Marcus Gilbert

#63-2        Marcus Gilbert     OT/OG     Florida     rSenior   

(276 pts)       6061     330#      5.41        30 ~ 30½” ~ 8’-2”       33½” ~ 9¾”       DOB:   2/15/88

Initial Grade (Value):          C                            Initial Grade (Potential/Fit/Need):       B

Draft Day Analysis:

I will be honest and say Marcus Gilbert was not on my radar for being this high a draft choice.  I considered him a very good right-side only prospect, but thought (and still think) he is a “typical” offensive line prospect - the kind of talent you often see year-in, year-out in every draft class.  But as I re-scouted him (more closely this time), I might have been mistaken in my original analysis and now consider him a solid 3^rd round grade and a slightly above average selection for the #63 pick overall.

Gilbert’s positives are he is an NFL ready offensive lineman.  He has NFL strength.  He fits with the “Florida University” theme we now have with Starks and Pouncey (and if Pouncey continues to develop into the leader of the line, Gilbert will likely fit very well).  He has the experience to compete at both RG and RT almost immediately in our system (both positions of need).  In many respects, Gilbert “looks the part” and passes the eye-ball test.

The negatives are he simply will never be a top-10 caliber LT player and I question the “value” of using the #63 pick overall for what I consider a right-sided only player.  Is he any better or worse than Willie Colon (pick #131)?  Is the solution to the RG position to just spend more on the position after Kraig Urbik (pick #79) failed?

For all the reasons I grade the Cameron Heyward selection high (getting that caliber/position at pick #31), I am struggling to highly grade this selection.

However, despite all this, Marcus Gilbert is growing on me as our pick.  For starters, there aren’t a lot of other choices that really jumped out at me.  I had CB’s Curtis Marsh and Curtis Brown as 2^nd prospects and Justin Houston (DE/OLB), Martez Wilson (ILB) and Leonard Hankerson (WR) were highly touted by some, but none of those jumped out at me as value players or perfect fits for our system/needs; at least not a lot more than Gilbert.

Lastly, maybe overspending on the RG position to fix that spot once and for all is okay.  Watching Stapleton, Essex, Urbik and Foster struggle over the past few years has been maddening.  And watching those players being asked to do things in Arians’ system they can’t possibly do even more so.

If the front office and coaching staff think Gilbert is the guy to finally fix that spot once and for all, I’ll give them leeway one more time to try, pinning my hopes Sean Kugler’s input will help.  If this pick fails to the level of Kraig Urbik or Bruce Davis however, my criticism will be stronger than ever.

Other Options:            Davon House, CB (New Mexico St.)

                                 Justin Houston, OLB (Georgia)        

                                 Curtis Brown, CB (Texas)

                                 Curtis Marsh, CB (Utah State)

                                 Martez Wilson, ILB (Illinois)