Quote Originally Posted by steelblood View Post
guard may be easier to upgrade, but tackle is the more important position and our tackles are far from sure things. Gilbert struggled mightily against MArio Williams and Robert Mathis. I believe he may have a long season at LT facing elite talent every week. I like Gilbert and believe he can develop, but (at best) he is only a decent athlete and technician for the position. Colon hasn't been able to stay healthy and J Scott had an awful start to last season at LT. It will be hard to find a decent tackle after pick 50 or so. If we want a tackle that can help this season or next, we will likely need to draft him early.
Of course, Williams and Mathis are two of the elite pass rushers in today's NFL.

Mathis only started 1 game in his first 3 seasons combined, but still had 3.5, 10.5, and 11.5 sacks as a part-time situational player. Then, once he became a starter, he had 9.5, 7, 11.5, 9.5, 11, and 9.5 sacks in his next 6 seasons in the league (that's 83.5 sacks in 9 NFL seasons).

Williams had 4.5, 14, 12, 9, and 8.5 sacks in his first 5 seasons in the league, then had 5 sacks in his first 5 games last season before going in injured reserve (that's 53 sacks in 6 NFL seasons).

Those guys give everyone fits, not just Gilbert. If Gilbert is our LT next year, he will face elite pass rushers more often than at right tackle, but aren't many DE's in this league who are better than Mathis and Williams.