Working on the offensive line story for the magazine. It's interesting to look at where the players come from -- what round they were originally drafted in. Especially at left tackle, generally believed to be the most important position.
By the numbers, nearly half (76) of the 160 projected starters on the offensive line this year were selected in the first two rounds of the draft. Now, some of them might be starting in large part because they were drafted early -- teams not yet giving up on them or being able to replace them -- but most are there because they're the best players.
At left tackle, it's particularly top-heavy. Of the 32 projected starters, 19 were selected in the first round. Three more were selected in the second round, and two in the third. That's 75 percent of the starters selected in the first three rounds.
Of the remaining eight, nearly all of them were either undrafted (4) or taken in the seventh (3). Basically if you're not drafted in the first round, you're more likely to make it in the NFL as an undrafted free agent than if you're selected in any other round of the draft.
The 32 projected starters at left tackle, and draft status, are shown below.
STARTING LEFT TACKLES | ||
---|---|---|
Team | Player | Draft |
Arizona | Jared Veldheer | 3rd |
Atlanta | Jake Matthews | 1st |
Baltimore | Ronnie Stanley | 1st |
Buffalo | Cordy Glenn | 2nd |
Carolina | Michael Oher | 1st |
Chicago | Charles Leno | 7th |
Cincinnati | Andrew Whitworth | 2nd |
Cleveland | Joe Thomas | 1st |
Dallas | Tyron Smith | 1st |
Denver | Russell Okung | 1st |
Detroit | Riley Reiff | 1st |
Green Bay | David Bakhtiari | 4th |
Houston | Duane Brown | 1st |
Indianapolis | Anthony Castonzo | 1st |
Jacksonville | Kelvin Beachum | 7th |
Kansas City | Eric Fisher | 1st |
LA Rams | Greg Robinson | 1st |
Miami | Brandon Albert | 1st |
Minnesota | Matt Kalil | 1st |
New England | Nate Solder | 1st |
New Orleans | Terron Armstead | 3rd |
NY Giants | Ereck Flowers | 1st |
NY Jets | Ryan Clady | 1st |
Oakland | Donald Penn | UDFA |
Philadelphia | Jason Peters | UDFA |
Pittsburgh | Allejandro Villanueva | UDFA |
San Diego | King Dunlap | 7th |
San Francisco | Joe Staley | 1st |
Seattle | Garry Gilliam | UDFA |
Tampa Bay | Donovan Smith | 2nd |
Tennessee | Taylor Lewan | 1st |
Washington | Trent Williams | 1st |
--Andy Richardson