balfan23

I still think we end up moving Lewis to RT and what we're looking for is a plug and play guard, which will likely be easier to find that a plug and play tackle. Of course, we also need to find a plug and play starting center. One of these will need to come from FA, I believe. Filling both with rookies seems unlikely. I don't know that we're in a good position to get Lamp, but I do like the sound of some of the talk around this guy. Unfortunately, feels like he's a reach with #16, but will not be around when we pick in the 2nd. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2017-nfl-draft-meet-forrest-lamp-the-nfls-next-great-guard-prospect/

Welcome back, Webby!

If he goes top 10, I'll be stunned. Honestly, if he does and at least 2 QBs are also taken ahead of us, I'll be pleased. That just pushes some of the tier 1 defensive talent down to us.

Had you talked to me last offseason, I'd have said my expectations would be that Urschel would get time in the o line rotation during the course of the 2016 season and that we'd be ready to replace Zuttah with him going into the 2017 season. However ... he did get time in the o line rotation during the course of the 2016 season and gave the team little reason to view him as anything more than deep depth. Both he and Jensen had ample opportunity to prove they belonged in the starting line up and neither one distinguished themselves. The starting center position and the starting RT position (or LG position, if we shift Lewis to RT) is likely to be filled via FA or draft and not internally (at least that's my hope, given there is IMO no back up from last year's roster that is starter worthy).

It feels like when a guy is brought in like we did with Mangold, they either leave with a contract or are never signed by the team that let them walk away without a deal. Based on that, my assumption is the odds of us signing Mangold are not good. Not saying it couldn't happen ... just that the odds are not in favor of a deal being made.

Don't you realize you are supposed to take a position on these boards and defend it beyond all reason? JK :-) I'm leaning toward not liking the deal, but it could work out if we get a significant upgraded player in the draft with the move up in the 3rd, if our young players on the D line stay healthy and are effective and if Timmy doesn't blow up and look like a stud. I just worry that some of these D linemen have seen little or no action or have had injury issues. I also worry that Pierce will wear down if we significantly increase his # of snaps. Finally, Timmy has always had great potential and whenever you get rid of someone like that, there is the fear that the light bulb finally goes on and they turn into a stud. I will not be that surprised if that happens with Timmy.

I'm surprised. When pressed on whether or not the trade rumors were real, we talked about moving him, but that we "weren't going to give him away". For me, that meant more than moving up in the 3rd round. I guess giving him away would be swapping 4th round picks. So much for this 1st round talent that we got in the 2nd round. Just another 2nd rounder with limited impact on the team's success.

The mocks I'm seeing are all over the place. A number of them have us going OL in the 1st round and in almost every case, it is the first OL player off the board. That indicates to me that consensus is there isn't any OL player worth #16 and mockers have us reaching for need. Do other think there really is an OL player that will be actually be the BPA at #16?

I know. I've said before that if we draft a TE I'm going to stroke out. That is anywhere in the draft, let alone our 1st pick. The BPA concept goes out the window when you already have 6 players at a position where you normally carry 3. We've drafted a 2nd rounder (with trade up) a 3rd rounder and a 5th rounder over the past 3 years. We picked up another FA, converted a WR and cling to the guy we signed to a big contract (albeit with numerous pay cuts). That's an extraordinary amount of team capital expended on one position. There simply has to be someone available who is going to be a playmaker at #16 that we actually have a need for. Praying someone picks O.J. in the top 15, allowing a playmaker at a different position to fall to us.

Is it my imagination or are the national mocks more disjointed than normal? The top 8 or 9 guys seem pretty locked in, but deviations after that seem really significant. Lots of mocks have Williams sitting there ... and us not taking him. The kinds of deviations normally assigned to QBs are at about the same level for other positions. For example, Along with Williams, Corey Davis is all over the place. The only edge rushers that are feasible for us seem to be Reddick and McKinley.

This trade makes no sense to me, if we can't get at least a 3rd for him- which I seriously doubt we will. If we think we'll not be able to sign him, which in and of itself assumes he's going to have a good year, he'd go and likely get a 4th, maybe 5th round comp. To lose his services for what could amount to nothing, or only a jump from a 5th to a 4th round pick doesn't seem worth it. If they make a trade for a 4th or 5th rounder, then there is something else at play. At that point it would seem the team simply doesn't want him around this year, which would be a little surprising.

He's definitely gone up the boards, but most projections I'm seeing, he's still in our range. Seems it could go either way.

Of course ... high draft picks and big contract FAs can be busts and cap casualties and mid-low draft picks can surprise. But it is the law of averages. We've committed the majority of our resources so far on the defensive side of the ball. I think we're all interested in seeing how we're going to address our offensive shortcomings, either via draft or low-end FA.

Understood that we're not done yet. However, thus far the majority of the teams available resources have been expended on defense. Sure, we're going to try to address the obvious short-comings of these O line and WR positions, but we're going to end up having to do that somewhat on the cheap. The team does still have available resources through the draft, but by all accounts, the draft is very defense heavy and is short on offensive talent in the trenches. We could shock the world and go high at the WR position, but I'm not sure we can adequately address both areas via the draft. No doubt, we've seen this team pull off the "diamonds from the rough" moves in the past, but counting on that is a risky proposition. I still think the O line is the greatest area of worry.

Yeah the YPC is a pretty unfair evaluation of Aiken. I also agree that John's characterization of what we need at WR is a little off, but I do understand what he's driving at. Rather than a soft spoken talent, we need a guy with fire, passion and attitude - who just refuses to get beat, who will not back down against anybody. That's the kind of guy we had with Boldin and SSS. That is different than being a drama queen who wants to show up his QB and his team with in game theatrics. Problem is, I'm not sure where we're finding this guy.

Did Gilmore really have the excuse of being banged up this year? I know it was his excuse 2 years ago. I don't know ... he was a big time disappointment last year, so it is getting harder to get excited about him. Still, I'd like to see us try and work more with the young TEs. I grow weary of hearing about how Pitta led the world in receptions when it felt like 1/2 of them were generated in the worst game of the season last year v. the Bengals when it felt like he caught 20 balls for a total of 50 yards. Agreed, we likely will employ more 2 TE sets, especially with Juice gone. However, 6 TEs? Something has to give. No doubt the most confusing position group on the team.

I agree - I think Lewis will not only work well at RT, but moving him there should make it easier/cheaper to find a replacement. Fundamentally, guards are cheaper than tackles. Unfortunately, Jensen looked anything but amazing last year. Huge disappointment. I honestly was surprised Lewis took what I thought was his job to lose. After seeing him last year, I'm extremely reluctant to see us planning to have him be our starting LG and I'd think the Ravens would be too. Lost a center, lost an RT and no one has come in to replace. The draft is weak at that position, so it is unlikely that we'd be getting a stud in the 1st round and unlikely that we'll find a late round gem if the overall class is weak. Sure, we might add a camp cut late, but right now this position group is very, very scary.

Personally, not nearly as concerned about stoppage in play from commercials, as stoppage in play due to constant yellow flags ... especially ones involving two players who are out to kill each other saying something unkind after a play.

He deserves every penny.

Hurst is a starter? Well, I suppose at RT at least Joe will see the unblocked edge rusher before he gets drilled. At least that won't result in a strip sack. IMO we need more help on the O line than just getting a rookie center.

So, our current O line would be Stanley, Jensen, Urschel, Yanda and Lewis - with Hurst and 3 potted plants as backups. Ozzie better be up to something.

Worried about WR - perhaps more worried about O line

Thanks for the update. Based on what I'd heard already, though, I'd already written him off.

I would have thought Fluker would be a target for us ... not just because of the Bama thing. While we've lost an RT, my expectation is that we're going to move Lewis to RT and try to fill the guard slot via FA or draft. I'd have thought he'd be well worth bringing in. 1 year $3M is all he got paid by the Giants. Think we could have pulled that off. Perhaps he hasn't lived up to his college reputation, but man, who would he have to beat of for a starting job? Jensen? I am really anxious over this position group. Unless Roman is bringing a magic wand with him, that group is going to struggle badly if we don't bring in help. Yeah - there's a long way to go before camp, but limited options are dwindling.

Still waiting for this bigger more physical O line we heard about: Lang - Rumored to 3 teams, none of which are us Fluker - Gone to the GIants (for a measly 1 year $3 M contract) Mangold is still in play, it would appear