The Commanders are taking a QB at No. 2, and they have second-round picks at Nos. 36 and 40, with offensive tackle likely the play at one of those, if not the latter, because you can’t have a rookie QB without a starting left tackle.
GP thinks they have a plan, though: could/would/should they package those two picks, or maybe 36 and one or two other lesser assets, to move back up into the late first round at some point?
“Would you be okay packaging 36 and 40 to go way up the board to take a tackle in the first half of the first round?” Grant asked. “Or, is possible maybe that you go picks 36, 67, and 100 let's say, and you move up to like 24 or 25 and you take one there, and then you still have pick 40 you still have pick 78. You and I both like the idea, not surprisingly, of giving up less and getting a slightly lesser tackle.”
Obviously, but what if there’s a player, and an offer, too good not to match up?
“Let’s say the draft's playing out and at 14, the Saints call you because you had conversations with them before the draft, and they go, ‘listen, Olu Fashanu is there, we know you guys like him, whatever, we will take 36 and 40 right now for 14.’ I think I would do that for him,” GP said. “He’s that good to me. That is a 10-12 year left tackle you don't have to worry about, that's like the seventh or eighth best player in the country maybe, but you're getting him because a weird thing happened and he fell to 14. So even though my proclivity would be to not give up 36 and 40, in a perfect world where your guy falls, I'm willing to do it.”
“Field Yates has eight tackles going in the first round, to give you an idea of how deep and enriched this tackle market is,” Danny replied. “Now the guys at the top like Fashanu are not the same as the Tyler Guytons of the world, who will go in the late first round, and some of these guys probably have second round grades, but when you start scrambling, everybody needs it.”
Grant thinks if that’s the case you HAVE to move up, especially given what’s out there.
“The free agent market for linemen is not what it used to be; you used to always be able to grab somebody, and could find an in his prime free agent guard because people didn't want to pay a Brandon Scherff or something like that,” Danny said. “Now you just can't, because guys are they're locked up if they're good.”
It may all come down to where a run on tackles starts to determine what the Commanders do, because there are a few who go in the Top 10 for sure, but if you can package 36 and 40 to move up to the mid-teens for the last one left in the top tier?
“If you don't pick until 36 or 40, that's where you're going is Tier 3 – and interestingly enough, the guy Yates linked to Washington there is Patrick Paul, Chris Paul's brother from the University of Houston,” GP said. “Not a bad player, but is he a plug and play left tackle starter right away? I'm not sure.”
“I think a lot of these guys at that back end of the tackle class would not be first-rounders if not for position scarcity,” Danny said. “I think he’s got two tackles going in the second round, so eight in the first and two in the second including Chris Paul's bro. I think a lot of those guys might have second-round grades, but because of how important the position is, if you think that guy can start and play for you, you just do it right there in the first round to get that extra year of development.”
