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For Everyone who thinks BEEF is always the answer. Drafting linemen is just as big a risk as other positions. A lot get over looked because of the lack of stats for the interior d line(not usually sack guys and tackle leaders) and especially offensive linemen.
Here is a look at o-linemen hit/miss. EVERY position is a crapshoot.
Here is a look at o-linemen hit/miss. EVERY position is a crapshoot.
Since the 1999 NFL Draft, there have been 38 tackles – both left and right – selected from picks 1-16. Of those picks, 16 players have been named to a Pro Bowl team and one, Jack Conklin, who the Tennessee Titans selected in 2016, was named a first team All-Pro as a rookie.
If you add Conklin to the 16 players that have been named to Pro Bowls, that makes for a success rate of 44.7% – considering how big of a crapshoot the draft actually is, that shouldn’t be a huge surprise; but a less than 50% success rate in the first half of the first round is less than ideal.
Chris Samuels (2000), Jordan Gross (2003), Jammal Brown (2005), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (2006), Joe Thomas (2007), Jake Long, Branden Albert, Ryan Clady (2008), Trent Williams, Russell Okung (2010), Tyron Smith (2011), Lane Johnson (2013), Taylor Lewan (2014), and Brandon Scherff (2015) have all been named to multiple Pro Bowls; Long’s career, while good at first, ended because of major knee surgeries after the 2016 season – he had only played 10 games the previous three seasons combined.
On the flip side, it’s fair to call picks such as Kenyatta Walker (2001), Mike Williams (2002), Robert Gallery (2004), Levi Brown (2007) and Ereck Flowers (2015) draft busts, even though many considered them to be among the best players of their respective drafts.
If you add Conklin to the 16 players that have been named to Pro Bowls, that makes for a success rate of 44.7% – considering how big of a crapshoot the draft actually is, that shouldn’t be a huge surprise; but a less than 50% success rate in the first half of the first round is less than ideal.
Chris Samuels (2000), Jordan Gross (2003), Jammal Brown (2005), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (2006), Joe Thomas (2007), Jake Long, Branden Albert, Ryan Clady (2008), Trent Williams, Russell Okung (2010), Tyron Smith (2011), Lane Johnson (2013), Taylor Lewan (2014), and Brandon Scherff (2015) have all been named to multiple Pro Bowls; Long’s career, while good at first, ended because of major knee surgeries after the 2016 season – he had only played 10 games the previous three seasons combined.
On the flip side, it’s fair to call picks such as Kenyatta Walker (2001), Mike Williams (2002), Robert Gallery (2004), Levi Brown (2007) and Ereck Flowers (2015) draft busts, even though many considered them to be among the best players of their respective drafts.
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