Again, I am almost always in this group as well. No, always. I just worry that we’ve really screwed ourselves here (well, been screwed) and have to take our medicine, and there are enough options that it’s not a terrible outcome. Like, I would never draft need over BPA - that’s how you get busts - but I would use it in the event of a tiebreaker, and I think this one might be close enough to a tiebreaker to count. Like you said, who else would we take?
Now for the record, if any of Bain, Reese, Styles, McCoy, or Downs, is available, I’m taking them over pretty much any OT not named Mauigoa. That’s where it’s not a tiebreaker for me any more, those are clearly above the rest of the tackles. You’ll note that my #2 ranked tackle is #15 overall on my board. That tier probably starts for me around 9 or 10, but anyone above that on my board I would take no questions asked, except perhaps Tyson due to lack of need and injury issues.
You could also very well be right about Max not being two years away, these things are always hard to predict, and his progress already has been quicker than anyone could have expected. I will say that I think the consensus “winner” tag he got from the Senior Bowl is based more on his work in the one-on-ones, once the team sessions started you saw a lot more of the issues on tape creep in. But they almost never show that stuff live, even though it’s the most important stuff.
But it makes sense to me that his lack of years under his belt would mean he’s behind the curve at the more intuitive, instinctive aspects of the position. That’s why I say Flores might give him fits. But I DO think he might be able to step in day one and block a guy mano e mano, but today’s complicated defenses rarely allow you to do that any more.
(Also, just for record-keeping purposes, his arms were 34 3/8 and his hands were 9 3/8 inches… still plenty big enough, just not quite the freakish levels we were expecting).
