Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I think the point is that even top 10 LTs have a pretty spectacular bust rate.
Trading up even into the top 10 isn't going to guarantee that you've 'fixed this shit' at all. In fact, history says you've given yourself maybe a coin-flip chance. And in the process have likely burned 2 first rounders in so doing.
Latham and Alt look like pretty damn good players, but both went top 7. Meanwhile Guyton, Fashanu and Mims have been pretty damn rough. They wouldn't have 'fixed' anything.
Paris Johnson looks good this year out of the 2023 class - he was 6th overall. Darnell Wright has been solid this year but he's a pretty pure RT -- that's why he slipped to 10. Anton Harrison has been awful and Dawand Jones even worse.
Go back to 2022 and you can find some pretty good players in there in Raimann, Ekwonu, Zach Tom, Charles Cross, Braxton Jones, Luke Goedeke and Rasheed Walker. That's a pretty fantastic OT class that saw 3 go in the top 10.
Edwonu has disappointed but is playable, likewise Evan Neal. Cross at 9 is probably the 'gem' from that group. That said, you halso have Goedeke who went in the 2nd, Raimann who went in the 3rd, Lucas who went in the 3rd, Jones who went in the 5th and Tom that went in the 6th and Walker in the 7th. Shit, we took Kinnard before Jones, Tom and Walker came off the board -- that's a scouting failure, not a draft position problem.
There were more good OTs to come out of the later rounds that year than there were in the 1st.
It just isn't as simple as "Trade up and take a guy!!"
We may really need to evaluate what it is we're looking at/for with the position. Because trading up isn't going to do us much good if the same calculus that had us valuing Kinnard over Jones is what's going to drive us. Or Bryan Cook over Lucas and Raimann.
We need to do a better job evaluating the position.
Nobody wants to develop LT’s. It’s an incredibly difficult job and there are countless examples of players needing time to develop.
Someone mentioned the Raimann kid from the Colts. That guy got absolutely baptized in Denver a couple years ago. He looked ****ing terrible just like Kingsley. He gave up pressure on almost 7% of his pass plays early on (top 3 worst rates in the league) and he improved massively to under 6% the next season.
The history is there. I don’t understand why everyone is so quick to throw Kingsley in the trash. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Wisconsin_Chief:
Spot on. If Humphries ends up playing well and they don't pay him, they damn well better go out and get someone even better next offseason, no matter what it takes. I have to imagine Pat has had just about enough and hopefully is relaying the same message to them.
It should be quite clear at this point that Mahomes is not going to be what he should be without a goddamn competent LT. This pussyfooting bullcrap needs to stop, get him a damn left tackle. I don't care if the value isn't there, I don't care if you have to overpay, just do it.
There's a huge difference between writing Kingsley off entirely and not being willing to pencil him in as anything more than a project for 2025. That kid needs YEARS of work at this point, and by the time he's ready to be deployed it'll be time for Taylor to fuck off the payroll. So yeah, regardless, we still need to find AT LEAST one boat and it may be two. [Reply]
If Humphries looks even like a Donovan Smith level LT that can be decent and not fuck this offense over then you keep him and continue to develop Kingsley in the background.
Don’t care if it takes 2 or 3 years. In that scenario Kingsley could be a playable LT at the ripe age of 24 if it all works out.
I just don’t think we’re gonna be able to get a LT that is truly worth trading up for. I would bet those guys go in the top 13 and it seems so fucking impossible to trade up that far. [Reply]
Absolutely not. Humphries has missed almost 1/3rd of the games he could've played in. That's a fast track to Suamataia being forced into play when he's not ready once again. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
The history is there. I don’t understand why everyone is so quick to throw Kingsley in the trash.
A lot of it is because this fan base has become spoiled (in fairness, for good reason) and has no patience with anyone who isn't performing at a very high level. Some of that is a function of placing an ordinately high value on a three-peat; most of it is just forgetting that teams aren't perfect and we've been ungodly fortunate over the past several years.
As DJ said, we can trade 2 1's, a 2, and a 3 and get up to 5 and get someone like Alt. But we may also end up with someone like Becton who is drafted high and never pans out, either for talent or injury reasons. And that's a big swing and miss that can absolutely set the team back if other picks also don't hit. [Reply]