I agree to some extent, but what has that done for the Dolphins (Jake Long), the Seahawks (Russell Okung, who's always hurt), the Browns (Joe Thomas), the Redskins (Trent Williams), the Panthers (Jordan Gross)...
One thing all of those teams are missing is a franchise QB. We can argue if Cassel is that or not, but I say there is a lot of room for improvement, and he's definitely not a guy that I'd be so confident in that I wouldn't hesitate to draft another guy like RGIII, Barkley, or Jones in the first round.
Simply put, the league is a quarterback first league. If you have one, you're pretty set to compete year in and year out. If you don't, well you're not.
Left tackle can be put on standby if the right quarterback is there in the draft, and you're picking early (which we will be). And this year's draft is certainly a deep QB draft. The same cannot be said for tackles.
If the Chiefs should choose to move down in the draft, while acquiring another first round pick, and taking a tackle and other position of need in the first round, I would not fault them if they think Cassel is the guy. That said, I still think it's foolish to pass on an RGIII talent if he's there.
Final food for thought, I always fall back to Profootballfocus (I wish I had the ability to watch every game and make these judgements myself)...Here are the top 15 rated LT's this year:
1.) Jason Peters, PHI
2.) Michael Roos, TEN
3.) Eugene Monroe, JAC
4.) Joe Thomas, CLE
5.) Donald Penn, TB
6.) Jordan Gross, CAR
7.) Jermon Bushrod, NO
8.) D'Brickashaw Ferguson, NYJ
9.) Duane Brown, HOU
10.) Andrew Whitworth, CIN
11.) Jake Long, MIA
12.) Trent Williams, WAS
13.) Branden Albert, KC
14.) Matt Light, NE
15.) Doug Free, DAL
Out of the top 5, 1 plays on a perrenial contender (Peters), and that team is not even in the hunt this year. Of the top 10, 7-10 are all in the hunt for the playoffs.
I just don't see, and never have seen, a strong correlation between stud LT's and team performance. On the other hand, you see pretty much the same quarterbacks in the mix for a Super Bowl year in and year out.
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