Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalisto2010
I agree that offensive lines are vitally important. However, did the Saints or the Colts build up their offensive lines before they brought in Drew Bree's or Peyton? Did the Pittsburgh Steelers build up their Offensive line prior to drafting Ben? Lastly, the Patriots have only drafted one o-lineman in the first round since year 2000. Granted, they did draft 2 o-lineman in the second rounds, but I'm just having a hard time finding any historical evidence to support your theory of building a line before filling the most important position on the field, QB.
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I think there is a lot of evidence to support the proposition: A rookie qb behind an ineffective line will lead to the demise of that rookie qb.
I know that is not the argument you made, but lets be honest, if we don't strengthen and deepen our OL ability, that is the proposition we are talking about.
fact 1: QB's that are not P. Manning are not guaranteed to be franchise qb's. And any rookie qb can get shell shocked by the speed of the game, even behind a good oline.
fact 2: We do not have a good oline. Remember we played 5 0fer teams in a row(not counting the Giants who hadn't played a game) and still had a high sack count. JC rushed more than any other qb in our division, and we still had a high sack count.
fact 3: In recent years, teams with Rookie qbs and solid lines have done far better than qbs with rookie qbs and weak lines. Prime example is NYJ/Sanchez, and Balt/Flacco. Neither of those qbs had stellar stats, yet both grew into their position behind very good olines, compared to Det/Stafford.
So the question is do we need to have the Shanahan Hogs in place before we get a franchise qb?
My answer would be no, but you need to have them in place before the qb takes a seasons worth of snaps.