Well Kubiak was there for all four of the picks I referred to. Smith has been in on two drafts and they have used a 1st and 3rd in those two drafts on OL. I still don't see how you can claim it hasn't been a priority for them. That's just 1st day picks. They also drafted Studdard and signed and developed folks like Breisel, and Butler plus traded for Myers.
First lets take Breisel, Studdard, Myers and Butler out of the equation. They dont belong in this discussion.
Now lets talk about Brown and how he was acquired. The year we drafted Brown, getting a starting LT was even obvious to the most oblivious ESPN message board posters. LT was this teams Achilles Heal and it was paramount we find one in the draft that could contribute right away. That particular draft was considered on of the deepest drafts in history for first round OT talent. So what does Smithiak do? They sit and watch the top 5 OTs in the draft go in front of them then they trade down and watch 2 more OTs get picked and finally take a second round talent that played Guard but was considered a T PROSPECT.
I know it worked out pretty good but when you consider the situation and how dire our need was for a starting LT, I dont see how you can say drafting Brown shows this staff sees the OL as a high priority.
For me its less about where we have gotten our O-linemen and more about the opportunities we have passed. Another example, just last year we had a chance to draft a Oher a highly rated OL who could play guard or T and we passed for an OLB with an injury history. Once again it worked out but it shows OL is less a priority than it should be IMO.
We also could of drafted Max Unger in the second round last year, a player who could play any position on the line who fit perfect in our ZB scheme and we passed for a defensive guy with no resume but a lot of potential. This after seeing Myers get absolutely blown up for most of last year.
Sorry but too many times this staff has passed on high quality OL prospects for risky potential picks elsewhere for my taste. I do see where you are coming from but we have had the opportunity to solidify our OL too many times and passed for me to believe OL is properly prioritized.
Of course consider that I am a trenches first guy so anything less than completing our down lineman with every opportunity other than passing up a franchise player or far superior talent is irresponsible IMO.
On a side note, do you think Kubiak had more than an opinion on whether or not to draft Winston and Spencer?