Evaluating Talent: Top Offensive Tackle Prospects

I know nothing about evaluating NFL talent. But I'd love to learn more. And since I love to watch the guys on the line I thought it would be interesting to post highlights of the consensus top three OT's in the draft this year, so they can be viewed nearly side-by-side. What do you think? Who would you drop 30 million on if you had the bankroll?

Russell Okung, Oklahoma State

Anthony Davis, Rutgers

Brian Bulaga, Iowa

Topic for Debate: The New Playoff OT Rules Change

The NFL owners voted to change an element in the overtime rule, giving the team that loses the coin toss at the start of overtime to get a possession if the coin-toss winning team scores a field goal with the first possession.

Agree? Disagree?

And for the record, the Bills were one of the four teams to vote against the rules change proposal. The vote was cast by new coach Chan Gailey who claimed that his opposition was based on the rule change creating two different sets of rules/strategies for regular season & playoffs.

2010 Mock Draft 2.0

Draft Day is exactly one month hence. Time for another Mock Draft of 1-9 overall.

Unbelievably, I still like my original off-the-cuff list, for the most part.

As I've really started following this more than I ever typically have, my sense is that, as it is currently organized, the first ten picks of the NFL Draft are going to cost a team so much money relative to the other single-player contracts that that teams will always be on the quest to get "maximum value" if they land one of these picks.

But this year Front Office's who are picking Top Ten are also thinking about the certainty that the Owner's are going to be able to squeeze the the Players into accepting some kind of substantive Rookie Salary Cap making this year the last (or, at best, the penultimate) of an era.

Who wants to be the bozo who signs Bosworth the Bust for 41 million guaranteed this year when next year no Owner will pay peanuts for these picks, be they 3rd, 9th, or 34th or 134th taken.

Add to this that there seems to be some strong misfits between those players often cited as "Best Available" and many teams who are set to pick Top Ten this year...

So, I'm going out on a limb and suggest that while teams often look to trade down out of these high level picks, this year an huge number will want to do so, hoping to trade back to a mid-to late First Round for their first pick where the contract eventually signed will prove more palatable to Owners. Let's face it: one of the very few things that NFL owners have to motivate them to improve the state of their Golden Geese is appearing foolish in the eyes of the other Owners.

But trading takes two, so would anyone do so? My guess is that the answer is likely no...

Except... What happens if 3 or 4 teams in the first, say, 9 picks want to trade down but can't find any takers in the later part of the Round? Then they might be will to accept a lot less for their pick than the going-market value and this might encourage more strategic swaps with teams with late Top Ten and early teens picks who are already set to pay hefty rookie contracts themselves.

E.g., You know your franchise quarterback is not on the roster if you are the 49ers and you have TWO picks between 10-20 overall. Package them off and get yourself into the top five and steal him from the Seahawks (or maybe even from the Redskins).

1. St Louis Rams - Sam Bradford (QB)

2. Detroit Lions - Ndamukong Suh (DT)

3. Tampa Bay Bucs - Gerald McCoy (DT)

4. Washington Redskins - Anthony Davis (OT)

5. Kansas City Chiefs - Russell Okung (OT)*

6. Seattle Seahawks -Jimmy Clausen (QB)

7. Cleveland Browns - Eric Berry (FS)

8. Oakland Raiders - Trent Williams (OT)

9. Buffalo Bills - Bryan Bulaga (OT)*

*Obviously it won't happen, but if the asking price for #5 overall seriously drops, why not jump up here if you are the Bills and grab Clausen from Seattle (assuming, of course, they like him)? Seattle would probably grab CJ Spiller (RB) if they lost Clausen likely leaving one of the top three highly-praised OT's this year available for KC to grab at 9. Win-win? Or, as Michael Scott would say, win-win-win.

BillsPayroll

According to a recent article in USA today, the Bills' annual payroll is 8 million dollars a year more than the Colts', 15 million more than the Patriots', and 21 million more than the Cowboys'. Their payroll is actually higher than many teams'. It's just further proof of how inept and dysfunctional the organization truly is.

RIP Merlin Olsen

A sad day.

Before the late 1950s, almost all of the N.F.L.’s biggest stars played offense. Many teams never even introduced their defensive players before the game.

...

Early in his career, Olsen was a devastating pass-rusher. His favorite move was the basic bull-rush. He would pound and pound on a usually smaller guard, then supplement it with an additional tactic not available to today’s pass rushers: the head-slap. I even remember him occasionally using the double head-slap.

Pick-Six!

To further the argument: http://larrybrownsports.com/football/peyton-manning-greatest-quarterback-all-time-super-bowl-choke/13265

A new contributer(s)?

I've invited a "special" new contributer(s) to join us here....I didn't bother to ask since I knew you'd approve JalRod...I imagine he'll (they'll) be joining us shortly.

Hulu is now carrying NFL Network Programming.

For those of us trapped in a cable universe where the NFL Network doesn't exist, here are some 500+ NFL Network programs being carried on Hulu.

Drinking a Rich Man's Wine...

I just had to share this little anecdote re: Payton and the Saints' staff having a small celebration during the Combine week. The perfect 'Fuck You' to a rich man like Jerry.

Brady/Manning via Montana/Young

Here is a post that explains WHY Brady is superior to Manning (the argument is made via Montana being superior to Young. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/146676-montana-vs-young-a-public-service-announcement-for-peyton-manning-homers