Great Article on Marcus Smith...

[deerpathdave]

And it doesn't require a top 5 pick to get one.

And so we get back to that silly thought that you would be happy with the pick if only the guy lined up 10 feet further to the left which we already know is only because the Eagles have a great LT already.

Just because the league undervalues RT, doesn't mean the Eagles should. They got a great player at a key position.

 

[eaglesnut]

And so we get back to that silly thought that you would be happy with the pick if only the guy lined up 10 feet further to the left which we already know is only because the Eagles have a great LT already.

Just because the league undervalues RT, doesn't mean the Eagles should. They got a great player at a key position.

...for more than it should cost to adequately fill the position. Don't forget that part.

Yes I would be happier with the pick if the guy lined up at a position that is harder to fill and therefore usually requires more resources to fill it.

 

[deerpathdave]

...for more than it should cost to adequately fill the position. Don't forget that part.

Yes I would be happier with the pick if the guy lined up at a position that is harder to fill and therefore usually requires more resources to fill it.

Fortunately, the Eagles aren't interested in being "adequate". They drafted a great player...more than capable of playing left tackle...and they got him on the field at a critical position...one that many teams are undervaluing. Still, a position where the top players get $7M per year is hardly a throwaway position by any measure. And they arguably made the best pick of any team in that draft.

Its being incredibly critical and really just plain bitchy to complain that pick. If you look over the last 10 years, their have been 4 players drafted at that spot that are basically busts (Benson, McFadden, Curry, Adams), and two left tackles and two receivers.

 

[eaglesnut]

Fortunately, the Eagles aren't interested in being "adequate". They drafted a great player...more than capable of playing left tackle...and they got him on the field at a critical position...one that many teams are undervaluing. Still, a position where the top players get $7M per year is hardly a throwaway position by any measure. And they arguably made the best pick of any team in that draft.

Its being incredibly critical and really just plain bitchy to complain that pick. If you look over the last 10 years, their have been 4 players drafted at that spot that are basically busts (Benson, McFadden, Curry, Adams), and two left tackles and two receivers.

Now you are just arguing semantics. I'll restate that as "...for more than it cost any successful team ever in modern football to fill the position with any success." The Eagles intentions to be great have nothing to do with it. If you want to be great, being great at RT is not high on the list. I gave you the facts a couple posts ago about how teams fill that position and for what kind of money and the success of those teams.

As for your second paragraph ummm NO. We had the highest picks we'll have in the Chip Kelly era and we got a frigging RT and a friggin TE. That's the point. Just because everyone else sucked around them doesn't make it a great pick. It just means that in a shitty situation we didn't do as bad as we could have done. Which is what I said on page one here.

 

[deerpathdave]

Now you are just arguing semantics. I'll restate that as "...for more than it cost any successful team ever in modern football to fill the position with any success." The Eagles intentions to be great have nothing to do with it. If you want to be great, being great at RT is not high on the list. I gave you the facts a couple posts ago about how teams fill that position and for what kind of money and the success of those teams.

As for your second paragraph ummm NO. We had the highest picks we'll have in the Chip Kelly era and we got a frigging RT and a friggin TE. That's the point. Just because everyone else sucked around them doesn't make it a great pick. It just means that in a shitty situation we didn't do as bad as we could have done. Which is what I said on page one here.

Your logic still just seems so backward and bitchy to me. So if Peters tears his Achilles again, your suddenly fine with the pick? Then you have Johnson starting at LT, maybe Herremans at right. Your no longer overspending on RT according to your definition, but your a much weaker team that maybe is lucky to break .500 and the vaunted Kelly offensive system now seems pretty mediocre. We all know success starts up front and having quality book end tackles is a large part of what makes this work.

 

[eaglesnut]

Your logic still just seems so backward and bitchy to me. So if Peters tears his Achilles again, your suddenly fine with the pick? Then you have Johnson starting at LT, maybe Herremans at right. Your no longer overspending on RT according to your definition, but your a much weaker team that maybe is lucky to break .500 and the vaunted Kelly offensive system now seems pretty mediocre. We all know success starts up front and having quality book end tackles is a large part of what makes this work.

Yes, if you lose your elite LT the team will be worse. Did you think I would dispute that?

If Lane Johnson is forced to play LT and plays it successfully, then that 4th pick was only a RT for a couple years and a LT for longer. Of course that would be a better result out of the 4th pick than just using him at RT for the duration of his career.