Yeah....we definitely need more players like DeVante Parker, so we can dream about the amazing potential (once they get out of the training room).
There is a pattern that seems to happen with players when they get to a certain age (some younger). William Hayes, Josh Sitton, etc. This organization has been playing that card for far too long. You can bring Sitton back at $7M, count on him to fill a key role and then he gets hurt again and then where are we? It's not just the cap space, its planning on them being there when the pattern shows they probably won't be.
Over the last 3 years, starting at age 30, Sitton has missed 3 games, 3 games and then 15 games. William Hayes starting at age 31 missed 2 games, 6 games and 13 games. That's not a trend in the right direction. Kilgore is 31 and not that good to begin with....
JaWuan James is pretty durable...every other year....
2014 16 games
2015 7 games
2016 16 games
2017 8 games
2018 15 games
Ah, another one that misrepresents James as "injury prone." He's had two serious injuries that could happen to any player and one minor one that caused him to miss one game. It's flat out dishonest to act like he's "unreliable." Same with Sitton. Prior to a major injury that could happen to any player at any age, he had missed 8 games total in 9 years. If that's unreasonable, then your expectations are a fantasy. Not only must every player be ELITE or they can **** off, they must also be invincible ironmen. Cool plan. Better move on from Tunsil now as he's clearly shown incapable of being completely invincible.
If Sitton's rotator cuff has healed, which is the only question mark (if it hasn't, then none of this matters, because he'd surely be gone), then he's no more prone to injury than any other veteran lineman. Let's consider some of the best linemen out there right now:
Trent Williams: 30 years old and has missed games in all but 2 years.
Tyron Smith: Oh, damn, he's missed 10 games in 8 years. Cowboys should move on.
Andrus Peat: missed 9 games in 4 seasons
Jason Kelce: 31 year old elderly man who has missed 18 games in 8 years.
Zack Martin: I think a lot of us wanted him on this team. He missed 2 games this season, so it looks like we dodged a bullet.
Marshal Yanda: A 34 year old ancient who has missed 30 games in his career (about half of which was early on, you know, like James)
Ali Marpet: missing 8 games in 4 years is completely unacceptable.
Lane Johnson (who will get paid more than James): Who doesn't like this guy? He's got that tough guy look everybody loves. Too bad it's all a facade as he's missed 12 games in 6 years. Hard pass.
Mitch Schwartz: The only ironman in this list, but he's 29 years old, so probably preparing for retirement.
Quenton Nelson hasn't missed a game all year. So, basically, we need an entire line made of Nelsons and younger Schwartz's and anything short is unacceptable. People legitimately consider some random mid-to-late round draft pick as a better option because...uh, the salary cap, I guess.
As for what we do if Sitton goes down, uh, the same thing we do if anybody goes down, which is why we need to develop depth more than anything. Keep Sitton and James, draft a RG relatively early, and keep Davis as a solid backup (unless all-pro backups are required as well). Line is fine. In 2020, draft a LG or C (or both) relatively early and move on from Sitton if it's the former. Line is good and continues the rebuilding process just fine.
Not sure what DeVante Parker has to do with the conversation, but cool.
Man, we really need to draft more of those invincible players in a contact sport.
