Just a question of opinion, how much of an upgrade over Backus would Jason Smith be if we drafted him? Considering there hasnt been much talk of Curry being one of the few in contract negotiations, i have to lean towards wanting Smith now, though i dont want him as much as i want Curry. What do you think?

Smith will be able to handle speed rushers much better than Backus and that is a huge upgrade right there since most RDEs rely on speed. Like Jeff, he will struggle against power rushers.

I don't know... everyone is saying he is a top LT. He seems like a little bit of an overachiever, good or bad? I bet he has room to grow, It'd be nice to have a little bigger size at the LT spot than Backus, but it really comes down to strength.

Personally, a lot of people would be an upgrade over Backus...

Well, Backus is certainly not our long-term answer. He hasn't played well for several seasons now. If we're stuck with him for another year or so because of salary cap considerations, then drafting a raw athletic overachiever with a lot of upside is probably a good idea, even if Jason Smith wasn't quite "better" at the NFL level than Backus on Day 1.

It's an interesting question. I'm not sure how much of an upgrade he will be right away. Will he be able to step right in and compete for the LT job? I don't necessarily think so, but we'll need to play him relatively soon since he's going to be getting $30 million guaranteed. Maybe be week 8 if the season is in the tank by then he'll move into the starting spot. Sitting an OL is a lot harder to do then sitting a QB for a year. He will eventually be able to be an improvement, but that won't be until year 2+.

Would we be able to get anything in the 2010 draft if we move Backus? Would we try him at guard? I don't necessarily think that he'd be all that good at guard since he struggles with bull-rushers. I guess he'd have help to both sides which would add some insurance, but with him and Dom inside that makes for a pretty weak one-two punch.

Also remember, Backus at OG would almost certainly look different than Backus at OT. I'm sure that if he slid inside, he would start packing on weight. He would no longer be asked to move laterally much, and the effect would be a Backus at 20 or 30 lbs heavier. I don't think we can make the statement that Backus wouldn't be able to handle bigger guys because he couldn't handle the bull rushers at OT; just saying that I think that's a premature statement for the moment, thats all.

He's 6'5", whether its muscle or fat, he can bulk up if we ask him to.

Like it was said above, a lot of players would be an upgrade over Backus at OT, and I think J. Smith is going to be a great player right from the get go.