Welcome Jake Slaughter, C/G, Florida (R2 #63)

[Fouts2herbert]

My opinion is that we have added competition to LG by throwing a college center into the mix. i would not say we have unquestionably solved our IOL issues yet

We got our starting LG everyone said we needed and a guy that can take over at center if whatever leg issue Biadasz has becomes a long term problem, Slaughter slides right over...I like that our IOL now has some very athletic players, Penning, Slaughter, Biadasz, and Strange are all really athletic guys and I think they will add another one later this morning...

[Fouts2herbert]

Lets just remember the facts of the last 2 years....

While Joe Hortiz has done an excellent overall job in the draft...the one thing he has certainly not figured out in his first 2 years is the offensive line, specifically IOL. So you will have to excuse me if i want to see more than just over drafting a center in round 2 and assuming he can start as a guard as an NFL rookie... a position he has not played since high school.

In other words when it comes to IOL i am not just blindly taking Joe's word. This is the guy who thought Bradley Bozeman was a good center and started him for 2 full seasons when he was clearly the worst center in the NFL. Joe is not foolproof when it comes to the offensive line

I have Hortiz drafting 3 offensive linemen so far since he took over, Alt #5 overall and we can agree that was a grand slam, Branson in the late 6th round is probably depth piece at guard and maybe even RT, and now Slaughter who is projected to be a starter...Hortiz took heat for not drafting more O-linemen earlier in the draft last year and then he's also taken heat for signing Becton and trading for Penning and Deculus...Becton was a low cost gamble and had just come off a strong season plus he fit the profile for Roman's offense, Penning and Deculus were the only guys that Hortiz could find in a pinch when we got devastated by injuries at the tackle position...

my point is that I'll hold off judging whether or not Hortiz has failed to evaluate talent at the O-line position until I see him draft more O-linemen, of his so-called wiffs? Branson was a late sixth rounder and we don't know he could still turn into something but he was drafted under the Roman regime, trading for Penning and Deculus might look bad but we were in a desperate situation and he traded away 6th and 7th round picks to get those guys, it's not like he gave up premium draft capital so I'm not going to nail him for trying to do something anything to help plug those holes last season...now he drafted an ALL-SEC 3 year starter known for his durability and intelligence who also happens to have a 9.97 RAS in the second to last pick of the 2nd round, basically two picks away from being the top pick in the third round...

[Fouts2herbert]

Who says he over drafted Slaughter, the damn pundits? When it comes to the draft, Hortiz and his team have been brilliant. So I’m saying you need to trust Hortiz and his team more than you trust the talking heads. That’s all I’m saying.

So many people would rather take Dunker, Farmer, Rutledge and move them to LG when all they did was play in the right side of the line. What is an easier transition, C with a high football IQ to LG or right side of the line to the left side of the line?

It’s not like Hortiz hasn’t tried to fix the IOL. He went for Becton last year and Becton sucked. Yes he could have done better than Boze, but the C free agent class and draft class were not good last year. They were hoping Becton could help Boze in the regard. After the season Becton had in Philly, I don’t think anybody expected him to be complete shit.

Agreed, the narrative that Slaughter was a reach is opinion based because few people can argue with his profile and body of work, it's all about a supposed 'accepted narrative' about where he was supposed to go in the draft, Why?

AND, it's not like we took him at #22, we took him 2 picks away from him being the first pick in the 3rd round...

[Fouts2herbert]

That's fair.

The drafting has been very good, so we will see how it plays out. I hope Slaughter kills it. Its a bit of an unconventional solution to the LG issue but they seem pumped. Actually Joe seems to be having lots of fun with his wheeling and dealing... hopefully some starters and not just back ups come out of this draft.

The 105 pick seems important to me. We need a good player with that pick.

As for Bozeman and Becton, those are Joe's choices and he wears them. That is the accountability of being the GM. Every GM on every team, every year is trying.

I don't gamble but Hortiz seems like a safe bet when it comes to the draft...just last year we started two of his 6th round picks, Vidal gave us critical starts as a 2024 6th rounder and we don't make the playoffs without those games he had for us when Hampton was hurt, Mickens became a starting safety as a late 6th round pick from 2025 and he looks like a keeper, Gadsden became our starting TE as a 2025 5th rounder was up there in production with the top tier rookie TEs drafted in the early rounds, for two seasons now we have gotten starts from our 2024 5th round picks in cornerbacks Hart and Still on what has become one of the top 10 defensive units in the NFL...also not starting but certainly earned a mention for providing solid pass rush on passing downs our 2024 4rth round pick Egboibe collected 6 sacks as one of our rotational interior linemen...

I don't think you have to hope, Hortiz finds guys on day three that contribute right away, this year we need a KR/PR and he's proven he can find contributors in day three, I think we'll get some more of those guys today...

[Eurobolt]

Last year IOL transition was also a success Zion Johnson is our C of the future, oh wait....

[Boltinloudguy]

That's fair.

The drafting has been very good, so we will see how it plays out. I hope Slaughter kills it. Its a bit of an unconventional solution to the LG issue but they seem pumped. Actually Joe seems to be having lots of fun with his wheeling and dealing... hopefully some starters and not just back ups come out of this draft.

The 105 pick seems important to me. We need a good player with that pick.

As for Bozeman and Becton, those are Joe's choices and he wears them. That is the accountability of being the GM. Every GM on every team, every year is trying.

Agreed! The next 4 picks need to be contributors. I’m hoping for DT Darrell Jackson Jr., WR Dion Burks, CB Prysock and depth on the IOL like C Jager Burton. One of the 6ths, I’m looking at OT Alex Wollschlaeger. These Kentucky Olinemen are athletic.

[Icebolt]

Hortiz has done a great job overall and we must give him his due.
HOWEVER, he has not been great ( or even mediocre ) with the IOL. He loved Bozeman and thought he was great. But he was not. Some of his other signings in this area are very questionable. So if people have concerns for his choice of a G/C in the 2nd you cannot blame them. Pundits have a very bad record { I never watch Kiper , the sooner people quit watching him the better ). Also, so far this draft, Chargers are telling me that they are happy with what they have in the IOL. Rmember that just last year they were happy with what they had. Chargers needed and Edge, G and DL. After 3 rounds only 1 of those needs has been met. We needed a slam dunk on 2 of these positions so I have concerns.,
The 6th round pick I hope he trades away for next years draft. Joe, please change our minds today!

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Objectives for the Bolts' three 4th round picks:

IOL, DT, Return Specialist.

[Xenos]

Lets just remember the facts of the last 2 years....

While Joe Hortiz has done an excellent overall job in the draft...the one thing he has certainly not figured out in his first 2 years is the offensive line, specifically IOL. So you will have to excuse me if i want to see more than just over drafting a center in round 2 and assuming he can start as a guard as an NFL rookie... a position he has not played since high school.

In other words when it comes to IOL i am not just blindly taking Joe's word. This is the guy who thought Bradley Bozeman was a good center and started him for 2 full seasons when he was clearly the worst center in the NFL. Joe is not foolproof when it comes to the offensive line

Hortiz only drafted one IOL the previous two drafts, which was 6th rounder Branson Taylor. So it’s hard to tell his record exactly.

As for Bozeman, one could argue he was deferring to his HC and OC at the time and what they wanted. The same will be the case here with Slaughter, an obvious McDaniel pick. As well as Biadasz and Strange in FA.

[Xenos]

You mean the reaches?
Every last one of them, in the end, turned into what would be a reach

Yup. We could have drafted Dunker (who I wanted) and Pregnon all at 86 but instead chose to trade out of the 3rd instead.

[Xenos]

Hortiz has done a great job overall and we must give him his due.
HOWEVER, he has not been great ( or even mediocre ) with the IOL. He loved Bozeman and thought he was great. But he was not. Some of his other signings in this area are very questionable. So if people have concerns for his choice of a G/C in the 2nd you cannot blame them. Pundits have a very bad record { I never watch Kiper , the sooner people quit watching him the better ). Also, so far this draft, Chargers are telling me that they are happy with what they have in the IOL. Rmember that just last year they were happy with what they had. Chargers needed and Edge, G and DL. After 3 rounds only 1 of those needs has been met. We needed a slam dunk on 2 of these positions so I have concerns.,
The 6th round pick I hope he trades away for next years draft. Joe, please change our minds today!

Part of it is Hortiz went with what his coaching staff wanted for IOL in FA. In terms of draft picks, the only time we invested a draft pick in an IOL previously was a 6th rounder in Branson Taylor.

Also we only needed Edge and G as starters in this draft. Not sure where you got DL from since Tomlinson was picked up in FA and we extended Tart. DL, like CB, is more of a building depth situation.

[Bolts&noles]

Tend to agree on this. Those 6th rounders are huge question marks and should be used as ammo to move those 4th rounders up the board.

This is kinda what Iam hoping for.
Just go all in on the 4th and 5th round.