SmashMouth

"How dumb are DLs" ?

He is a smart dude.

AsylumGuido

neugey

Another in a long line of mercurial Saints OL picks. But a nice share of them pan out.

I suppose the move up feels justified seeing the run on OL come after him. OL depth is huge. I hope he can transition to guard if needed. He seems more polished vs the pass than Penning, so maybe this is a way of covering our bases in case Penning can't really pass protect. Crossing my fingers!

AsylumGuido

I believe he's already played some guard. And the Saints drafted him specifically as guard. From what they just said on NFL Network the team designates the position when making the pick.

And, yes, eight of the next 17 picks have been OL.

Edit: Make that 9 of the first 19 since he was selected.

SmashMouth

He'll be cross trained, as they do all OL.

AsylumGuido

BakoSaint

I like this pick. We really needed oline depth at both guard and tackle so a vertsatile player is great. We obviously value versatility a lot but versatility is kind of pointless if we only have 5 oline who are better than street free agents or undrafted rookies. If we only have 5 and they are all versatile it accomplished nothing because swapping them around still leaves us with a street free agent type starting somewhere if any injury happens, and swapping regular starters around to change exactly what position we have to put a street free agent in just creates a second problem, a player covering a position they are less familiar with and a street free agent at another position. But if we have 6 or 7 decent oline, versatility can help us keep the no name street guys off the field all together.

Trading up is not so bad when you use present year picks to do it, as long as you don't trade so many that you deplete your depth. My big issue is I hate trading future year picks because they are often valued at 30-50% less than present year, and keeping them also provides insurance, if you have an off year they get higher. When you trade a future year pick at half the value it will have a year or two from now, you are effectively giving your competitors passive income with a high rate of return investment. Its like raiding your 401k and taking early withdrawal penalties to buy a car. Trading up is more like swapping two cars for a nicer car, which is fine, as long as you have enough cars, is not a financial boondoggle.

Thirty3

I like the pick. Don't mind the move up to get him. Like the "get your guy" mentality. We've had great scouting since Ireland.

K Major

AsylumGuido

Yup! I love the "get your guy" mentality. Why be forced to pick from what's left when it gets to you ... when you can go and get exactly what you want?