Dewy101

Well I should say top 15. Bryan Bulaga never actually played LT, since he tore his ACL.. Either way, there's very few outside the first round. where as good receivers are drafted sporadically through the draft.

Lewan Certainly will not fall past pittsburg.

Even if you say top 15, Joe Staley, Nate Solder, Michael Roos, Duane Brown, Cordy Glenn, Jason Peters, Anthony Castonzo, Jared Veldheer, Anthony Collins and even Donald Stephenson were drafted outside of the top 15 or even undrafted. Some of these tackles are mediocre but the majority are elite. LTs are taken all over the draft. It's all about coaching

Yeah you can, but it's much harder to find a LT than most other positions. LT and QB are by far the hardest positions to find in the mid-late rounds. Teams certainly strike gold at LT, but nowhere near as much as they do at other positions.

Not exactly I named 7 quality LTs that have been drafted outside of the top 10. Rams took Jason Smith in 09 and didn't develop into what they hoped. Guys like Cordy Glenn have been better that expected. Every team takes a chance no matter where you may be drafting just because a team has a higher pick doesn't mean they are going to strike gold. I really can't name any top 10 LTs that are better than LTs drafted after. Qbs are in the same situation no team is guaranteed anything.

But for every one of those guys, how many Michael Ohers and Jah Reids do you get?

That can be said for any pick. Many teams have missed on LTs. A top 10 pick at LT isn't a sure thing and neither is a a top 32 and so forth. I'm just saying quality LTs have fallen so we have a chance

Tackles are probably one of the highest drafted positions... Especially LTs almost never go outside the top 10

Nate Solder, Duane Brown, Anthony Castonzo, Bryan Bulaga, Ryan Clady, Brandon Albert, Joe Staley, and Michael Roos were all taken out of the top 10. In a draft such as this one tackles fall because other positions are so top heavy. Only teams that absolutely need tackles will draft one.

I say 5 year $50 million is probably the max Ozzie is willing to go with Eugene Monroe since we didn't franchise tagged him. I'm assuming Ozzie has plenty of options to get a LT for cheaper if Monroe decided to get paid like a top 5 or even a top 3 LT.

Other LT Options:

Branden Albert

Jared Veldheer

Anthony Collins - Very Underrated, but a team could overpay him, just hope it's not us

Roger Safford - Probably the cheapest serviceable LT due to his injury history

LT Draftees:

Greg Robinson

Jake Matthews

Taylor Lewan

Zach Martin - Can fit in a lot of roles

Antonio Richardson

James Hurst - Probably a 2nd day pick due to injury

OT-Needy Teams:

St. Louis Rams

Oakland Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals

New York Giants

Cincinnati Bengals

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

Pittsburgh Steelers

However, we saw a trend last year that teams were willing to spend draft picks on LTs to cover the right tackle spot, so they can groom their young tackles, while having two quality OTs for the offense.

RT-Needy Teams:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Atlanta Falcons

Tennessee Titans

Seattle Seahawks

New York Jets

New Orleans Saints

Clearly, there's just enough LT tackles for everyone, but not enough for everyone if they're hoarding the LTs.

Teams drafted offensive linemen so high because they were by the "experts" the safest picks in the draft. Not to mention teams like Chiefs and Jaguars didn't want to overpay for mediocre talents when they could spend the money elsewhere. Tackles usually fall in any other drafts because teams like players that can change the game for example QBs, pass rushers, and wide recievers

This leaves the Ravens open to targeting Jared Veldheer now, as he didn't get tagged by Oakland

Veldheer, Anthony Collins, or Brandon Albert. I'm excited for Collins although he has little experience

I don't see him being much cheaper than Monroe, though. Anthony Collins is the guy that intrigues me if we go outside of the FA market, but I haven't seen enough to be confident in him as a long term solution.

Exactly what I was thinking. He might be cheaper too

He just doesn't like Monroe

I like him just wouldn't want to overpay him when we have other needs to address.

Yeah Monroe isn't coming back

I'd take Anthony Collins for cheap than overpay for Monroe and have a chance on Lewan or Zach Martin falling to us. Spend the money from Monroe on the defense and draft a TE and WR in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

7.5 million is actually right around or just outside the top 10 for left tackle money, and I'd say that's where Monroe is right now. He's certainly better than Bushrod or Long with all of Long's injuries. And the choice is between possibly overpaying the LT by a million dollars or two vs. possibly not having one. Just looking at the draft last year and team needs this year, I see absolutely no reason why any of the top 3 left tackles will make it past the first 10 picks. Atlanta, Buffalo, and St. Louis all need tackles. Even if one slides, Tennessee could take a guy because Roos is a free agent next year, the Giants need a tackle, and the Bears could use one also.

The Ravens didn't trade 2 picks for Monroe because they wanted a one year rental - you can be sure they'd already discussed the possibility of landing one of this year's tackle class, and they probably realized that even if we hadn't traded for Monroe we'd still end up with too low of a draft pick to land an elite prospect.

Misunderstood what I was trying to say. Bushrod and Long are overpaid and are mediocre. Monroe may want elite money like Albert does do I think he's worth that much no

If you don't think Monroe is worth 35 million you're probably never going to pay an LT ever. Because that's really not that much for Monroe.

Misunderstood what I was trying to say. Bushrod and Long are overpaid and are mediocre. Monroe may want elite money like Albert does

Never mind the mocks and who will pick whom. If we both agree that it will be best to retain Monroe at a reasonable price and use our #1 to get a shot at a rare offensive weapon, then we agree... although we then may disagree on what we believe that reasonable price would be. While he may not be worth elite LT money, I think he's worth paying in that tier just below elite money.

PFF grading is not the end all be all evaluation - I have to think our scouts have opinions that differ from theirs. If you go by their grading, Yanda was probably far from elite and graded around the same place ... do you think he's less than top 10 guard? Our O line was so dysfunctional last year, I think Monroe did quite well to grade out in the positive numbers. We may be fortunate in that our O line was so bad, that it could have actually weakened the market for Monroe.

If you stuck to the position that we should pick O line in the 1st round no matter who is taken in front of us, you wouldn't be alone - there are analysts predicting that Robinson, Matthews and Lewan will be gone and we'll still take Martin or Kouandjio. I just don't agree with them.

I don't think the market is weak for a LT. Is Yanda and elite guard? Yes he's had one bad season this year. Is Monroe an elite tackle? No he's was never a consistent player even when he was with the Jaguars. If Brandon Albert wants elite LT money so will Monroe. Teams have overpaid players like Jermon Bushrod and Jake Long mediocre LTs who still got 35 million. Do I think Monroe is worth paying that much? No

You did leave out at least one team in St Louis who not only have 1 but 2 picks ahead of us. Every single mock I've seen has them taking an OT at either 2 or 13. But I'm not sure that is really the point. The point is - and may be solidified by exactly what you are saying - that this draft has some real potential at the top.

Personally, my preference would be to retain Monroe (as long as his price isn't prohibitive) and get one of those other players you mention who will have immediate impact at a position like WR or TE for our #1 rather than a new LT. As it stands, I'd trust a guy like Monroe, who has league experience and has time on this team, but who is still young, to protect the blind side than a rookie.

You can ease in a new WR (or TE .. as long as we retain Pitta) to some degree, that is, you don't have to count on him on every down through the early part of the season and can let him get his legs under him, get accustom to the NFL level of play before counting on him to be an every down player. LT is out there on every snap from game 1. Counting on a rookie to fill that is just a risky proposition, in my mind.

Jeff fisher believes in developing lineman there's no way they take an OT waste of their pick not to mention a RT is a need, not LT. They have holes at S, WR, and LB. I expect Jake Long to be healthy at seasons start. Honestly how many mock drafts are accurate these so called "experts" guess maybe 4 or 5 picks correct the rest are always wrong. I wouldn't mind retaining Monroe but if he wants elite LT money he's not worth it. PFF graded him out as the 12th best LT. His run blocking isn't great and he does get beat in pass blocking. I'd pay him just not the elite money that he may want

Robinson is grading at the #1 or #2 LT in the draft. We're 16th - there is virtually no way he is falling that far ... only if something really negative occurs between now and draft day.

On counting on Lewan being our LT ... If Monroe walks, we let a solid 2 months pass by in the FA period without making a move, then we have to hope that Lewan doesn't go ahead of us (actually, it is quite possible and a lot of mocks have him going before 16). Even if he's still there, we're hoping a rookie comes in and picks up our NFL offense and is ready to start game 1.

Oooh - that's a major roll of the dice.

This isn't last years draft class. This class is loaded with talent. The top teams are going to take players that will make immediate impact on their teams. Gamechangers who can come in and vastly improve their teams. The way I look at it only three teams above us need a LT the Giants, Steelers, and Falcons, but they have other pressing issues they have to fix. We have a really good chance at landing one of the offensive tackles.

We might be as well. But even then we have enough space to give a contract they would. Miami is the one team that can straight high ball him.

Suggs would be the only reasonable cut but more likely an extension.

Chargers and Giants have less space than us. Miami and Greenbay are the only two I can find with more space than us.

There going to be cutting a lot of overpaid players

I'd be fine with Taylor Lewan at LT. He may have had a bad year but coaching will fix his issues. I honestly believe that Greg Robinson has a chance to fall to us because of all of the talent in this draft

I can't really think who has a ton of cap space and needs an LT...

Giants, Chargers, and Miami

I don't understand how the chargers can lose their two top receivers such as Macolm Flyod and Denario Alexander but still turn out to have the fifth overall offense in the league. Is rookie Keenan Allen,Vincent Brown and Eddie Royal really that more talented than Torrey Smith, Marlon Brown and Jacoby Jones ? Is Philip Rivers whom had a disaster year under the air corydell system last year really that much better than Joe Flacco ?

Keenan Allen is making noise right now in the league , Vincent Brown is a slot receiver at best with good hands, and Eddie Royal is the speedy guy whom is a good kick returner with iffy hands at times but im not sure if they are great route runners. I know they still have one of the best tight ends in the game in Antonio Gates but yet they are ranked 4th in the league when it comes to passing the ball. I think that's amazing how a offensive coordinator can do so well when he loses basicly his number one and two receivers to injuries but still produce a good passing offense but it's ashame the ravens offense couldn't do the same.

Ken Whinsenhut is no joke. He knew what he had to work with. A bad offensive line when it came to pass blocking so he installed an offense with quick throws and involved his runningbacks a lot. Todd Haley did the same with Pittsburgh unlike us there coordinators make it work with what they got. It seemed like Caldwell tried going deep every play behind that offensive line. The results were as showed

Xbox

6 million. It's a pretty decent chunk of change.

I just hope Ozzie doesn't try to give Ellerbe all of that money. I just don't think he's worth it. Maybe it was for Reed or a free agent he has an eye on.