Building Blocks

The NFL Draft has position ratings each year and this year’s offensive line crop has the potential to be as good as ever. Last year eight offensive linemen were taken in the first round of the draft. All of them were projected as offensive tackles though the Chiefs draft pick Branden Albert played guard in college.

This year it is possible for the same amount of offensive linemen to slide into the first round. Alabama junior Andre Smith could possibly land a big payday as the first overall pick.

The other offensive tackles being mentioned as possible first round picks are senior Michael Oher from Mississippi, junior Eben Britton from Arizona, senior Eugene Monroe from Virginia, junior Russell Okung from Oklahoma State, senior Jason Smith from Baylor, and junior Ciron Black from LSU. Also senior guard Duke Robinson from Oklahoma is considered to be a possible first round pick who could possibly switch to tackle in the pros.

Though no centers were taken in the first round last year, two centers will definitely be selected in the first couple rounds this season with senior Alex Mack of Cal and senior Jonathan Luigs of Arkansas considered to be the leading candidates.

Some other big-time college o-linemen include senior tackle Phil Loadholt from Oklahoma, senior center Max Unger from Oregon, senior center Antoine Caldwell from Alabama and senior guard Herman Johnson.

Offensive linemen are considered to be the foundations of winning in many people’s eyes because you can dominate the line of scrimmage with a good group of them.

Expect the players listed above to be selected in the first few rounds next April and make a big impact for teams in the future.

Quarterback Quandary

When the spring comes in 2009, it will be draft time once again for the NFL. Despite all the technological advances which have aided in prospect evaluation, there are still some tough challenges facing NFL scouts. The college offenses have continued to evolve over the years but recently spread offenses, and spread option offenses have become mainstream.

While they have proven to be very effective in the college game, evaluating the players in these systems seems rather difficult.

The quarterbacks, while athletic, sometimes are able to hide some short-comings in their games, and the systems, while very successful, are mostly not equivalent to the systems in the pros.

Players like Graham Harrell from Texas Tech seem to have many tools and put up ridiculous passing statisitics, but do they really have the overall accuracy and arm strength needed to perform at the next level?

Plus guys like Chase Daniel of Missouri and Tim Tebow from Florida have a large amount of athleticism and the ability to scramble around and make plays with their legs. But they both lack ideal NFL heights and they also must prove they have the arm strength and accuracy needed to play in the NFL.

I heard some discussion concerning Falcon’s rookie Matt Ryan recently and it was said that he came from a pro-style system at Boston College and that indeed has led to his early NFL success. It was stated that players from spread systems are now at least a couple years behind when they enter the NFL.

On the other hand, how can scouts account for the all the big wins against top-notch competition and all of the big plays these high-profile players make?

Team building wrongdoings

Youth movements seem to be the big thing now as team’s that are struggling decide to start over, or teams with veterans with steep salaries move toward cheaper, younger players instead.

The problem with this is that a good balance of young and old is essential for a winning tradition to occur. Even if the young new acquisitions might have won at other levels of the sport, they still don’t know exactly how professional sports work. Veteran players provide a source of leadership and an example on how to be a professional.

Teams putting an emphasis on draft picks and future development is not always bad, but there needs to be some aged, experienced players around.