In our last draft profile, we took a look at Cam Newton, who right now Mel Kiper has as the Redskins' current first round pick in his initial mock draft. Today we shift gears a little bit and take a look at one of the other major need positions, and that would be the offensive line. For the last couple of years, the offensive line has been...well...offensive. I don't care if Joe Montana in his prime is back playing quarterback, if he doesn't have a decent line to protect him, he's going to be running for his life instead of standing tall in the pocket firing touchdown passes. Cam Newton is an intriguing prospect because I opined that his escapability can perhaps mask some of the deficiencies up front. However, not everyone is Michael Vick (...oops), and professional defenses can (and usually do) adjust. It might not happen right away, but it usually does. So, the offensive line cannot be neglected as it has in the past. Trent Williams was an awesome pick last year (I personally was a fan of Russell Okung, but hey what do I know?). However, he needs some help...big help. Another bookend tackle to complement Trent isn't the "one player away," that Snyder has been dreaming of, far from it. However, he is a huge piece of that puzzle. Therefore, today's draft profile focuses on one of those key linemen who will be available this year: Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin offensive tackle.
Picture from The Sports Bank
To understand the importance of a strong offensive line, one need look no farther than the offensive production of the Wisconsin Badgers. Not a single regular season game was played with them socoring less than 20 points. TCU held them to 19 in the Rose Bowl, kind of giving TCU a claim to the....nevermind. Take a look at these point totals: 41, 27, 20, 70, 24, 41, 31, 31, 34, 83, 48, 70. Wow. I know that some of that was defensive touchdowns after the offensive taken their foot off the gas, but still. You don't score that many point unless you have an offensive that does two things. First, open up huge (and I mean HUGE) holes for a running game. Second, give receivers time to get down field and stretch it. Scott Tolzien had a 73% completion percentage and a 166 rating thanks to eons in the pocket. Gabe Carimi played no small roll in that offensive output.
Pundits and pollsters showered Carimi with personal accolades this year as the mainstay bookend on that Wisconsin offensive machine. Take a look at this hardware: Consensus All Big 10 and Consesnsus All American, Big 10 Offensive Lineman of the Year, Outland Trophy (Nation's most outstanding interior lineman). He had to replace Joe Thomas as a freshman, who was selected by the Browns in the first round in 2007 (how did that pick work out for them?), pretty big shoes to fill at the collegiate level. Everything that you look for in an offensive tackle is there. He missed only 3 games during his entire college career (in 2008) due to injury, demonstrating durability. He's versatile, playing multiple positions right now at the Senior Bowl practices. He did play left tackle in college, but the scouts are moving him mostly to left guard, and some right tackle as well.
It appears as if Nate Solder from Colorado is establishing himself as the premier offensive tackle in the draft, thanks to his Senior Bowl practices. However, Carimi is establishing himself playing multiple positions during the practices. Right now, Mosely at the NFC Beast Blog is predicting that the Eagles (yuck) are taking a hard look at Carimi, which might mean his is slipping since the Eagles are picking late in the 1st round. Of course, the Redskins are also well-represented at the Senior Bowl...or maybe not. So we probably are not giving this guy (or any of his other lineman counterparts) the looks they really deserve. Perhaps Shanahan feels like his mind is already made up and he's going to go with whomever Mel Kiper tells him to pick. We all know how seriously the Redskins take the draft. Oh well, that's the Redskins for you.
In our next profile, we'll take a look at the other side of the ball. Good D-linemen are almost as hard to come by as offensive linemen. Ever since we suspended a certain #92 whose name I will never mention again on this blog, defensive tackle and defensive end have become much more of a need position as it should be. We'll take a look at one premier defensive linemen who the Redskins should be considering in our next post.
You mentioned it, but I know the Colts are predicted to possibly nab Carimi (or the tackle from BC), and they pick like a year after the Redskins do (even in a shitty, 10-win year). I haven't seen any mock that has him going higher than the 20s. That said, Carimi (or at least the Wisconsin O-line as a whole) was spectacular. They were four yards from having three 1,000-yard rushers, and as you know from TMQ they literally RAN up the score several times - by simply calling running plays late in games and being too good to stop themselves from scoring.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remember hearing on Mike and Mike or The Herd a month or two back an interview with an old coach, but can't for the life of me remember who it was. Anyhow, they were discussing evaluating offensive linemen coming out of college, and the coach said the biggest thing he used to look for was whether the guy graduated in four years. Discipline, he contended, and the discipline it takes to finish your degree in a timely manner, was extremely important in playing offensive line in the NFL. Carimi seems to have his stuff together.
I agree, this kid has his stuff together. He is very underrated, but right now it looks like Nate Solder is cleaning up at the Senior Bowl practices. We'll see what he does at the combine and at his pro day. He still has some chance to shoot into the top 10. The kid's a stud.
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