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

[Duck of Death]

Another good read from Kyle De at StormCloud

[CanadianBoltFan]

My impression is that Slaughter's fit in McDaniel's wide zone blocking offense is a plus. High IQ and movement skills at LG.

You are absolutely right. The movement skills are a high priority for MM in this offense.

I am not saying Slaughter cannot do it, make the switch to guard. And we can defer to the NFL coaching authority on the Chargers expected to know what they are doing....but...one fact does remain...this player has only ever played center. We are penciling in a player who has never played guard in a live football game for an NFL starting guard position.

This is not a guarenteed success in year 1 as a rookie.

[Maniaque 6]

I don't think the move from C to G is very difficult
You don't have to snap the ball
You are more concentrated on one side
If Slaughter has a high football IQ, I would bet he can succeed

[Fouts2herbert]

^^^couldn't quote for some reason, but someone posted a list of guys that had only center experience in college and turned into good guards in the pros...to me the ideal thing would be to declare him the backup center and first man in at both guard spots and let him sit in year one, but there will be a ridiculous outcry by the fan base claiming that he is a bust and failed to get a starting job etc...

[Bolt-O]

[Fouts2herbert]

He kinda said that the consensus board is flawed because it doesn't take into account key factors about some of these players that get supposedly "overdrafted"

He also said that had he known that Slaughter would go after their Young pick at #45 and had Young already been gone that he would've considered drafting Slaughter at #45 18 spots before the Chargers took him...that tells me that the consensus board is playing catchup to trends developing in the league and in particular to how important interior linemen have become as more and more teams are developing interior pass rush either through the acquisition of specific players or by running a lot more games up front with their linemen...

One takeaway for me from this interview with DeCosta is that he's butthurt that talented ex-Raven scouts and personnel people around the league have started to do business the way that the Ravens do...boo fucking hoo...

[dmac_bolt]

He kinda said that the consensus board is flawed because it doesn't take into account key factors about some of these players that get supposedly "overdrafted"

He also said that had he known that Slaughter would go after their Young pick at #45 and had Young already been gone that he would've considered drafting Slaughter at #45 18 spots before the Chargers took him...that tells me that the consensus board is playing catchup to trends developing in the league and in particular to how important interior linemen have become as more and more teams are developing interior pass rush either through the acquisition of specific players or by running a lot more games up front with their linemen...

One takeaway for me from this interview with DeCosta is that he's butthurt that talented ex-Raven scouts and personnel people around the league have started to do business the way that the Ravens do...boo fucking hoo...

Defenses have been brutalizing the Chargers on the inside since the day they drafted Slater. Even back in the day, the best way to beat Tom Brady (by far) was to pressure him from the inside. Teams wish they didn’t have to draft IOL as early, but they are learning it could pay off.

Who got the highest FA contract of all OL this year? Was it a Center? Yes indeed F2H - the times they are a’changin’

[Boltnut]

You are absolutely right. The movement skills are a high priority for MM in this offense.

I am not saying Slaughter cannot do it, make the switch to guard. And we can defer to the NFL coaching authority on the Chargers expected to know what they are doing....but...one fact does remain...this player has only ever played center. We are penciling in a player who has never played guard in a live football game for an NFL starting guard position.

This is not a guarenteed success in year 1 as a rookie.

NFL teams do this more often now. We saw the Seahawks select Zabel in the 1st round last year.
I think GM's see short-armed college tackles, cenetrs, and guards as "Interior Offensive Linemen".
They're going to train these guys using their system... using their techniques. It will be different than their college team's anyway.

McDaniel was looking for quick, agile, and smart. They will almost certainly train all of these players at all interior positions.
The real advantage for Slaughter... he won't have to be calling blocking assignments for the rest of the OL right out of the blocks.
Picking up Tyler Biadasz was really the key piece to rebuilding the IOL. He'll be identifying defensive alignments and making the OL calls.

There are no guarantees that any rookie will successfully transition to the NFL... regardless of position or experience.

[RTPbolt]

Im happy for the pick…took me a few to see the value in having the backup center in your guard having seen what happens when your center goes down before. Iknow he was announced as guard but i wonder what if he shows so well at center they just move badass to lg where he makes the line call still and Slaughter becomes C1? Its another option that could be tried and id expect an easier time of a Badass conversion than a rookie. Who knows how things will shake out with all the options now at lg or who knows if Strange couldnt be beaten out at rg. My money is still on them giving Slaughter first shot at lg with other draftees ending up as backup roles. Cant remotely be worse than the street scrubs we had last year starting. Hoping our bottom floor player is Strange which is a far better situation than last year. Going to be a fun camp.