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MarionBarberThe4th;4354240 said:How high can a guard go? Pouncey 15, Iupati about 18th in recent memory
In the last 20 years, the hights player taken at Guard was Chris Naeole of Colorado by the New Orleans Saints in 1997 with the 10th overall pick in that draft. The next highest is Ruben Brown at 14 by the Bills from Pittsburgh.
What's more, of the 6 Guards who made the Pro-Bowl this year, only Davin Joseph (who we could have signed) and Logan Mankins were 1st round picks. Heck, Brian Waters was undrafted and he was also somebody we could have had this year. I think we just need to be smarter about who we sign. In past years, we signed Kosier for very reasonable money (and let me add that most people didn't like that signing at the time) and got excellent value. We signed Big (who a lot of people liked at the time) and the perception there is that we didn't get very good value. We could have signed Joseph or Waters but we didn't because why? Too much money.
Now many are ready to use our 1st round pick on a Guard when we could have just been smart about it and signed one of these guys. It's likely that we are going to have to sign an FA in the off season anyhow. I know hindsight is 20/20 but honestly, most people new that Joseph would be a good player and the entire board was screaming for Waters at the beginning of the season. Are either of those guys really that hard to figure? Had we signed either of those guys, we are probably still playing right now and our first pick is probably being considered for OLB or CB rather then G.
I think we just need to be smarter about how we are doing business. I think that we should not take a Guard in the 1st round but rather, sign a good FA to play at Guard and develop one of the younger guys long term. I think that we can use Dockery and Holland in the short term and see how Kosier comes along.