Foolish thinking. Yes, it's not his back but it's still an injury and he's still missing games and he's clearly a guy you can't count on for a full 17 games. Now, no, you don't cut him or anything like that, but this offseason should absolutely be used to figure out where we are going with the LT position. If that's Ball, great. If they aren't sure Ball is the guy, yes, using a high pick on a LT would make sense.
You’re a Rashawn Slater guy? Imagine picking him for the future at LT and passing on an immediate impact player. Or him sitting behind Tyron for 12/13 games and operating as a swing. Now he has inside/out versatility but that’s not the norm.
We have guys who can be swing T’s, so drafting a LT high must be with the intention to start him sooner rather than later. If not it’s a wasted pick. Again, the injuries he has suffered this year are not serious therefore they don’t affect his future. Had he still been going through back or neck issues I totally get it. But an ankle sprain isn’t going to spell the end of his career. He’ll be back in a few weeks and as long as he goes into next offseason without any new major injuries he’s the starter going into 2022.
I understand it’s annoying he misses 3/4 games, but I’m not going to draft a guy in round 1 who could theoretically not see the field as the normal starter for his whole rookie contract. You have good swing tackles who can hold it down for a few games, that’s all a high pick will be anyways.
Literally Rashawn Slater is the exact situation you’re referring to. Now as the poster above mentioned getting a guy who’s a G that can become your LT makes sense. But a sole LT pick high makes little sense as he won’t start a majority of the year.
I don’t spend 1st round picks on guys who won’t start for probably 2-3 years. If it’s BPA we can talk but it’s not a 1st round pick priority. In a perfect world you take a G/T to plug in at LG and hope he’s around for the future of the LT position. But other than those situations drafting a LT high makes no sense.
The question I have for you is, are you willing to draft a guy in round 1 who will likely only see 3-4 weeks of starter snaps (assuming he’s purely a T)? Keep in mind other than the neck/back which seems to be behind Ty, his injuries have always been minor and keep him out for 1-3 weeks a season. Because we both know that as long as Tyron goes into next season without a major injury he’s the starter and there’s not going to be an available human being in the world better than him at LT, he’s been great this year.
