Sure, keeping beating that false drum that the rest of the league viewed him as a 3rd and 4th round pick. there have been numerous reports dating back to the days after the draft that multiple other teams are interested in him in the 2nd round. These were not reporters who bend over backwards to protect Bill.
In fact, Tom Curran, who has not been at all shy about criticizing Bill’s personal decisions, said on his podcast that he recently talked to an player personnel executive from another team, and he quotes executive as saying “We really liked him. We were looking at him in the second round.”
It’s a shame that Strange had so many issues with his knee this year, because if he had been healthy, I think he would have solidified his status as a quality starter at left guard. He has already shown himself to be a very good NFL run blocker, but needs work as a pass protector. I think it will come out that he was more limited by the knee this year, even when he was playing, than we fans realized. Curran made reference to that earlier in the season. He still needs to keep getting stronger, particularly his lower body.
Does this mean that Strange was a good pick the late first? No. I agree with the consensus that they should have targeted a different position. Also, an OG needs to be an elite level player for his position, if he wants to justify being picked in that spot (see Mankins, Logan). Strange has the athleticism (including an elite first step), and the aggressiveness to be a top 10 guard but he’s got a long way to go before being placed in that category and he may never reach that level.
He was probably overdrafted by 10 to 15 picks, but to regurgitate that overused clip and use it as definitive evidence that he was wildly overdrafted and wasn’t going to be picked by any other team until the late third or even the fourth round is agenda-driven, not based in reality….par for the course here, so at least you’re in good company.