I’m inclined to think the Saints would ideally like to leave this draft w/ Bowers

SweetT said
So wouldn’t a team draft Olinemen high to protect these HOF QBs? I would think so, but for half a decade they didn’t. Sure the QB skill level has something to do with it, but our Oline only gave up 38 sacks in 2022. Dalton was ranked as one of the safest QBs in the league, despite us not having at least 1 starter on the Oline in 11 of 17 games. If Penning was not considered a starter, then we didn’t field at least 1 starter for 17 games. How did we accomplish that much, with a QB well past his prime in Andy Dalton? Along with being a guy who should have never been a starting QB at that time. He was protected and claimed as “clean” on 71% of his passes.
Now, how did the same returning Olinemen completely forgot how to block in 2023 when we upgraded the QB position? Their efficiency dropped dramatically. The Oline started to click in week 12. Some can say it was bc we played terrible teams, but we had an easy schedule all year. So I’m not buying that. I firmly believe that our issues was coaching and miscommunication at the forefront.

Something like 63% of All-Pro and Pro-Bowl OL are drafted in the 1st round. Then like 16% or so are drafted in the 2nd. It's clear that you find the best OL in the upper rounds of the draft. And that's not unusual since you would expect the best players at any position to be drafted high. Some you can get lower because they are devalued positions like S, RB, and to some extent LB (not EDGE rushing LBs), but that is not the case with OT.

Some teams get lucky and manage to get good OL in later rounds, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.

A team shouldn't force an OL pick early in a draft if the value isn't right, but it would be dumb to just decide not to take OL high in drafts under any circumstances.