Because we have a smart guy in charge by the name of Tannenbaum. He knows you DO NOT PICK GUARDS in the first round under ANY circumstances. You just can't afford the value versus cost. You pay Left Tackles and Centers, not interior lineman or Right Tackles (unless your QB is lefthanded). That's why we let McKenzie go, no matter how good he might or might not be. Did the Giants overpay him? Sure! Now, I hope we can find a strong Run Blocking RT and a guard to replace Kendall, but not with our number 1 pick. You have to look down the road. When Blaylock becomes a Pro Bowl OG and a Free Agent, we will have no choice but to let the STUPID teams overpay for him. Then we've got nothing in return. Last year it was Minnesota this year Cleveland. The Vikings paid a ransom for Steve Hutchinson - and it did them no good. He's a rich pro bowler and they suck! Cleveland picked up the second best guard in the NFL in Eric Steinbach, good luck Brownies. Remember when Adam Timmerman got all that money in St Louis? Guards mess up your cap. Tannenbaum is too smart to draft an OG #1
I think that's partly the reason you have to draft a quality guard. Kendall looks like he's going to retire within a year or two and I think Moore is below average. Well for crying out loud, average guards like Dockery are getting $50M deals. It's better to draft a quality guard and retain him.
Nice call.. I was about to post this... That's one MAJOR fact that does a lot of harm your argument on not taking a guard. Mankins has played very well for the Pats... Plus, Blalock plays RT also. And RT is a need.
The position selected is regardless. It's all about finding value and filling a need, Blalock would accomplish both.
True but the draft is different. We have to make a pick there, and we have to pay somebody good money unless we trade back. If they feel that Blaylock fills a bigger need and has a better chance at success than anyone else at that spot, than they will draft him. Because unless they trade down, it's not like avoiding him would save them any money, they'd just give it to someone else, someone who maybe they don't feel as confident in.
if we want a guard gets grubbs, he's a better guard, if we want a tackle get staley, he's a better tackle. Nuff said
I agree. GREEN GUY is employing old resoning. He forgets that STEVE HUTCHINSON changed the view of OGs. Look at Seattle's run game or lack of after he left! IMO BLALOCK will improve the team more then a CB at 25.
People forget how badly the pats beat us on both sides of the line last year - we really need to upgrade the OL. I don't feel comfortable with the offensive line staying the same, and to me Moore is the weakest link.
In a way GG is right, generally speaking a guard not only does not fit the mold of a first round pick, but also generally does not fill a team's biggest need. W/ that said, at our spot, it DOES fill a need, and falls in line where some other great guards went in past guards including Hutchinson and Faneca.
First of al,l we are at the very end of the first round. Second he can play G and RT so he is versatile, a desired trait for our regime. Our running game was a very weak point of our team and it needs to be addressed. I'd be happy with this pick. If he becomes a tremendous pickup and he has to go in FA then so be it, get 4 years of good service cheap. FA is part of part of the game and not a reason not to pick him. Being the smart GM MT is, he will negoitate before he becomes a free agent and keep him on for less.
Where we aer picking, you can get the second or third best of a lot of things, or you can get the best guard. And I hate to tell you GG, but the Jets are considering four players and one of them is Blalock.
Such bad reasoning-- Centers are even less likely than Guards to be drafted in the first round, and the one we picked last year in the first round is the best player on our line. Your second point about the cap is actually worse than the first, because that same argument can be said about any position! Steinbach got a nice contract sure, but so did Adalious Thomas, Nate Clements, Joey Porter etc. As for their value to a team- Steve Hutchinson helped make a very average back, Chester Taylor get over 1500 all purpose yards. you don't think our run game would have been much better if we had a pair of nice guards? You also say that if Blalock becomes a Probowler, that it would be bad for us because when he's a FA someone else will pay too much for him??? Worst thread I ever read in all honesty- this is garbage.
Kendall Simmons, Logan Mankins, and Steve Hunchinson all say hi. Eric Steinbach (pick 33) wants in on the party too. Shaun Alexander, with his sub-par 2006 without Hutchinson, is crying in a corner over his 3.5 YPC. We need a guard, we need a road grater, Blalock is great value there. BTW Centers are even less likely first rounders and I'm sure that even you can see how great he is on that line for us.
You started talking about this in another thread and told us your "philosophy" about taking guards in the first round. So basically your philosophy is to never have pro-bowl guards on your team? How do you get top tier guards on your team if your philosophy says not to draft them or sign them? Are we just supposed to suck or be satisfied with average players at that position? We overpaid Pennington and Chrebet so we were unable to pay McKenzie who was probably the biggest loss on our team in a long time. Did the G-men overpay? Probably, but you have to overpay the best players if you want to keep them, that's what happens in this league. He's one of the best RT's in the league and plows the way for running games. It's no mistake Curtis Martin and Tiki Barber had their best seasons rushing behind him. If Blalock is still there when we pick, he will be wearing Green and White.
If we do decide to draft Blaylock there's no need to do it at 25. No team is likely to draft a guard until Oakland at 33 and they even have ALOT of other needs to fill. Trade back try to net some more picks in the middle round and then either take Blaylock or Grubbs...I'm not sure that guard is the most pressing need we have to begin with. At 25 I'd much rather have Woodley or Chris Houston. The dream situation is Carriker falling but thats not happening.
