I couldn't care less that a first round lineman is 24 years old. What's the concern there, that he'll start to wear down early into his second contract? Who gives a freak?
If it were a running back, I'd be concerned that he'd wear out during his first five years. I'm also generally averse to taking older players late in the draft, because they'll need years to develop. But we've got a gaping hole on the roster right in front of the player some people expect will lead us to the promised land in the next two years. Motherfuck worrying about whether the best center in the draft is going to have an eight-year or ten-year career.
You misunderstood my referencing his age. It's not his long-term durability that I'm concerned about. Older players are generally less projectable/valuable than their younger counterparts. The most recent example that applies directly to us was when we chose Marcus Maye over Marcus Williams (I know, different position but I think it really exemplifies what I'm talking about). In this case, Tippmann is generally thought to be on par with JMS as a prospect but is two years younger so it's easier to project further development and a second contract. In general, I'm opposed to trading up for non-premium positions but especially when the player we're considering trading up for (or a comparable, younger one) could very easily be available when we pick.
If Joe Douglas believes that JMS is a significantly better prospect than Tippmann and a good enough one to justify trading up for despite his position and age, so be it, but it's a difficult argument for me to buy into and, for the record, if this was Linderbaum last year (who was the consensus #1 center prospect and generally thought to be one of the better ones in recent memory), I'd feel differently about this issue but still probably wouldn't want to trade up.
