I don't know how you can be so confident here. Strange was benched 3 times this year, that's in no way a home run pick, and even when he was on the field he was never more than just a guy. Hardly what you are looking for in a 1st round guard.
Hardly any rookie Guards, 1st rounders included, walk into the NFL and are great right away. I can think of Zack Martin and Quentin Nelson and then you have to really
scratch your head. Those guys were the exception, not the rule.
John Hannah wasn't great as a rookie. He was always very strong, very tough and amazingly agile, but he literally didn't know how to pass block worth a damn and
played out of a 4-point stance at Alabama. He was raw as hell. You know what happened during, say, his 3rd season where he started dominating. The GOAT.
And, yes, people initially said that he sucked and then he shut everybody up.
Strange is extremely quick and has fluid agility. He's fiesty and competitive and already excellent at hitting moving targets on the run. He has a natural ability to turn defenders
and screen them from the ball with his body, which sounds simple, but isn't commonly done that well. He showed what I would call
good awareness of what he was supposed to
be doing right from his early snaps, especially considering that he was from a small program, but, yes, there were times where stunts got screwed up and rushers went free, particularly when Andrews was out of the lineup. There were a few pre-snap flags and holding calls, but not a ton. Again, he was a rookie and he wasn't the only OL to struggle with stunts or bull rushes.
He's got precise, lightning-quick feet and his hand and arm usage were better than a lot of kids from more advanced programs. It'll get better still. He can mirror in pass pro, but has gotten beat from over-setting to a fake and all of that is just part of the price of starting a rookie. It takes a while, but it won't take him nearly as long as it took Shaq Mason. Thuney didn't play great until his 3rd season. Strange was better in his 1st season than Thuney was through his 2nd, and everybody said he was a bust, too. How does that assessment look now? Thuney is all-pro. I'd call them
similar prospects, but Strange has a better frame.
When we saw a quick-hitter by Harris or Mondre go up the middle for 15 yards it was often behind a textbook eye-blink-quick kickout trap by Cole. He did that dozens of times and
will do it hundreds more as we find creative ways to utilize that special mobility and speed. The overall athleticism that few OLs have.
He has a few clear deficiencies to address, such as that he needs to add about 15 pounds of muscle mass to anchor better against the beasts and help his drive blocking and also more experience in handling 'veteran NFL pass rush moves. That is about the size of it. Manageable areas to improve upon. Strange said that there was no nutrition program at Chattanooga and he has never been in a full off-season strength training program as he will get to experience now. He'll likely look a lot different when camp opens.
The reason we drafted him so high is that he can do things that other Guards can't and the rest will come soon enough.
I'm really not trying to lecture anyone here, but I'm getting really tired of reading stuff like he was a waste of a 1st-round pick. Be skeptical all you want, but you shouldn't be surprised when he
impresses those same critics and you don't want to be the last one to get on board.
as Bill ditched the heavy cash and good talent for less expensive and younger talent that kept the winning going when other teams crash and burn in 3 years?
