Offensive Line draft priority???

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Agree.

Thomas is going to be the starter and be a very good player.

Kilgore will return to Center and continue his level of play where he left off. AND to you guys who said last year that Martin was going to come in a be an upgrade over Kilgore - please get it - the guy is VERY good and getting better. Martin sucked last year at Center.

I'm looking for MMartin to be the swing Guard and Boone to start at Guard and be the swing Tackle.

I'm thinking Trent will look for a quality OLine player that slips into the 3rd or 4th.

I completely disagree that Martin sucked at guard last year. He lost some matchups, for sure. He was very consistent with technique and footwork for a rookie, and all of the coaches said he was sharp with line calls and stunt recognition. When I saw him lose at the point of attack, it was usually him getting beaten by strength. It is not rare for rookies to need significant strength gain at the NFL level, and I'm sure he's been working on that quite a bit. A complete offseason program would be a big help there as well. He's a big, smart guy with remarkable agility for his size. The most significant weak spot in his game is the easiest aspect of a OL to improve. If he has improved that, he can be a hell of a football player, and he could win a starting role, at either G or C.

I never said he sucked as a Guard but at Center.

Well, actually he did OK for a rookie.

I'm reacting, I guess, to all the crap of how he was going to come in a just totally replace Kilgore. Like Kilgore was terrible. IMO, he was playing better than any OLine guy we had until he went down.

So, in the end I see Kilgore as the starting Center for the whole season, Thomas as the starting LG and Martin as a back-up.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

I tend to think we have the same issues at OL, CB, DL, WR, TE and ILB. We have young, talented, unproven and injury-prone players in line to make contributions along with veterans at various stages of their careers:

OL: Staley, Davis and Boone are proven but have dealt with injuries or (in Boone's case) their contract is up next year. Kilgore, Martin and Looney are talented but not proven over a full season and Thomas is an unknown in the regular season vying to take over for an all-pro guard.

CB: Brock is a playmaker when healthy, but he wasn't last year. Wright and Cook are veterans but haven't distinguished themselves. Johnson and Ward had moments last year but aren't fully proven over an entire season. Acker and Reaser are talented, but unknowns in the regular season.

DL: Dorsey, Dockett and Williams are vets dealing with injury issues, Dial, Tank and TJE have all shown flashes but haven't put it together completely and Smith may not return. Who knows what Ramsey or Okoye can be.

WR: Smith should be a huge add, but Boldin is nearing the end, Simpson didn't play last year and who knows what Ellington/Patton can really do.

TE: Davis is coming off a terrible year, but McDonald's was even worse. Celek, Carrier, Cleveland...???

ILB: Bowman is a question mark, Wilhoite is ok, Bishop is old, not sure what Bellore can do and Moody/Skov are huge unknowns.

So I see the same issues in all areas with one NOT being more of a trouble spot than any other. IMO, It's all pretty shaky, meaning they could go in so many directions with that first pick and it would be justified.

Are you trying to say that all these positions you posted need vast improvement? Cus that to me is rediculous. And by the way, almost every player in the NFL has an injury history. Staley is rarely injured to the point where he missed significant time. Last year was the first time A. Davis was injured so you can't say he's injury prone. All the other "injured" guys you mentioned have been healing up for quite some time now and will be 100% come regular season. Our defense was top 5 last year even with all of your injuries, it looked to me like we had tremendous depth. And with these young guys that were red shirted coming in will even add more depth.

I'd say the places we have needs are TE for long term. A true #1WR to replace Boldin. A young OT to groom and play swing tackle. And a young corner to groom incase DJ, Brock, and Ward forget how to play football. And lastly an ILB to compete with Wilhoite. To me Baalke has done an excellent job providing young and talented depth for all positions. Some people make it seem like we have a ton of glaring holes, but I personally don't see any MAJOR needs or positions where our starters completely suck. Some of the younf guys are unproven or have little experience, but it's more than any rookie drafted this year will have.

Originally posted by Luckycharms:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
I tend to think we have the same issues at OL, CB, DL, WR, TE and ILB. We have young, talented, unproven and injury-prone players in line to make contributions along with veterans at various stages of their careers:

OL: Staley, Davis and Boone are proven but have dealt with injuries or (in Boone's case) their contract is up next year. Kilgore, Martin and Looney are talented but not proven over a full season and Thomas is an unknown in the regular season vying to take over for an all-pro guard.

CB: Brock is a playmaker when healthy, but he wasn't last year. Wright and Cook are veterans but haven't distinguished themselves. Johnson and Ward had moments last year but aren't fully proven over an entire season. Acker and Reaser are talented, but unknowns in the regular season.

DL: Dorsey, Dockett and Williams are vets dealing with injury issues, Dial, Tank and TJE have all shown flashes but haven't put it together completely and Smith may not return. Who knows what Ramsey or Okoye can be.

WR: Smith should be a huge add, but Boldin is nearing the end, Simpson didn't play last year and who knows what Ellington/Patton can really do.

TE: Davis is coming off a terrible year, but McDonald's was even worse. Celek, Carrier, Cleveland...???

ILB: Bowman is a question mark, Wilhoite is ok, Bishop is old, not sure what Bellore can do and Moody/Skov are huge unknowns.

So I see the same issues in all areas with one NOT being more of a trouble spot than any other. IMO, It's all pretty shaky, meaning they could go in so many directions with that first pick and it would be justified.

Are you trying to say that all these positions you posted need vast improvement? Cus that to me is rediculous. And by the way, almost every player in the NFL has an injury history. Staley is rarely injured to the point where he missed significant time. Last year was the first time A. Davis was injured so you can't say he's injury prone. All the other "injured" guys you mentioned have been healing up for quite some time now and will be 100% come regular season. Our defense was top 5 last year even with all of your injuries, it looked to me like we had tremendous depth. And with these young guys that were red shirted coming in will even add more depth.

I'd say the places we have needs are TE for long term. A true #1WR to replace Boldin. A young OT to groom and play swing tackle. And a young corner to groom incase DJ, Brock, and Ward forget how to play football. And lastly an ILB to compete with Wilhoite. To me Baalke has done an excellent job providing young and talented depth for all positions. Some people make it seem like we have a ton of glaring holes, but I personally don't see any MAJOR needs or positions where our starters completely suck. Some of the younf guys are unproven or have little experience, but it's more than any rookie drafted this year will have.

Comprehension is key. I never said they needed vast improvement, yes that would be ridiculous. I said there were issues/unanswered questions that made those positions all POTENTIAL targets for high picks. Now, I also said there was young talent in those areas as well so this was not a criticism of the roster (which I think overall is pretty good); just my opinion that we could go in a number of different directions in the draft and it would be understandable.

In terms of being injury-prone, I wrote that about younger players that are in line to make contributions (Ian Williams, Kilgore, MMartin, Reaser, Thomas, Ramsey, etc.), that wasn't meant for Staley or Davis who definitely aren't "younger" or injury-prone.

I don't know if it is a high priority but the more I game tape I see on Schreff, the more I want him. I think he would be an upgrade over Iupati and maybe he could even beat out Davis for RT.

It's always good to draft a damage goods, or projects (OL) in the 4th thru 6 rounds... let them sit around for about 2 to 3 years and see how well they developed..

This is not the year for us to be drafting OL, especially in the 1st three rounds..

Originally posted by 9moon:
It's always good to draft a damage goods, or projects (OL) in the 4th thru 6 rounds... let them sit around for about 2 to 3 years and see how well they developed..

This is not the year for us to be drafting OL, especially in the 1st three rounds..

I agree. Too many other needs to address like WR/CB/LB.