The main reason why John Harbaugh outbid seven other teams to hire Juan Castillo as his run game coordinator (overseeing the O-line) is to develop cheap lineman into serviceable players. We all know Juan will develop late round picks and undrafted free agents. That’s been his identity! The Eagles only drafted two 1st round linemen the 13 years he was the head O-line coach. Bubba Miller, Hank Fraley, Artist Hicks, Nick Cole, and Austin Howard were all undrafted free agents who he developed into solid starters. During 12 of those 13 years, the Eagles never had a drafted center and averaged two college free agents as starters in each year. The year the Eagles went to the Super Bowl they played with two undrafted free agents on the line. When C Hank Fraley was up for a new contract they let him go to the Browns via free agency and just developed another guy. Expect Joe Banner to put the same formula in place if he gets a QB he covets and an O-line coach he trusts to develop young players.

So what does all this mean? This formula saved the team from having to pay and/or draft top lineman so they can put the money elsewhere. So I would suspect as long as the Ravens have Juan Castillo they will not be drafting any lineman in the top three rounds for the foreseeable future.

As the QB numbers go up the positions that will suffer financially the most will be linebacker, fullback, running back, receiver and safety. Left tackles will still get paid but centers and guards will be developed from late round and/or undrafted college free agents. For those teams who have a 25 million dollar a year QB, they better have a plan on how they are going to scout, draft, pay and develop young cheap players.