The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went into this years draft with a huge need for offensive linemen. The Bucs selected Don Smith at pick No. 34 in the second round and then traded their 3rd round pick and swapped fourth rounders with Indy to move up and get Marpet with selection No. 61 in the draft. The Buccaneers were applauded for drafting OL, but were also criticised for taking both players too early. Smith had work ethic rumors and Marpet was a D3 player. D3 players rarely transition to the NFL very easily, if at all. But both players have started all three games, and both have showed flashes of good play. I am going to quickly summarize all OL that were drafted in the first two rounds for comparison. I will list the team and player with a brief assessment.Round OneWashington selected Brandon Scherff with pick No.5 overall. He is their starting right guard. He has been mediocre in both run blocking and pass protection. You really have to question using that high of a pick on a guard with average skills.The NYG selected Ereck Flowers out of Miami No.9 overall. He has played but has struggled with keeping his hands up and active and so far and allowed a lot of pressure on his QB. But he has shown some good play as well. So far, this looks like a good pick as he is their left tackle.The NO Saints selected Andrus Peat No.13 overall. I really liked Peat coming out, but he has been a huge disappointment. He never even came close to making their first team and appears to be a long term project. This was not a very good draft pick right off the bat.The Brownies selected Cameron Erving No.19 overall. Despite having versatility, Cameron has failed to win a starting spot on a good Cleveland OL. After losing Alex Mack last year to injury this appears to be an attempt to have quality depth on the OL. That is very good, but not getting any production out of your first round pick is not good, but is something Cleveland fans are used to. The Bengals have a good OL. But that didn't stop them from drafting two offensive tackles with their first two picks. Cedric Ogbuehi was selected No.21 overall despite having a blown out knee. He is on the injured list and likely wont play at all this year. Even if he gets healthy he would not win the starting job. The Bengals are very smart. They draft an OLineman today if they need one in two years. They take the time to develop them the right way. Arizona at No.24 picked DJ Humphries out of Florida. Humphries is a backup for them, as they are building quality depth. They have a good unit and don't want or need a rookie starting.Detroit picked Laken Tomlinson No.28 overall. Despite Detriot's mediocre guard play, Tomlinson was unable to win a starting job. He looks like a long term project at best. This was very likely a very bad draft pick.So, there we have it. Round one is complete. Right about now Bucs fans should be feeling very good about our OL selections. There were seven OL selected in round one. One of them is a reliable starter in Brandon Scherff. Ereck Flowers is starting, but currently injured. None of the others have even sniffed the field. Round TwoThe Bucs selected Donovan Smith at No.34. He has started every game but struggled in all phases of the game. Last week vs. Houston he made huge strides in technique and effort and he appears to be "getting it". Compared to the slugs drafted in round one, he is looking promising.The Chiefs selected Mitch Morse with selection No.49. He is their starting center. Mitch is probably to best OL drafted thus far. He has played great in all phases in particular his run blocking has been excellent. He is very good at hitting those critical second level blocks. This is looking like a great draft pick.The Bengals drafted Jake Fisher No.53 overall. He is a backup for them, and he was never expected to compete for the starting job. He is a developmental player for a good OL unit.The Rams selected one of my favorites Rob Havenstein with pick No.57 in the second round. Rob has started every game and has been a solid pick. The big worry was that he would not be able to deal with the speed off the edge, but he has handled it well so far and has his great moments run blocking. He is playing well, but not perfect. He still has those rookie moments.The Broncos selected Ty Sambrailo No.59. Ty was their starting left tackle and was playing very good for a rookie before going down vs. Detroit with an injury. He is not a great run blocker but has been very good in pass protection. The Bucs selected Ali Marpet No.61 overall. He is playing good considering he is a D3 rookie. He is not the best rookie guard, but he has played well and has great upside. So, there you have it. Out of six second rounders five have started, with the lone exception of Fisher who wasn't drafted to start. My conclusion after doing this breakdown is that it was a very good year to draft OL in the second round or after. Not so much for the first rounders. And it's also a good time to reflect on our draft picks. They have not been great but they are starting for us. They are getting better and getting some good production. It's easy to criticise our picks when they don't play great, but if you look at what the other OLinemen have done, especially the first round picks they suddenly look a lot better.I will post the third rounders below.
