FanPost

Offensive Line Depth Chart


The most glaring needs visible from the 2012 season exist in our offensive line.

According to Pro-Football Focus we had the 2nd to worst O-line in 2012.

With the signing of Gosder Cherilus, the position of RT seems to be set. Anthony Castonzo doesn't seem to be the elite LTs of the league especially in the pass game. But this might be misleading since the O-line in general was bad. Donald Thomas would start at the LG position given his solid year last year replacing Logan Mankins. Therefore aside from the two tackles and LG we might need to find starting O-lineman for the rest of the positions.

Center

The two ideal picks are Travis Frederick from Wisconsin and Barrett Jones from Alabama. Both are projected to go in the 2-3 rounds. I think Frederick is a little bit overrated as the best Center in the draft since he didn't do well against Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, Barrett Jones is undervalued since he went through surgery after the BCS National Championship game. Neither of these are worth a 1st round pick. But if either, especially Jones falls to the 3rd round, I hope Grigson takes him since Jones can play any O-line position and he would fit in since the Alabama and the Stanford Offensive philosophies (under Pep Hamilton) were similar.

Other possibilities are Khaled Holmes from USC or Braxton Cave from Notre Dame for our 6th round pick or Sam Schwartzstein as an undrafted Free Agent. Sam Schwartzstein is from Stanford and I think he is highly undervalued. He could fit in easily.

There are only one FA who we might pay as a starting center -Dan Koppen who played for the Broncos last year.

Guards

DJ Fluker - although he played RT at Alabama, I think he would be better at RG since he isn't as fast as a tackle. He would be fit ideally but I doubt he would be available till the 24th pick. Chance Warmack certainly wouldn't be available since he would be a top 15 pick. Therefore, the second probability for a Guard for our first round pick is Jonathan Cooper from UNC. But he seems to be a top 20 pick as well.

Hence the more probable pick would be Justin Pugh from Syracuse or Kyle Long from Oregon. Here Pugh is a possibility in the 4th Round.

As for Free Agents, Brandon Moore who played for the Jets last year is a very good guard.

If we look at a realistic depth chart I would propose

LT - Anthony Castonzo, Justin Pugh

LG- Donald Thomas, Mike McGlynn, Ben Ijalana

C - Barret Jones, Samson Satele,Sam Schwartzstein

RG - Justin Pugh, AQ Shipley, Justin Anderson

RT - Gosder Cherilus , Bradley Sowell

Seeing that we are not deep at LT, we could draft a Ricky Wagner from Wisconsin for our compensatory pick (if we get one )in the 6th or 7th round.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.