Originally posted by WRATHman44:Originally posted by OnTheClock:Originally posted by bors:Love it those early line picks while not sexy. Pay off big time as far as helping the whole team
I think the 49ers will look at the OL earlier than some people think due to the combination of the following factors:
1. Players leaving in 2015 free agency (Iupati)
2. Players potentially leaving in 2016 free agency (Boone, Jonathan Martin, Looney -- and that's if those last two make the team in '15)
3. Health concerns (Anthony Davis, Marcus Martin) and concerns on how some players will perform post-injury (Kilgore, Thomas)
4. Lack of acceptable depth at OT with an unreliable swing tackle.
That same logic could be applied to DL, ILB, and CB, couldn't it? We had a lot of injuries, we're depending on guys coming back well from those, but we still have those guys. Willhoite will be gone in 2015, Pat and Bow were hurt; Cully and/or Cox will be gone this year, Brock was hurt all year; TJE and Dial are entering year 3, Cowboy is either gone in 2015 or 2016, Dorsey/Williams are coming off of injury. Gotta trust your med staff and trainers. If they say the guy's good to go, you gotta roll with it. Can't replace all the injured guys. Obviously, if they say the guy won't be ready, we need some insurance.
I really like our options for the interior line, and I don't get why people get so down on Looney. Having broken down every snap of his from the preseason through the first 3-4 weeks (can;t remember off the top of my head), I can confidently say he had a lot more positive plays than negative, but his negative plays were obvious, even to people who weren't intentionally watching the line. Some plays that looked like his mistake were communication issues or him being hung out to dry on a double team by JMartin. That's why I'm a lo more concerned about the swing tackle spot, but that hole can be plugged in a middle round. They might believe that JMartin struggled because of the late TC bout w/mono, but I think he's just soft. I thought that when he was in college: physically and mentally soft. nothing has changed my mind yet.
Originally posted by mtminer:Also, im not at as pessimistic as you about the injuries on the O-line. We'd have to draft some ILB if we used that logic. Seems like all the o-lineman got some valuable playing time although some did struggle at times. I'd be fine with just taking a developmental swing tackle in the mid rounds for when Boone/j Martin leave.
I see WR, CB and DL as bigger needs. Williams and J Smith are in the last year of their contracts and Dorsey the year after. I'd even take a OLB before OL in case aldon screws up. And if he doesn't you can't have too many pass rushers. Lemonier did nothing last year, big disappointment.
Outside of CB which I think carries the same questions, I think the difference between the OL questions and those other positions, we already saw guys play that can carry the load on the DL and ILB.
Wilhoite is a restricted free agent, so with an offer he'll be back for next to nothing in terms of cost. Still have Borland and Moody under contract as well as Skov on the PS with potential.
Dial stepped up and with another year of development from him and all the other guys, you'd expect him to be even better. But I think we still add another DL early to prepare for the future AND to provide security.
I welcome this kind of feedback. Much appreciate the discussion.
[ Edited by OnTheClock on Mar 4, 2015 at 10:51 AM ]