Indeed, indeed. I certainly hope that to be the case. Therein lies the difference between selections made by no shit evaluating tape by the pros versus this is who I want based on popularity. I do believe this might be an even better surprise signing for us than Poole was last year. If JD signs one more OL and a CB we can go into the draft with some nice options
I'm starting to really like this addition. Myles Garrett destroyed us absolutely demolished us. Can't competed and faugjt him hard right there.
I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that you need many good players on the O-line and you have to pay them decent money. If you pay a high salary to an awesome O-lineman, then that will take away money from other positions. The o-line needs depth more than it needs the absolute best talent.
I honestly think he will continue to get even better, ascending player is a good word for him. I'm no expert but I have a good feeling about this kid.
I watched the first half of the all 22 game film for the playoff game this year between Seattle and Philadelphia last night. Would have liked to finish it but I fell asleep. Fant played LT in that game, and looked ok against a good Eagles D-Line. He needs to work on getting lower pad level, I saw him get bull rushed a bit. I only saw him get beat once on a true speed rush though. Worked well against spin moves. On another note, I watched Clowney on the defensive snaps, I didn’t love what I was seeing. He is very athletic but he plays wild. I didn’t see great instincts. Also dogs it.
Fant actually won the starting LT job in Seattle by the end of his rookie year. Considering he was a 4 year starter in basketball and played football for 1 year as a 5th year starter that's almost unheard of. The fact that as an undrafted FA he made the team and started several games at LT and won the job by the end of his rookie year says a lot about the guy. They didn't trade for his replacement until after he tore his ACL the following fall. Seattle acquired Duane Brown in trade after Fant went down for the season. He's been moved around since the deal. Still 24 starts in 3 years with almost no college football background says a lot. If he becomes a decent not great LT for us the price is cheap. If he can play along the line as a spot starter its a good signing. I wouldn't write this guy off. It's a nice move and gives Douglas more options in the draft. It's a cheap deal for a potential starting LT.
This is exactly is, it gives us options and didn't cast a ton. We can take a LT still at 11 and move him to RT, or worst case scenario we are out 9.25 over this year and next. its a quality signing at a low price.
I don't think that we can outright move him to RT. It hasn't been said explicitly but it seems to be that he was signed with the understanding that he would be our starting LT. Breaking promises is a bad move for a GM. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Part of the reports on why Seattle didn't sign him is because he wanted to start at LT. I believe he's on record as saying he views himself as a LT. I'm speculating - but if it's true that he signed with us specifically because JD promised him an opportunity to start at LT - it would be a bad look to future FA's if we reneg. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
We gave him the money and not alot .. .if we draft a tackle, there will be a camp battle, if he does not win he is capable of starting on the right side. Fant should know hes in for a fight on this. Joe D is keeping his options open with both the short contract and by signing Fant in the first place.
I can't imagine that Douglas guaranteed him the LT starting job, especially with the possibility that one of the top 4 OT prospects could be sitting there at #11. He probably promised him the opportunity to compete for the LT job. If so, all he has to do is give him the opportunity to compete. If he loses the competition, then there's nothing that Fant could say. Fant also probably knew that the Jets in all likelihood would only draft one OT, so he had a very good chance to win the starting LT job, and if he didn't, he'd have a very good chance of beating Edoga out for the RT spot. Either way, he'd be pretty sure of starting.
The money and way this contract is structured is the real key here. He's young. He's athletic. Our tackle situation needed help. A transition to a zone-blocking scheme might better leverage his athleticism. Yes, he's overpaid based on past performance. But you always overpay in free agency, and this isn't an egregious overpay because of the contract structure. If we were locked into 3 years of this, it would be bad. But with escape clauses basically every year, JD can jettison him easily if he feels he's overpaying, while giving him room to ascend and be a quality starter. Simply put, it's a relatively low risk bet on youth, athleticism, and upside over an older/more established tackle. If he becomes an above-average starter we'll be underpaying him a year or two from now. If he's not worth his contract amount - or, rather, if he's not better than the value for money we can get with other uses of those dollars in free agency - we can get rid of him. Basically, this is a deal where it's really hard for us to get bad value-for-money on any sort of long term basis.
