Drafting a first round QB to play on a team with this many holes is setting us up for failure. Should the QB not be an absolute start, we wasted a first rounder and set the team back another 3-4 years. You roll with Case Keenum and put talent around a young kid who already has shown a lot of promise. He's LEARNING.
Too bad there isn't any Andrew Luck's in this draft... As much as I like Manziel and want him to succeed because he's so fun to watch, I think he's going to get destroyed in the NFL and i'd rather have another team draft him. I'd take Clowney then draft a QB in the 2nd or 3rd. Not sure what kind of QB's are coming in in 2015?
That's how you end up in the Bengals' situation. QB is good enough to not replace, but not good enough to win anything big. Similar to the Texans with Schaub. Franchise QBs are the hardest thing to find, and it's rare that you get an opportunity to have your pick of one. The Texans should take it. Every team that drafts at the top of the draft has holes - yet plenty of them find franchise QBs and don't fail.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are likely heading to the playoffs again, and 4 out of the last 6 years. Agreed that the first round is the most likely place to find a franchise QB... but disagree that "plenty" of them are found by teams. A bust of a QB pick sets a team further back than "missing out" on one does (presuming that the player you did pick contributes something). I'd actually take a Dalton-like debut/career-thus-far out of the QB's currently slated for the top few picks. To me, Bridgewater = Leftwich, Mariota = Harrington, and Manziel = Fitzpatrick.
You mean the same andrew luck that singlehandedly transformed a horrible colts team into a 11-5 playoff team and is in position to win the division this year? Quit hating, I would trade a number 1 right now for luck.
They're virtually identical... right down to the school/height/weight! But of course, it wouldn't take much for him to be better than him. Derek Carr, without looking at who he's related to, may end up better than any of the above guys I mentioned... but I doubt the Texans explore that gene pool again.
I'm against spending a first rounder on an OT. If you don't have any good tackles and are looking for your franchise LT, then yes. If you already have a solid LT that just made a pro bowl and singed a big contract extension, then no. Duane Brown isn't going anywhere, so any OT you draft will probably be playing RT for the entirety of his rookie contract. And while it would be awesome to have two awesome tackles bookending the line, you shouldn't have to spend a high first to shore up RT. You can fix that position with a lower pick and use your first pick elsewhere. You don't need to get a great player to see a huge improvement at RT. Just look at Winston. He's not THAT good but the dropoff from him to Newton was huge. That high first is incredibly valuable and I think using it on a RT is overkill for the position. Yes, you'll fix the position but you'll be getting more than you need. You don't need elite level play there like you do on the left side in order to be solid at the position. And don't forget that we drafted 2 OT last year in Williams in Quessenberry. It's hard to evaluate Williams because we didn't see much, but Quessenberry looked like he was definitely going to be a starter, if not at tackle then at guard. We get both of those guys back next year. Quessenberry projects better as a guard so maybe you still draft an RT to compete with Williams (driving both Newton and Harris out of town), but I wouldn't spend a first on one and probably not even a 2nd.
All of that is presuming you're keeping this regime. This O-line is not a "big" O-line... but it is mobile. If the next regime prefers more power blocking, less zone blocking, and uses an entirely different scheme... the entire O-line could certainly be suspect. Also, Duane Brown has not had a good year from the start... he's under contract, but I don't think you shy away from tackles simply because you have him on the roster.
I think the problem is that you end up either kind of "wasting" a high first by playing them at RT instead of the premium position of LT where a high pick is worth it. OR you move Brown to RT where the millions and millions of dollars you've just poured into him will "go to waste". He starts getting paid like a Top 5 LT in 2015 and would instantly become the highest paid RT in the league if you moved him. And you can't cut him because it creates too much dead money. So neither is really ideal.
And likely 1st round losers. As I said, good enough that they can't justify a change - but he's the weak link on a team with great receivers, running game, and deference, and will mostly likely be the piece that holds them back. Great for trying to be good. Terrible for trying to be great. Nonsense. If Indy had taken Ryan Leaf in 1999, picking the bust would have been less damaging (3 years of waste) than missing out on Manning (10+ years of playoffs). The goal should ALWAYS be to seek greatness. If you fail, you fail. But trying to play it safe is not a formula for getting anywhere in the NFL. You can generally find A-level talent at every position - except QB - over the course of a few years. Great QBs rarely are found outside of the draft, unless a team is lucky enough to have 2 of them and lets one go (Brees, Manning).
With spread offenses, quick reads, and overall the overall rules favoring the passing game... there isn't much of a disparity between the importance of LT and RT anymore. They're BOTH important. Hell, last year's #1 overall pick is playing RT for the Chiefs this year... and is being paid "millions and millions of dollars" to do so. Also, you've seen first hand on how having a bad RT can lead to an awful offense just as much as having a bad LT can.
Isn't this going to depend on the inside ratings of each QB? If Mariota and Bridgewater aren't that much higher than Mettenburger or Carr or whoever is available around 33, then the Texans can go Barr or Clowney with their 1st pick.
Same could have been said for Flacco last year. Kaepernick and Wilson aren't the strongest parts of their teams either. They still have built strong teams that give them a chance... and they didn't reach for a first round QB simply because they "needed" one. Again, if this team only needed just a QB, I'd be right there with you... but its clear they need help EVERYWHERE. The team that picked the "bust" (Chargers) was set back more so than had they picked somebody else... and eventually spent a couple more first day picks on QB over the next 6 years trying to correct the mistake. Eventually, they were able to make the playoffs... and even beat Manning during the Manning era... but would have clearly been better served having NOT picked Leaf (instead of simply missing out on Manning, but drafting a contributor). Certainly... but nobody in this year's draft has the look of a can't miss, A-level, QB talent. They're all "good", but that doesn't mean this is setting up for another Manning-Rivers-Rothlesberger like class.
But with the intention of moving him to LT next year. They're not keeping Branden Albert. Jags were going to do the same thing with Joeckel, having Eugene Monroe play LT. But then they traded Monroe to Baltimore and Joeckel got hurt. They had that option since Albert was franchise tagged and both he and Monroe are free agents next year. That's not going to be the case with Brown.
Maybe... by all accounts, he's been pretty mediocre this year and may need more time there. Also, teams best pass rushers are no longer playing only on one side of the ball, meaning you better have talent at either tackle spot. Duane Brown's regression this year, and potential scheme change, should very much have this team considering all possible options... including tackles.
With more mobile pocket passers it's also possible to make do with non studs at the LT/RT positions. Nobody's finding the next Peyton, but the Broncos are doing wonders with backup . McCoy's made excellent work with a piecemeal line anchored by the crappy LT that was the Eagles' scapegoat all last year. Luck isn't lighting the world on fire, but the Colts made it work last year where everyone on that line only had like 2 years at their starting position.
