Refined take on Grier and OL investments

[FinFaninSeattle]

deiter 3rd
jackson 1st
hunt 2nd
kindley 4th
eich 2nd

meh. i am not in the "we've invested a ton of draft capital on the oline" camp.

i'm not saying we've overlooked it, but it could have been waaaay worse, draft-capital-wise.

That’s literally a massive investment in the OL with a terrible return

 

[circumstances]

That’s literally a massive investment in the OL with a terrible return

When I think massive investment, I'm thinking top 10 picks. Not one mid round first and the rest later on.

And we'll see if it's a terrible return during the season.

 

[TrogdorTheBurninator]

I'll say it again, it's amazing how much we've already determined will happen this season based on barely a quarter of the first preseason game.

For me, It's based on last years performance and not seeing any improvement from then to now, certainly not just a quarter of preseason play.

 

[Seafort]

So what's going around is that we've spent a ton of draft capital on the OL with few results so far. I would submit that, more precisely, our biggest error was trying to bargain-basement our tackles.

Our recent high picks on OL:
Jackson (#18, but 5th tackle taken)
Hunt (#39)
Eichenberg (#42)

So we could end up essentially having overpaid for 3 quality guards none of them pan out as tackles and have to be moved inside. The main sin was thinking we could avoid paying top draft capital for our franchise tackle pieces. Good news is this is something that FA could fix next year--just pony up the actual worth for a solid LT (~$15/mill per yr should get us a top 6-8 tackle, according to sportrac)...if we have our G and C spots nailed down this year, plus use a jesse davis at RT, we should be fine.

It's not just in the last two years...it's the last two decades. When you look at what we have invested in the offensive line in terms of 1st - 3rd round picks it is astounding:

2002: Third Rounder (1) Seth McKinney
2003: Third Rounder (1) Taylor Whitney
2004: First Rounder (1) Vernon Carey, Second Rounder (1) Wade Smith (Smith drafted in 2003 and Miami traded a 2004 second rounder for him)
2005: None
2006: None
2007: Second Rounder (1) Samson Satele
2008: First Rounder (1) Jake Long
2009: None
2010: Third Rounder (1) John Jerry
2011: First Rounder (1) Mike Pouncey
2012: Second Rounder (1) Jonathan Martin
2013: Third Rounder (1) Dallas Thomas
2014: First Rounder (1) Ja'Waun James, Third Rounder (1) Billy Turner
2015: None
2016: First Rounder (1) Laremy Tunsil
2017: None
2018: None
2019: Third Rounder (1) Michael Deiter
2020: First Rounder (1) Austin Jackson, Second Rounder (1) Robert Hunt
2021: Second Rounder (1) Liam Eichenberg

Last Two Decades:
1st Round Picks: 5
2nd Round Picks: 5
3rd Round Picks: 6

Last Decade:
1st Round Picks: 3
2nd Round Picks: 3
3rd Round Picks: 3

Last 3 Years:
1st Round Picks: 1
2nd Round Picks: 2
3rd Round Picks: 1

Heck, if you add in defensive line picks it becomes even more extreme:
2002: Third Rounder (1) Seth McKinney
2003: Third Rounder (1) Taylor Whitney
2004: First Rounder (1) Vernon Carey, Second Rounder (1) Wade Smith (Smith drafted in 2003 and Miami traded a 2004 second rounder for him)
2005: Second Rounder (1) Matt Roth
2006: None
2007: Second Rounder (1) Samson Satele
2008: First Rounder (1) Jake Long, Second Rounder (1) Philip Merling, Third Rounder (1) Kendall Langford
2009: None
2010: First Rounder (1) Jared Odrick, Third Rounder (1) John Jerry
2011: First Rounder (1) Mike Pouncey
2012: Second Rounder (1) Jonathan Martin
2013: First Rounder (1) Dion Jordan, Third Rounder (1) Dallas Thomas
2014: First Rounder (1) Ja'Waun James, Third Rounder (1) Billy Turner
2015: Second Rounder (1) Jordan Philips
2016: First Rounder (1) Laremy Tunsil
2017: None
2018: None
2019: Third Rounder (1) Michael Deiter
2020: First Rounder (2) Austin Jackson, Christian Wilkins, Second Rounder (2) Robert Hunt, Raekwon Davis
2021: First Rounder (1) Jalen Philips, Second Rounder (1) Liam Eichenberg

Just take the last decade. How many running backs or wide receivers have we drafted in rounds 1 - 3?

Runnings Backs: 1 (Dallas Thomas, 2nd Round)
Wide Receivers: 4 (DeVante Parker & Jaylen Waddle - 1st Round, Jarvis Landry - 2nd Round, Leonte Caroo - 3rd Round)

 

[Jssanto]

With this much draft capital and watching / reading the draftniks guides on these kids we have drafted plus the FA agent guys we paid for I am looking hard at the Oline coaching as the issue. Considering it's going on our 3 Rd Oline coach in as many years its a red light area. Granted these guys may have been overdrafted a bit that's debatable but even if everyone was drafted a round lower there's enough talent there for a mediocre Oline at least. Come on we have fa guys in the backfield that play well not just high picks which gets back to coaching.

I do not know the 3 OL coaches but it is suspicious that we cant stabilize the. Oach of a position group that has been weak for years.

 

[Jssanto]

Coaching, continuity, and camaraderie builds the oline into a cohesive unit.
Give it a season or two.
These players are just getting started.
Patience grasshopper.

Again give it a season or two?
I hope u r correct about gelling but I would prefer by Sept 2021.

 

[Sarnics13]

For me, It's based on last years performance and not seeing any improvement from then to now, certainly not just a quarter of preseason play.

I get it but you're still making a determination of their play improvement based on 1 qtr of a preseason game. Does nobody recall how the line started to gel as the season went on last year. Our backs had very good ypa averages.

 

[TrogdorTheBurninator]

I get it but you're still making a determination of their play improvement based on 1 qtr of a preseason game. Does nobody recall how the line started to gel as the season went on last year. Our backs had very good ypa averages.

No. I'm not. They've been struggling since putting pads on, not just the preseason game.