You're right, you can't expect a pocket to be clean - but through drafting and free agency you can make it cleaner. And that's why RT's 2016 top 3 accuracy on deep passes is relevant considering he operated mostly out of a dirty pocket. Imagine how many more passes he could have connected on with better protection!What if Ryan can't ever function at that level unless the pocket is always clean? Most teams don't have a clean pocket every play. The QB has to improvise on just about every NFL team. So putting up those stats is great but what team actually has that perfect case scenario of a clean pocket all the time so Ryan can thrive?
My concern is that his mobility suffers in buying time. That, and how vulnerable his knee may be to further injury are the reasons I'd love to see us trade up to get Mayfield and then let the chips fall where they may. Otherwise, I would be a strong "fix the OL as a top priority" advocate with no qualifications.