(Original post updated)
Seventh round
So, all three options at #207 were still available, and I think this pick was one of the most difficult in this draft.
Trey Moore was not a true candidate, only because I think there are two better options. I have never understood the “well, late round picks never work out, so it doesn’t matter what you do.” Losers think that way, because if you don’t try to find contributors, you are not going to win. All good teams have late round contributors. Anyway, all that to say that I would see Moore as a special teams pick (which would be fine. Just not in this scenario).
That left me with Carmona and Leigh. Carmona has actually played left tackle for three years, but he was moved to guard before last season and flourished in there. Leigh is a longtime starter at left tackle for Clemson, and though he has also played both guard-positions, he does have a chance to stay at tackle in the NFL.
With the #207 pick the Arizona Cardinals select
Tristan Leigh, offensive tackle, Clemson
I truly believe that Carmona has the level to start early, but where? Seumalo and Adams are pretty entrenched, I think, and I would guess they would want to give Hayden Connor a chance. And Ossenfort and Justin Frye seemingly likes Jon Gaines a lot.
Plus, OT is obviously worth more than OG, and Leigh certainly has the potential to develop into a very good tackle. It is no coincidence that he was very highly recruited nationally (hard by Justin Frye at Ohio State, by the way), as he is highly athletic, strong and powerful. He is just very unstable in performances and bad technical, so there is a bigger learning curve before he can step in at all spots except for center.
It was a big surprise that he didn’t get invited to neither the Senior Bowl nor scouting combine, but he did go to the East-West Shrine Bowl and – in my opinion – looked more solid on a per-rep basis than at Clemson.
Seventh round
So, all three options at #207 were still available, and I think this pick was one of the most difficult in this draft.
Trey Moore was not a true candidate, only because I think there are two better options. I have never understood the “well, late round picks never work out, so it doesn’t matter what you do.” Losers think that way, because if you don’t try to find contributors, you are not going to win. All good teams have late round contributors. Anyway, all that to say that I would see Moore as a special teams pick (which would be fine. Just not in this scenario).
That left me with Carmona and Leigh. Carmona has actually played left tackle for three years, but he was moved to guard before last season and flourished in there. Leigh is a longtime starter at left tackle for Clemson, and though he has also played both guard-positions, he does have a chance to stay at tackle in the NFL.
With the #207 pick the Arizona Cardinals select
Tristan Leigh, offensive tackle, Clemson
I truly believe that Carmona has the level to start early, but where? Seumalo and Adams are pretty entrenched, I think, and I would guess they would want to give Hayden Connor a chance. And Ossenfort and Justin Frye seemingly likes Jon Gaines a lot.
Plus, OT is obviously worth more than OG, and Leigh certainly has the potential to develop into a very good tackle. It is no coincidence that he was very highly recruited nationally (hard by Justin Frye at Ohio State, by the way), as he is highly athletic, strong and powerful. He is just very unstable in performances and bad technical, so there is a bigger learning curve before he can step in at all spots except for center.
It was a big surprise that he didn’t get invited to neither the Senior Bowl nor scouting combine, but he did go to the East-West Shrine Bowl and – in my opinion – looked more solid on a per-rep basis than at Clemson.
