I, State Your Name...

[Guest]

I was for taking a CB in the first and then an OL with our second and in fact posted it many times pre draft.  Honestly I was not up on Hughes like several other corners but supported the position pick.  I really liked the O'Neill pick and predicted he would take over RT from Hill this year.  Great athlete and former Basketball player of the year in high school/Delaware then started at TE and then Tackle.  His feet and movement jumped out at you when you watched him in college.  

I was all in on Tackle because of the value of a starting Tackle in a league full of mediocre play and contracts for good ones second to QB's.  I think O'Neill is going to be an excellent RT and then move to LT where his feet and movement will make him an all-pro in a few years.  Yea, early but that's what predictions are...early guesses.  

[Guest]

@FSUVike said:
Back to OT....

And by the way, I was totally right to defend the pick. My new name should be FSUDraftGuru.

But why did I like it? There's been some really great success stories regarding TEs putting on weight and converting to OTs.

Lane Johnson is the poster child but we saw another one last night: Alejandro Vilkanueva. Tried out a couple of times as a TE, didn't get picked up, went back to the Army. Eagles eventually inked him as a DE and he started putting on weight. They cut him and Tomlin immediately signed him and told him to add even more weight. Now he's a legit Franchise LT.

You can't always expect athletic TEs to bulk up, keep the weight AND keep the athleticism. But O'Neil had the work ethic and he's kept the athleticism. Sure, he was raw. But there's plenty of tales of guys struggling at Sr. Bowls and developing. And I saw none of the issues Clemmings had before he was drafted.

It was a great pick and I suspect you'll see an early pick on Guard and boy there are plenty to choose from again this year.

If Rick goes DE, DT and LB with the first 3 picks and doesn't sign any Guards, though, I will rip him a new one here ad nauseum. Until that actually happens I'm going to trust him. Signed Reiff, drafted Elf & O'Neil. He's earned the benefit of the doubt.

I'll agree completely and go back a bit further to cite Joe Staley, a converted TE and one of the most consistent LTs in the game. There has been a trend to have OL who are bigger and bigger, often at the expense of athleticism, and I think it leads to more injuries. O'Neill is a nice shift back from that trend.

One thought...I hope the team doesn't keep pushing him to gain weight. I think Kalil played around 300 in college and his rookie year but the Vikings wanted him to bulk up to 315-320. Kalil had other problems, too, but I don't think the added weight was good for his knees.

[Guest]

I was pretty lukewarm about the first and second picks in the draft (Hughes and O'Neil).  I'm sure glad I was wrong because their contributions to the team have been pretty substantial during the times they were on the field.

[Guest]

@Jor-El said:

@FSUVike said:
Back to OT....

And by the way, I was totally right to defend the pick. My new name should be FSUDraftGuru.

But why did I like it? There's been some really great success stories regarding TEs putting on weight and converting to OTs.

Lane Johnson is the poster child but we saw another one last night: Alejandro Vilkanueva. Tried out a couple of times as a TE, didn't get picked up, went back to the Army. Eagles eventually inked him as a DE and he started putting on weight. They cut him and Tomlin immediately signed him and told him to add even more weight. Now he's a legit Franchise LT.

You can't always expect athletic TEs to bulk up, keep the weight AND keep the athleticism. But O'Neil had the work ethic and he's kept the athleticism. Sure, he was raw. But there's plenty of tales of guys struggling at Sr. Bowls and developing. And I saw none of the issues Clemmings had before he was drafted.

It was a great pick and I suspect you'll see an early pick on Guard and boy there are plenty to choose from again this year.

If Rick goes DE, DT and LB with the first 3 picks and doesn't sign any Guards, though, I will rip him a new one here ad nauseum. Until that actually happens I'm going to trust him. Signed Reiff, drafted Elf & O'Neil. He's earned the benefit of the doubt.

I'll agree completely and go back a bit further to cite Joe Staley, a converted TE and one of the most consistent LTs in the game. There has been a trend to have OL who are bigger and bigger, often at the expense of athleticism, and I think it leads to more injuries. O'Neill is a nice shift back from that trend.

One thought...I hope the team doesn't keep pushing him to gain weight. I think Kalil played around 300 in college and his rookie year but the Vikings wanted him to bulk up to 315-320. Kalil had other problems, too, but I don't think the added weight was good for his knees.

remember back thought that Kalil added the weight because he got bull rushed onto his ass by the bigger DEs.  his technique was decent but no anchor weight or decent push in the run game.  he needed to get stronger and heavier...his 2nd year though he just got fatter and thats when it went down hill for him.