GoofyBuckeye said:
Munoz projects late first round to second round. All depends on how his past injuries look.
Remember, the OL is all scheme not where they are drafted. Denver routinely has the best line but there isn't a single first rounder on the team
George Foster, their very good RT, is a first rounder. Their best lineman, Dan Neil, is a 3rd rounder. Ben Hamilton is from the fourth. Most Broncos fans I know hate Matt Lepsis, who is an OK LT that was an UDFA. The only person that has really really exceeded expectations is Tom Nalen, who was drafted in the 7th. Otherwise, you can get good guards in the 3rd and 4th, but the NFL proves that you really need to draft a LT high to have a good one, and LT is the most important position on the line.
It's not just about the scheme. It can be argued that the scheme is more important than the players, but I still wouldn't go along with that. If you look at who the good LTs in the league are, you'll see that if they weren't drafted in the first, they're an anomaly.
You have to get talented players. What good is a scheme if the players are too slow or too weak to execute? The Broncos are an anomaly because their scheme is designed for smaller, quicker lineman, who don't need to be strong. Therefore, they don't need to always get the best lineman. Most teams don't even have that much of a blocking scheme, actually. The Broncos use zone blocking, that's a scheme. Other teams just say "okay, here's what guy you have to block, and here's where you have to keep him from getting". Obviously, that's simplified. But that's the general goal of most NFL offensive lineman -- know who to block and block them. You can't just plug in nobodies, because even if you have a scheme that tells them EXACTLY where to go, they still might not be strong enough or have good enough technique to make that block. That's the reason lineman go high -- they have good technique, can get there in time to make the block, and can make it. You can't just plug people in, unless they can make the blocks, and most UDFA can't.
I mean, a rundown of the 11 best tackles in the NFL (opinion) provides them ALL as first rounders and many as high firsts. Willie Anderson, Jon Ogden, Orlando Pace, Walter Jones, Willie Roaf, Tra Thomas, Chris Samuels, Mike Williams, Tarik Glenn, Bryant McKinnie, Jordan Gross.. they were all former first rounders . Marvel Smith and Matt Light are good LT's and they went in the second. I think if you look at a team besides the Broncos that can run the ball, usually, they will have a lineup filled with solid players and a few high draft picks. What you're advocating is what the Browns have been trying to do.. fill in their holes with scrubs. The scheme they run works and has worked in plenty of places. It's the players that can't execute it because they aren't talented enough.
