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merlin
They probably won't find a rook who can play at the level Williams is playing at. Problem is they really don't have a choice so they'll have to tender him high and cross their fingers.
And IF someone signs Williams away then that 1st round pick will probably be used on a LT which is most likely going to be our top need and you gotta get those guys by that early round two range. End result is we'll be worse in the secondary and we'll have to endure growing pains at LT.
But I don't want to get all negative about it. It is of course a great thing Williams is playing this well. If him and Ramsey keep this up we might have enough defense to endure a run of poor offense while we wait for Whit to return. And if we do get Whit back we have every bit as good a chance as any other team to win it all this season.
Good point on the need for a LT.
I will amend my statement to say that how glad they'll be to take a 1st likely depends on how they feel about Noteboom, David Long, and Bobbie Evans. They've been doing a very good job of filling needs early. If they feel good about previous high draft picks, there won't be any issues.
In regard to CB, I still get the impression they're pretty high on Long based on comments after TC. The battle with him and Williams went down to the wire. So in a sense, I agree with you: a rookie CB probably doesn't replace Williams. If #31 does get snatched, they plug Long in and keep moving IMO.
I also wouldn't assume that a 1st round pick gets used on LT. They may feel they have the future LT on the roster already in Noteboom. With Whit out now, the remainder of this year will be very telling on that front. So far we've really only seen Noteboom at G, not LT. And I feel he did very well yesterday but it remains to be seen if he's the future answer there.
I'm actually optimistic that we can weather Whit being out with good offense while the D continues to dominate. I didn't see anything yesterday that made me feel the offense will take a huge step down in Whit's absence.
