Originally posted by xcfan:
i think baalke needs to fix his method for finding o-linemen to develop. it's pretty much a waste of time trying to find developmental o-linemen from big schools in the later rounds. most just don't have the basic talent to make it. you can get small school guys with big talent late in the draft, but you have to be able to determine that the physical talent is there to develop; that's a difficult assignment. baalke would be much better off just picking o-linemen in the top 100. those guys don't have huge hurdles to overcome. better to save the later rounds for receivers, corners, safeties, and running backs. there's a larger pool of athletic talent with these smaller guys, so there's a better chance of development. big-school linemen who fall to the late rounds have big weaknesses than make development much harder--if not impossible. just look at guys like bykowski and omemeh--the raw materials are just not there. but, year-in-and-year-out, we can get db's in the 6th and 7th rds who have the physical tools to develop into players.
Baalke has drafted seven offensive linemen in four drafts.
Of those, five are still on the team and two have been cut.
Three of his offensive line picks have been taken in the late rounds:
6th Jason Slowey G Western Oregon
7th Mike Person T Montana State
7th Carter Bykowski OT Iowa St
It is possible that a 5th round pick could be considered a late round pick. We have taken one offensive lineman in the 5th.
5th Daniel Kilgore G Appalachian State
Depending what you consider late round picks, either 75% or 67% of Baalke late round offensive linemen have been from small schools.
The only offensive linemen picked by Baalke that have been cut are Person and Slowey, both of whom are from small schools.
[ Edited by buck on Sep 2, 2013 at 9:54 AM ]