your specific criteria. While other programs are glad to have that kid that’s shorter/lighter/slower.

Measurables and athleticism play a huge role in how talent is evaluated from the time they enter high school until they’re getting paid to do it professionally. But great players and late bloomers have always slipped through the cracks and continue to do so.

For example, Josh Allen is the most physically talented player in professional football in my opinion. How was he only a 2-star recruit?

I remember when Alabama nor Auburn were interested in Terrell Owens coming out of high school because he was too skinny. Late bloomer.

There’s certainly bias because measurables are going to get you more chances. But that’s also for a reason. Because measurables end up mattering more often than they don’t, as I said before.
 
I believe the teams that view the draft as a tool to acquire superstars are more successful in terms of winning championships. Even if you miss more - when you hit, it matters more - and for a longer duration.

You’re not really going to sign many superstars in free agency unless they’re older prior superstars past their prime. Prime superstars are simply not available in free agency. That’s not what it’s purpose is.

Free agency is for filling glaring holes with mediocre or average players. The only way you’re going to acquire superstars in their prime is via trade and coming off some capital.

Shrewd teams like the Rams get it. They knew they were a Super Bowl team and trade Goff for Stafford. Why? Measurables.

Then they trade for Von Miller during the season with the intent of letting him go after they win it.

But you have to be smart enough and honest enough to know where you are as an organization.

The dolphins are a 6-9 win organization that make 6-9 win moves. It’s just what they are as an organization. Doesn’t matter who the coach is. McDaniel, Flores, Gase, Philbin, Sparano, Cameron, Saban….

Whoever the coach is has to overcome the organization first before he’s ever going to win anything. There are no coaches that are going to come in and reinvent football to overcome a poor organization.

There are non-negotiables you must have in order to be one of the top 4 or 5 teams in the league with a legitimate shot to win the Super Bowl. Superstar quarterback, superstar receiver that scores double-digit touchdowns, superstar head coach, superstar ownership.

They are non-negotiable. If you don’t have at least 3, you ain’t one of the top 4 or 5 teams. So you might as well be bargain shopping in free agency.
 
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I believe the teams that view the draft as a tool to acquire superstars are more successful in terms of winning championships. Even if you miss more - when you hit, it matters more - and for a longer duration.

You’re not really going to sign many superstars in free agency unless they’re older prior superstars past their prime. Prime superstars are simply not available in free agency. That’s not what it’s purpose is.

Free agency is for filling glaring holes with mediocre or average players. The only way you’re going to acquire superstars in their prime is via trade and coming off some capital.

Shrewd teams like the Rams get it. They knew they were a Super Bowl team and trade Goff for Stafford. Why? Measurables.

Then they trade for Von Miller during the season with the intent of letting him go after they win it.

But you have to be smart enough and honest enough to know where you are as an organization.

The dolphins are a 6-9 win organization that make 6-9 win moves. It’s just what they are as an organization. Doesn’t matter who the coach is. McDaniel, Flores, Gase, Philbin, Sparano, Cameron, Saban….

Whoever the coach is has to overcome the organization first before he’s ever going to win anything. There are no coaches that are going to come in and reinvent football to overcome a poor organization.

There are non-negotiables you must have in order to be one of the top 4 or 5 teams in the league with a legitimate shot to win the Super Bowl. Superstar quarterback, superstar receiver that scores double-digit touchdowns, superstar head coach, superstar ownership.

They are non-negotiable. If you don’t have at least 3, you ain’t one of the top 4 or 5 teams. So you might as well be bargain shopping in free agency.
Interesting. Yeah I tend to agree -- you have to make decisions that are based on potential home runs and play the game aggressively to WIN as opposed to playing to win by not losing. Key point is -- positive + proactive, not reactive.

That said, it's easier to sell a rebuilding program than a championship plan. Seems we've been in the construction business for a long, long time. And I still don't see a finished product emerging. With a new HC -- I'm assuming we're in yet another 2-3 year cycle.

Perhaps and consider, it's like déjà vu all over again!

"Fear the Grier" has a new meaning these days BTW!

:oops:
 
Mayor Grier is certainly no winning architect. He’s an albatross. But I believe Miami has been spot on in free agency this go round.

There’s nobody in free agency that Miami could sign that was going to take them from a 6-9 win organization to a super bowl contender.

Tua and Jaylen Waddle have to be superstars in order for that to happen - and your offensive line cannot be an embarrassment.

What you’ve seen is all they could really do with the players available in free agency.
 
Hard for me to understand why Centers like James Empey and Doug Kramer weren’t invited to the combine.
What's your thoughts on Chris Owens? Do you see him as alegit prospect and do you project him at cener or another position. Seems like he played everywhere at Alabama.
 
What's your thoughts on Chris Owens? Do you see him as alegit prospect and do you project him at cener or another position. Seems like he played everywhere at Alabama.

Well, I do not view Chris Owens as a pro. In reality, the fact that he was starting even as a 6th year player was simply an indictment on the young players just not being ready to play, as opposed to any redeeming qualities in Owens.

He was by far Alabama’s worst offensive lineman.

If he plays it has to be center where you can hide him a little bit. At tackle he was exposed as not being SEC caliber. The coaching staff tried to replace him at tackle several times throughout the season with younger guard types like Damien George but the results weren’t really any better.

All in all, Chris Owens was a disaster at right tackle. The lack of development among the options to replace Owens is essentially why Saban chose to part ways with offensive line coach Doug Marrone and bring in Eric Wolford from Kentucky.

In the end I think it just became obvious that Marrone was more of an NFL guy that couldn’t really develop young players out of high school to the standard that Saban expects.
 
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Mayor Grier is certainly no winning architect. He’s an albatross. But I believe Miami has been spot on in free agency this go round.

There’s nobody in free agency that Miami could sign that was going to take them from a 6-9 win organization to a super bowl contender.

Tua and Jaylen Waddle have to be superstars in order for that to happen - and your offensive line cannot be an embarrassment.

What you’ve seen is all they could really do with the players available in free agency.
And everyone in the main forum is screaming for them to overpay Terron Armstead who will promptly miss 6 of the 17 games next year.
 
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