At this time last year...

Did anyone even hear the name Justin Britt mentioned?

I didn't.

I had heard it some. He was considered a 85th to 120th overall kind of guy. His combine numbers were ok, but didn't really stand out.

When I looked at him, I saw a JAG type prospect. Did see the now infamous pile drive block on tape. Figured he could be a possibility with one of our 4th round picks if the draft fell the right way.

Honestly, I think most of us were smitten with guys that either went just before us, or players we passed on. I had Britt pegged at OG, since he visibly struggled with speed rushers at the college level. So I didn't really look at him all that closely. Figured he'd be a depth guy who could fill the McQuistan role as backup OG and emergency RT.

While he certainly developed well as a rookie and outperformed a lot of his contemporaries in this draft -- I still see him as a possibility to move inside to OG if we acquire an OT in the future. He's better than Carp was at RT though. But he has that kind of flexibility that simply opens options up if the draft happens to fall your way luck wise. He's shown already he's worth the pick we spent on him.

I don't think it's even in question that we missed on Bitonio badly. He's a pro bowler waiting to happen. At a position that was a need last year, and is even more so this year. And his potential was recognized by a lot of draftniks here locally and by communities elsewhere. He was pretty much the consensus 'stud OL pick in the second round' guy across the league. Not always are consensus guys that good. But sometimes the groupthink hits it on the head. It wasn't a question of him coming out of nowhere. Not taking him was overthinking things. And considering the two seasons' laments that guys we wanted just didn't fall to us -- it felt like we were going to finally make good on getting a real quality player.

Richardson, even at his most productive was not outstanding or irreplaceable. He was not, by the end of his rookie year, equivalent to several WRs that were selected after 32. There is always the freakish "it all clicked in year two" kind of hope for him. But that hope extends to all of the other WRs who showed more talent and impact taken after him. I didn't like the pick then. I tried to convince myself to like the pick as the year went on. But there is enough body of work already to make a reasonable call that he was a miss considering the alternative talents we passed on. He'll be a good pro. But it remains to be seen if he's a guy who is going to be worth a second contract (4m+) at this point.

Joel Bitonio was being talked up a lot. Rob Staton was one of the first to bring him up, long before most of the commercial sites.

Somebody here had mentioned Britt and his wrestling background but can't remember who.