Saying what hasn't been said about the offensive tackle class

by Dan Kadar on Apr 20, 2009 10:21 AM EDT in 2009 NFL Draft

Bob McGinn, the excellent Packers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, had a fascinating story Sunday on this year's offensive tackle class.

For it, he asked 19 NFL scouts to rank the five best offensive linemen. Jason Smith barely topped Eugene Monroe. Both were quite a ways ahead of Andre Smith and Michael Oher.

But there was a very telling quote from the article.

"In another draft none of these guys would be top five," Seattle Seahawks scout Charles Fisher said. "They're good players, but I wouldn't consider any of these guys as pure franchise cornerstones. Branden Albert is more athletic than all these guys."

This article is a must-read. I don't want to steal all of McGinn's stuff, so make sure to check it out.

Reading it, you start to wonder a little bit more about these players. For instance, can Smith thrive in St. Louis, where he would be asked to be an in-line blocker, an area he is somewhat unproven.

Then you think about Monroe, who could slide to the sixth pick and Cincinnati. He's been mostly regarded as not being tough or having a killer instinct. How, then, would he hold up against the gritty AFC North?

This tackle class is one that I've thought about a lot recently. None of the top four seem to be anywhere as good as Joe Thomas or Jake Long coming out, let alone the great tackle prospects like Jonathan Ogden or Tony Boselli.

It's things like McGinn's article that make the draft so interesting to follow. You start to hear more about these players and, at this point, what teams are really thinking about them.

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I’m not sure if it’s different this year or if I’ve just been paying closer attention to it this go around than I have in the past but all this reshuffling of rankings, especially when it comes to OTs is rather confusing. At some point, starting midway through or towards the end of the college football season, each of these guys has been touted as the can’t miss left tackle of this class. Oher was the be-all and end-all for quite awhile yet, with nothing tangible having occurred in the interim, somehow, he’s become the odd man out. Intelligence? The guy didn’t have any proper schooling at all until he was like an eigth grader and, yet, he made it through four years of college academics. I don’t question his smarts. Andre Smith was the next heir apparent. Despite a buttload of tape in which he manhandled defenses across the SEC and showed himself to be an absolute mauler, some gaffes that mainly break down to a poor choice of an inexperienced agent- with a touch of a young man’s immaturity, have Smith virtually dismissed from consideration as a headcase. Also, 340lbs. is a good weight for a RT and I reckon any of the plus 300 club looks pretty similar running hard with their shirts off. And who ever heard of Jason Smith before the two frontrunners kind of fell by the wayside? Eugene Monroe? Was he so good at UVA that Branden Albert was forced to move to guard or was Albert just so versatile that he could move whereas Monroe could not? Does he even speak?

As for the article; the Niners? the Seahawks? Phil Savage’s Browns’ fired-ass? These aren’t exactly folks who’ve proven themselves competent talent evaluators. I think I’ll stick with the game film and draft my big fat Alabama right tackle.

by IgnatiusJReilly on Apr 20, 2009 11:03 AM EDT reply actions

Savage did draft

Joe Thomas tho. And Im sure the Seahawks know what an LT looks like with Walter Jones on the team.

I agree tho that these guys if you are rating on a 1-100 scale, are probably more like 90 for Monroe and Smiths (both of them), while past years guys like Joe Thomas was a 95, Jake Long a 93. Even dating back to Orlando Pace or Tony Boselli who were 99 and Walter Jones who would be 98.

THese guys are clear cut best tackles in the draft, and with teams in need of ones that is enough for many of them to be Top 15 picks. They may not be HOF caliber like Pace or Jones or Boselli, but they definitely can start right away and be good so that is enough with teams in need.

by FreeBradshaw on Apr 20, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting article

It got me wondering, if it has become fashionable to pick tackles in the first round? Two years ago it was a huge success for Cleveland, and last year at least Long and Clady proved themselves. When a position is considered “safe” and rookies can play immediately, it is tempting to draft that position next year – especially with the huge money paid to top-ten picks.

by hythlodaeus on Apr 20, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions

WE HAVE JOE THOMAS! HAHAHA!

by BradyQuinnisBeast on Apr 20, 2009 4:41 PM EDT reply actions

articles getting a bit...repetitious

Not saying I don’t buy it, but when you look at the “experts,” all of these articles start sounding the same…

this year’s OT class is weaker than normal
this year’s QB class is weaker than normal
this year’s WR class is weaker than normal
this year’s CB class is weaker than normal
etc etc etc

It’s almost like it’s become fashionable for every supposed draft expert to take anyone, in any position, and say “in other year’s this guy wouldn’t be drafted in the top [whatever].” So either this is the worst draft class in human history (and mathematically the odds of that being true are very remote), or else there are SOME positions where this year’s class is stronger and there are guys that are gonna go in the middle part of the round this year that would be “top 5” picks in other years.

Just an observation.

by JohnPaul on Apr 20, 2009 7:29 PM EDT reply actions

I think that’s a natural tendency only because this class is what is in front of us right now.

I’m not saying the offensive tackle, for instance, is necessarily weaker. The depth is great. I’m just sure the top guys are as good as the previous top guys. When Joe Thomas came out, he was unquestionably a star coming out.

Or the quarterbacks: There a lot more questions about Stafford and Sanchez than there were about Matt Ryan last year.

by Dan Kadar on Apr 20, 2009 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions