NFL Draft: Offensive tackle draft class lacks talent, depth

The 2017 NFL draft class lacks top-end talent at offensive tackle. The Seahawks need to plan on acquiring the player they need through another method.

There are still a lot of offensive tackles left to study; it is possible that an unexpected gem or two will be uncovered. That said, the consensus top 5 tackles have already been studied and profiled already. The top end of this draft class leaves much to be desired.

Of that group, only one player was given a 1st round grade, and it was mid-late round 1.
In a normal year, Ryan Ramczyk would be the 3rd or 4th offensive tackle selected. This year he is easily the top player available.

After that, there is a group of flawed players that simply do not belong in the first round. Garett Bolles is old. Forrest Lamp has T-Rex arms. Cam Robinson destined to be moved to guard. Roderick Johnson is a massive project.

Last year there were 4 OTs selected in round one. The year before there was 5. Before that there was 4. Over the last 10 drafts there has only once been fewer that 3 OTs selected in in the first round. That was 2012 when there was only 2.

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That could easily change this year. With only one player with round 1 talent, some teams will look to other positions instead of over drafting drafting lesser players.

On the other hand, OT is a premium position. Much like with quarterbacks, teams often panic and reach for players that should be selected.

You don’t even have to look very far to find examples of this. The Seahawks reached for James Carpenter in 2011. The did the same with Justin Britt in 2014. After those two failures, Seattle repeated the mistake last year with Germain Ifedi.

The lesson here is that this is a bad year to go into the draft needing a starting OT. The Seahawks need to recognize that and plan accordingly.

Next: Sherman's injury wasn't worth a draft pick

Yesterday I joked that Seattle should trade for Joe Thomas. The entire premise was in jest, but the idea does have merit.

The Seahawks must improve at OT if they are going to improve on offense. If they cannot do so through the draft, then they must look to free agency or a trade to find the player they need.