With respect to the James Martin pick at OT

Woods

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,460
Reaction score
61
If I remember correctly, after letting Fabini go, we really only had McQ as the primary OT back-up as well as the only player with decent upside to groom (at the OT position).

(Of course, if there was an injury, we could shuffle the OL, but that's probably not the ideal solution.)

I think we had to pick up an OT in the Draft. After Thomas, Brown, and Staley, the top 3 consensus picks at the OT position, the next tier was basically T. Ugoh. (I'm not including Blaylock, Grubbs, and Sears because I think they are more likely to be projected to OG in the NFL.)

However, after those 4 selections, it seems that between R. Harris, D. Free, and James Martin, there was quite a bit of ambiguity. From what Norm and the guys were saying yesterday on radio, Harris was termed as a "white collar" player. I'm sure after the J. Rogers experience, the coaching staff wanted to avoid that label at all costs. And between Free and Martin, the coaching staff obviously favored Martin.

Also, by most projections, the 3rd round was about right for Martin. So I think we got "fair" value. Maybe we could have traded a bit lower in the 3rd to get him, but that's nitpicking in the bigger context.
 
Top