Tim and Pat's Sirius NFL Radio Mock draft today (1 Viewer)

BlackNGoldblood

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
VIP Contributor
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
5,754
Reaction score
5,300
Age
49
Offline
Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan's mock draft today had Saints taking offensive lineman DJ Fluker with 15th pick. Werner went to Bucs at 13. Tim made the pick, said Saints needs were offensive line, defensive line and safety. He also made Werner pick, said Bucs would go with best available defensive player instead of addressing major need at corner.
 
I respect Tim a lot and I'm no expert, but I've watched every game DJ played and he just doesn't look anything like an NFL LT to me.

He could be a great RT for a decade or more, but I'm not seeing LT at all.
 
I guess Fluker would be ok, but he's only a right tackle

Tim said he could play all positions on o-line.

I respect Tim a lot and I'm no expert, but I've watched every game DJ played and he just doesn't look anything like an NFL LT to me.

He could be a great RT for a decade or more, but I'm not seeing LT at all.

I think in our system he would be an upgrade. We do not need the "franchise LT". We can do just as well with a traditional RT. Drew gets the ball out fast. We do not need our tackle blocking for 8 seconds. As long as he does not give up immediate inside pressure or get bullrushed straight back to Drew, we are fine most of the time. Plus with the addition of Ben Watson, we are going to be running a lot of 2 TEs sets, so we have even less of a need for a franchise LT.

What would be an improvement is down blocking in goal line and in the running game. Fluker would be much better than Bushrod in those areas because he has much better lower body strength. I would think of Fluker as a Marcus NcNeill or a Donald Penn type.

Now all that said I think Tim and Pat are falling too much into "guy think". The see LT as our biggest area of need and thus are pigeon holing the next best tackle at our spot. Payton and Loomis see the big picture. They are not going to draft a guy in the first round when they can fill the need with a good enough player later while passing on talent in the first round at another position.
 
He's a right tackle and a big reach at #15

Not gonna lie I'd absolutely hate this pick.
 
I think in our system he would be an upgrade. We do not need the "franchise LT". We can do just as well with a traditional RT. Drew gets the ball out fast. We do not need our tackle blocking for 8 seconds. As long as he does not give up immediate inside pressure or get bullrushed straight back to Drew, we are fine most of the time. Plus with the addition of Ben Watson, we are going to be running a lot of 2 TEs sets, so we have even less of a need for a franchise LT.

What would be an improvement is down blocking in goal line and in the running game. Fluker would be much better than Bushrod in those areas because he has much better lower body strength. I would think of Fluker as a Marcus NcNeill or a Donald Penn type.

Now all that said I think Tim and Pat are falling too much into "guy think". The see LT as our biggest area of need and thus are pigeon holing the next best tackle at our spot. Payton and Loomis see the big picture. They are not going to draft a guy in the first round when they can fill the need with a good enough player later while passing on talent in the first round at another position.

Not sure I agree 100%. I agree we do not need a stud LT, but I am not sure a traditional RT can simply fill in. THey would have to be able to handle speed rushers and have the feet and arms to do so. If they are too slow with the feet, they will get Drew killed regardless of how quickly he gets it out.
 
I respect Tim a lot and I'm no expert, but I've watched every game DJ played and he just doesn't look anything like an NFL LT to me.

He could be a great RT for a decade or more, but I'm not seeing LT at all.

Tim did mention our right and left tackle as spots of need before making the pick.
 
He's a right tackle and a big reach at #15

Not gonna lie I'd absolutely hate this pick.


Yeah, there are better options.

Agree that 15 is too early and if we reach I'd hate to reach for a player that doesn't even play the position we're reaching for.

He's a late 1st early 2nd pick.
 
Not sure I agree 100%. I agree we do not need a stud LT, but I am not sure a traditional RT can simply fill in. THey would have to be able to handle speed rushers and have the feet and arms to do so. If they are too slow with the feet, they will get Drew killed regardless of how quickly he gets it out.

I see what you are saying. You can not be a statue at LT or RT, but I also do not think the Saints really need a top tier LT to be successful. We were fine with a very average Bushrod. What kills the Saints with the pass rush are 3 things 1) Quick pressure from up the middle 2) Quick pressure from the DE on an inside move on our tackles 3) Bull rushing our tackles straight back into Drew. That is why we funnel the rush to the outside and put our money in the middle. It is our best chance to negate all three of those situations from happening.

With Bushrod, he had pretty good feet, but he also had a very weak lower body for a tackle. When Bushrod got into trouble was when he could not get his hands inside on the defender. People tend to think Bushrod struggled with speed, but he really struggled with power. We were able to do fine with Bushrod. I think we would be fine with a guy like Fluker.

Just for the record though I am not saying I want Fluker at 15. In fact I do not. My point is though that I do think a player like Fluker (or Fluker himself latter in the draft) would do fine at LT for us. We to not structure our oline like most teams.
 
I think this guy nails it...

WEAKNESSES: At his size, Fluker is strictly a right tackle or perhaps even a guard prospect as he hasn't demonstrated the agility or balance necessary to handle NFL speed rushers on a consistent basis. Even as a run blocker -- his specialty -- Fluker has a tendency to drop his head and stop his feet as he makes contact, resulting in some of his more talented opponents being able to disengage.

D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com
 
We will not "need" an OT on Draft Day. The current management is smart enough to plug that hole with a serviceable free agent before then.

First-round drafting is not their strength, but economical free-agency IS their strength.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom