Draft...

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

It seems they didn't deem LT as a must get priority as a lot of fans have. As I said before, they will let Braxton and Kiran compete and bring a player in to develop because Braxton probably won't be here next year.

They drafted an OT in the 2nd round, only the 56th player taken. Why would they use a 2nd on the position when they used a 3rd last year unless they thought they needed more competition (i.e. an upgrade) at that position? 2nd round is pretty high priority.

Also, Banks might have been the pick if he was still on the board. We cant know that?
 

[AZ54]

8 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

They drafted an OT in the 2nd round, only the 56th player taken. Why would they use a 2nd on the position when they used a 3rd last year unless they thought they needed more competition (i.e. an upgrade) at that position? 2nd round is pretty high priority.

Also, Banks might have been the pick if he was still on the board. We cant know that?
 

Poles admitted they had modeled 3 OTs going in the top 9 so he wasn't surprised by the fact it went down that way.  My interpretation of this is if the team really felt LT was a critical need they'd have traded up somewhere to make that happen sooner.  Either into the top 9 or back into Rd 1 early Rd 2 for someone like Simmons or Ersery.  I suspect that means they really like Kiran's potential to be the starter and we drafted a swing OT in Rd 2 to compete with Jones/Kiran.   I could be wrong too if they think Kiran is the backup IOL.  We'll know soon when we get reports out of OTAs.  

[BearFan PHX]

25 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Poles admitted they had modeled 3 OTs going in the top 9 so he wasn't surprised by the fact it went down that way.  My interpretation of this is if the team really felt LT was a critical need they'd have traded up somewhere to make that happen sooner.  Either into the top 9 or back into Rd 1 early Rd 2 for someone like Simmons or Ersery.  I suspect that means they really like Kiran's potential to be the starter and we drafted a swing OT in Rd 2 to compete with Jones/Kiran.   I could be wrong too if they think Kiran is the backup IOL.  We'll know soon when we get reports out of OTAs.  

I guess, but if you really like Kiran, why spend a 2nd rounder on an OT? Maybe Kiran is the swing, and now Tapilo is the most likely starter?

[AZ54]

On 4/26/2025 at 10:02 AM, BearFan PHX said:

I guess, but if you really like Kiran, why spend a 2nd rounder on an OT? Maybe Kiran is the swing, and now Tapilo is the most likely starter?

I don't know that anyone can trust that based on what was seen last year from Kiran.  I do know that coaches have had a little bit of time to be around the players before the draft.   They'll have a feel for where Kiran is at physically based on workouts.  They have tape on him from a couple games and college.

IMO they bought an insurance policy.  Not the best one either.  There can also be some thought that we'll just primarily work Kmet on the left side whoever is there at LT.  There's going to be a big question mark at this position until we see what happens in Week 1.  Then we either have a full blown crisis or we settle down and start to see some decent offense.  

[Stinger226]

Poles said they were bringing in competition for Jones and Kiran. Why? Jones isn't ready to play yet. Also Jones would have to play top ball to even considered to get a contract. So they speculate he might not be here, so they draft a T. 

It's just speculation that they would have drafted Banks if available. Not any different than me saying they were drafting Loveland anyways. Both are opinions that can't be proven.

We have to assume by their actions and also their statements that they are fine with Braxton and Kiran as their LTs this year. The ( we need a LT) was clearly fan based chatter.