Branden Albert

[Canuck]

Any chance he can vault up the boards to be the first OL taken? According to Mike Mayock and Charles Davis both have him in their top 7 prospects and Mayock even goes as far as Albert being the best interior lineman he's ever scouted. That combined with his 36" arms and quick feet make him a tackle prospect at the next level.

Could Albert go #1 to Miami? As ridiculous as this sounds?

 

[arsenal]

with the amount of money guards are making in free agency, it wouldn't surprise me to see guards start going higher than they used to... but no way i see us taking him number 1

 

[Canuck]

with the amount of money guards are making in free agency, it wouldn't surprise me to see guards start going higher than they used to... but no way i see us taking him number 1

I think most scouts/NFL personnel people project Albert as an offesive tackle in the pros, not guard. And if he's a top 7 prospect overall according to two pretty solid evaluators in Mayock and Davis, what's to say he doesn't jump Jake Long as the top tackle prospect? Just saying.

 

[arsenal]

well i think most teams will have him staying at guard in the NFL... if he were gonna switch to tackle, id doubt hed go top 10 because teams would be wary to draft someone to play tackle that has only played 1 or 2 games at the position in their entire college career...

 

[FinFanatic80]

Agreed, if a team is going to invest a 1st round pick in someone I would have to believe they would most likely play him at the position he played in college, but Jacksonville picked Matt Jones in the middle of round 1 to play receiver so you never know. But i seriously doubt he'd go anywhere near #1.

 

[Canuck]

Agreed, if a team is going to invest a 1st round pick in someone I would have to believe they would most likely play him at the position he played in college, but Jacksonville picked Matt Jones in the middle of round 1 to play receiver so you never know. But i seriously doubt he'd go anywhere near #1.

Both Mayock and Davis project him to go in the top 10 and both agree he'll play tackle. In a draft with no clear cut #1 pick, I simply am posing the scenario in which Albert could be the first OT taken. And as a team who needs a LT, I am wondering if he's being considered there.

 

[Dolphin Dave]

I just dont see him jumping over Jake Long. Albert is a tremendous talent to be sure. However, how could anyone project him as a better tackle than Long when he has virtually no playing experience at the position. Long has been a dominate 4 year starter at the position. Albert will be a 1st rd pick for someone like the Steelers at #23. If he were to slip to us at #32 we would be crazy not to take him and pair him up next to Jake Long for the next 10-12 years. Oh God that thought makes my sticker peck out just thinking about the posibilities.

 

[jim1]

I just dont see him jumping over Jake Long. Albert is a tremendous talent to be sure. However, how could anyone project him as a better tackle than Long when he has virtually no playing experience at the position. Long has been a dominate 4 year starter at the position. Albert will be a 1st rd pick for someone like the Steelers at #23. If he were to slip to us at #32 we would be crazy not to take him and pair him up next to Jake Long for the next 10-12 years. Oh God that thought makes my sticker peck out just thinking about the posibilities.

At some point there might be a paradigm shift, sea change, whatever you want to call it regarding these matters: the opportunity cost and risk of signing a high draft pick that doesn't work out are so humonguous (see comments by Huizenga and Jerry Jones) that if a contract can be prenegotiated with an acceptable player at an acceptable salary, that might take precedent over pure talent and availability.

Example: If the Dolphins value Ryan Clady, Jeff Otah, or Branden Albert near to the level of a Jake Long, then who is to say that they wouldn't try to sign one of them to an acceptable salary before the draft. The buzz is in the air, teams are tired of overpaying high draft picks. Huizenga flat out said that he would rather give that kind of money to a proven veteran than to an unproven rookie. If the Dolphins did something like that I would have no problem with it. The money left over would go to signing veterans, as Huizenga recently promised.

 

[Digital]

Albert is only an upper half of the first guy because he can play LT. Being that he only started playing football his junior year in high school (he was an elite basketball prospect), and that he'd have to adjust from playing LG, I don't see him being a top 10 pick. He has the athletic ability, desire, work ethic, coaching, etc. to do it, but he's a projection there. First he'll have to refine his technique in the NFL as every lineman does; but for him he started so late it'll be a big step. Then he'll have to be shifted to LT down the road, so he's not a plug-and-play LT like Clady or Long.

The only reason Albert didn't play LT in college was D'brickishaw Ferguson was there when he enrolled, and when he left UVa had recruited Eugene Monroe--who will be an elite LT prospect in the 2009 Draft. So, for him the choices were RT or G. UVa decided to play him at LG and dominate that side of the line in the running game. Albert played 2 games as our LT. I think the reason he was put at LG instead of RT is because they always saw him as an LT and wanted him comfortable playing in that direction. Monroe and Albert together made for a monster left side of the line at UVa. :)

 

[fishypete]

I have my doubts that Albert would be taken with the first pick...right now the two players that make the most sense are Dorsey and J. Long.

You don't reach for potential, when you have production.

 

[Dolphins101]

If he's really good maybe maybe he's overlooked till he falls to #32. But their will slot of good linemen around even in the 3rd round.

 

[ssnjamerson]

I really like BAlbert but if its a OT other than Long it will be Clady. I would love to take Long with the first then somehow B Albert slip to #32. Then we would be set. I like NIcks at 32 also. But maybe we can get the Cowboys to trade and give us 22 and 28 so we can take Albert with 22.

 

[Pinkboy]

I really like BAlbert but if its a OT other than Long it will be Clady. I would love to take Long with the first then somehow B Albert slip to #32. Then we would be set. I like NIcks at 32 also. But maybe we can get the Cowboys to trade and give us 22 and 28 so we can take Albert with 22.

Albert won't last until 22 anyway.

Alot of teams need O-Line help.

 

[#1dolphinsfan]

i doubt that he will be drafted #1 i think that would be a Reach if we are going to draft a OL #1 it is going to be jake Long and then a OG later in the draft

 

[umpalu]

Any chance he can vault up the boards to be the first OL taken? According to Mike Mayock and Charles Davis both have him in their top 7 prospects and Mayock even goes as far as Albert being the best interior lineman he's ever scouted. That combined with his 36" arms and quick feet make him a tackle prospect at the next level.

Could Albert go #1 to Miami? As ridiculous as this sounds?

i didnt say it, but i back it lol