I am sticking with my prediction that 3 OTs will be gone by #14, for the reasons stated above by
@DaBruinz. I’ve felt this way since I came to the conclusion last fall that the OT situation is a fiasco and not just because they were getting poorly coached. Year in, year out, teams just always seem to be in the market for OT and pass rushers. It’s like what
@patfanken has been saying for a long time, the guys with an elite level combination of size and agility are rare and always in high demand. Even then they often bust, so there’s obviously a lot more to it.
Of the teams currently ahead of the Pats, I think the Raiders, Bears, Titans, and Green Slime are strong possibilities to take an OT. Certainly it’s also possible that another team or two, such as the Falcons or even the Cardinals, could surprise and go for an OT, or another team trading up for one. However, the top OT prospects are, IMHO not the clearly elite level guys we’ve seen in the past, they all have evident areas for concern, so for me the teams to watch on this are those first four I mentioned above.
Skoronski is the X factor for me here. I assume that due to the short arms he’ll be drafted as an OG but it would not surprise me if there may be a team or two that sees him differently, or if they want an OG. Last year the first OG was taken at #15 and the second at #17 so it’s not crazy to think a team may want Skoronski before #14.
With that said, I’m expecting Johnson, B. Jones, and D. Wright to be picked before #14 and would hope the Pats take any of them if available at #14. If those 3 OTs are gone I’d be more than OK with Witherspoon or Gonzalez at #14, but if they’re gone also (which I expect) I’d hope for a trade down to the early 20s and a pick in the 2nd round, with one of those 3 picks being the future LT1.
