I disagree. Cook probably wasn't even on Mac's draft board, so was likely never even a consideration, and I hope he wasn't.
We've ignored the O-line since 2006. You usually need to spend a high pick on a tackle to get a good one and we have been just trading for other teams trash. Get back to the basics on offense, build from the offensive line first. Remember when Sanchez went like 3-1 in 2009 with Cotchery as his #1 receiver? It was because that offensive line was so good that made the run game a real threat.
cook absolutely should have been the pick. he will be a game breaking weapon you build an offense around. what we have missed since martin
We've been going with the free agent/trading for a runningback strategy since Curtis Martin left, sans one season with Shonn Greene starting. It's annoying because we don't even need to spend a high pick to get a good one. The top runningbacks in the NFL is comprised of a group of guys drafted in rounds 2-5. You don't NEED to spend top picks on offensive lineman, but WE need to, because the mid round project offensive lineman thing hasn't exactly worked out. We also do a piss poor job of retaining and developing offensive lineman that we have drafted. Matt Slauson, and Austin Howard come to mind. As bad as Vlad Ducasse was for us, he just found himself receiving a three year deal with the Bills as the 6th offensive lineman. Howard starts for one of the best offensive lineman in football and Slauson has been a quality guard in this league for a long time. Time to switch our tune and start targeting offensive lineman higher. We can completely change that trend by going quarterback and then taking two offensive lineman with our second round picks. I'm confident we'll take a quarterback in the first at least. But I'll be shocked if we don't take a cornerback in the second if the same regime is in place. We've lucked out a little bit in that this is an incredibly deep year for offensive lineman (or at least it looks like it right now in the beginning of the season). I've seen as many as 6-7 offensive lineman being taken in the first round of mock drafts. Lineman with high grades below. All of these are per WalterFootball. I can't remember a draft that featured so many highly rated interior lineman. We NEED to get our center of the future at the very least. Tackle Trey Adams, Washington (round 1) Connor Williams, Texas (round 1) Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame (round 1) Martinas Rankin, Ole Miss (round 1-2) Martez Ivey, Florida (round 2-3, G/T) Jamarco Jones, Ohio State (round 2-3) Mitch Hyatt, Clemson (round 2-4) Orlando Brown, Oklahoma (round 2-4) Brock Ruble, Florida State (round 2-4) Tyrell Crosby, Oregon (round 3-4) Interior Lineman Quenton Nelson, Norte Dame (round 1) Will Hernandez, UTEP (round 1-3) Billy Price, Ohio State (round 1-3, G/C) Braden Smith, Auburn (round 2-3) Scott Quessenberry, UCLA (round 2-3, G/C) Frank Ragnow, Arkansas (round 2-3, G/C) Will Clapp, LSU (round 2-3, G/C) Ross Pierschbacher, Alabama (round 2-4, G/C)
How long do we pay the price for our ignorance in hiring first timers..? They inevitably hire first time assistants who in turn, make first timer mistakes trying to develop players. We have checked all the first timer boxes and its gotten us nowhere. First time GM, HC, OC and so on.. This has to stop or it isn't gonna matter if we have the 1st or 31st dp in the first round. We'll be doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. I don't have to remind anyone what the result of that is... Rhymes with Linsanity... There's a reason why employers usually hire people that have prior experience in the position they're interviewing for..
I don't know if you watched the Raider game but the only three guys deserving game balls were McNown, Forte, and Kearse.
