Thread: Left Tackle Not Important According To Cole

Not important until you don't have one. Slight dig at Vikings signing Kalil with the 4'th pick.
Left tackle in the NFL is gradually become a less valued position - Yahoo! Sports

This article is pretty dead on.

I don't hate the Kalil pick because our WHOLE LINE was struggling and you do need some solid line play. But as a whole ... quarterbacks and offensive schemes make offensive linemen look good or bad. It is just the way the game has evolved. You have to stand in the way just long enough. The big maulers of before just are not as important.

Does not mean they are not nice to have. Just means they are not the premium position they once were.

The game is changing rapidly.

Right now some of the best athletes in football are playing defensive end and outside linebacker. Guys like Jason Pierre-Paul, DeMarcus Ware, Julius Peppers, Mario Williams... guys who are 6'6" and run sub 4.7. They're freaks of nature, possibly aliens. I look at them, and all the way back to the likes of Lawrence Taylor and see them as a response to Bill Walsh and timing patterns in offenses. They want guys to get to the QB as quickly as possible, however, I believe that trend will begin to fade, which may reinforce people's beliefs the value of the left tackle is dropping. However, I see the contrary.

See, offenses have aliens of their own. An optimal, even prime(incoming pun) example is Megatron. Calvin Johnson, and receivers like him, e.g. Julio Jones, formerly Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson and a few others are bigger than practically anyone who's ever covered them. The average NFL defensive back is 5'11. They simply can't hang with the ever-growing NFL wide receiver. It's a mismatch game, get the big guy(who also happens to run sub 4.4) on a d-back, get the little quick guy, like Welker in the slot and find holes or a linebacker to embarrass and it can't remain that way.

Someone will adjust, in fact, some have already started. Look at Pete Carroll's squad in Seattle. Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner are 6'3", 6'3" and 6'4" respectively.

Once the league is peppered with big freaks at defensive back, like it is with pass rushers and wide receivers, I imagine balance will return to NFL offenses, at least to the point where size mismatches downfield aren't so prevalent.

With renewed balance comes the need for sustained pass protection. However, I might be wrong, or my predictions may not come true during Kalil's career. No matter what I think Kalil was the best player available, and filled a major need. Who cares if the whole line sucks? I could say the same about Claiborne. All of our DBs played poorly last season.

Even if I'm wrong, this post was fun to write. So, cheers. Back to the NBA finals.

Left tackle is less important ONLY IF you have an offense where the quarterback can & does release the ball quickly.

In a dink & dunk offense such as ours where it takes time for plays to develop & the QB has to hold on the ball longer waiting for receivers to get open, good LT's are much more important.

The issues with this article is that it doesn't consider that most teams that can select an elite LT are in shambles. The Pats haven't been able to pick high so one isn't available. Bad teams tend to have high draft picks for a long, long time. Hell look at the Browns, fins, Bills, Skins.... these teams have struggled for over a decade with the occasional good season here or there.

There are multiple ways to build a team.
Onlines help Qbs, Qbs help Olines, Rbs help Olines, Rbs help Qbs.

This article repeats almost everything I've been saying since before the draft. I swear these guys read my stuff and rip me off...

Caine