Something to get away from the Jameis conversation that has been flooding the boards for the last few weeks.
At first I was thinking I would have liked to have traded a little bit of draft capital to move up from 53 to get CB Josh Jackson who went 45. But, honestly, I feel like there are only a few can't miss players in every draft. One of those is Center/Guard Frank Ragnow. I feel confident that he is going to be a 10 year player with multiple All-Pro selections (at either position). He is one of the rare interior line players who really has no holes in his game, he's incredibly physical/a finisher, and with a great football IQ. He can block any scheme in the running game, he can get out on Screens and play in space, and his Pass Pro as an interior player is legendary.
Ragnow went # 20 overall. In order to 20 to take him, we would have needed to give up that 38 selection where we took Jones and the 53 selection where we took Stewart. Taking Ragnow would have turned our draft into something very different. We wouldn't have had to move up to take Cappa. We could have taken Mark Walton (RB from Miami) who is a polished all-around running back right now. He could immediately be a rotational back with Barber and be our 3rd down back (as he's a great Pass Protector, great in the Screen game, and a polished receiver).
Our draft could have looked like this:
Vea DT
Ragnow C/OG
Davis CB
Walton RB
Whitehead S
Watson WR
Cichy LB
Really you're talking about trading out Ragnow and Walton for Jones, Stewart, and Cappa. That doesn't even look close to me (in favor of the former). Ragnow is an automatic, long term starter at RG and C (when Jensen leaves) with an extremely high ceiling and floor. Walton is a great all-around running back (unlike Jones who is a dynamic runner and should do great with the ball in his hands, but will not be on the field on passing downs). I don't know what we're getting with Stewart and it would be unlikely if Cappa starts this year (he has to learn/adjust to Quick Set Pass Protection...and learn to do it against players who are ridiculously athletic and as strong as he is).
So if you had a do-over, what would it be?
