How important is the Left Tackle? (or. why we should trade Jake Long) | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

How important is the Left Tackle? (or. why we should trade Jake Long)

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DevilInPgh

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http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/...f-the-left-tackle-and-other-myths/?ref=sports

Offensive Line
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Whether this notion was ever true is one discussion. (It’d be interesting to see how many games that starting quarterbacks have missed in recent years because of a nasty hit or even just pass-rushing pressure from their blind side; in all likelihood, it’s probably no more than they’ve missed from taking hits while scrambling or being blitzed cleanly up the middle.)

What’s not a discussion is that this notion is true now. With so much of the passing game now predicated on quick strikes, multiple spread patterns and the shotgun, a star left tackle is not vital. Look at the last four Super Bowl-winning left tackles. You have the Giants’ Dave Diehl, a natural guard who plays outside because of personnel necessity; you have Chad Clifton of the Packers, a good-but-not-great aging veteran; then there’s Jermon Bushrod, an athletic enough player but, at the time of the Saints’ Super Bowl, arguably the poorest, shakiest pass-blocking technician in the league; before him was the mammoth but wildly inconsistent Max Starks of the Steelers.

Everyone keeps talking about the declining value of the running back. But the position is not losing importance – it’s just changing. What is losing importance is the almighty left tackle. After Michael Lewis’s bestselling book “The Blind Side” came out in 2006, and again after the book was made into a Hollywood blockbuster, it became chic for people to trumpet the importance of the left tackle. After all, the quarterback is the most important player on the field and the left tackle protects the quarterback’s blind side, right? Therefore, the left tackle must be the second most important player on the field.What’s more, look at the teams that have had the top left tackles over the past five years: Cleveland Browns (Joe Thomas), Miami Dolphins (Jake Long), Denver Broncos (Ryan Clady), Tennessee Titans (Michael Roos) and Philadelphia Eagles/Buffalo Bills (Jason Peters). Any powerhouses on that list?

The reality is that left tackles are nice, but they don’t correlate with winning and losing.If left tackles are less important these days, then so are right tackles. Right tackles’ value has probably declined even more considering that the proliferation of spread offenses has taken away from the traditional running game.

While edge blockers are on the down trend, interior blockers are on the up. With quarterbacks having so many presnap responsibilities, it doesn’t hurt if your center can help with some of the protection calls. Having quality guards is important because many teams have taken their blitzes from the outside to the inside. That’s the fastest route to the quarterback and also creates visual congestion, which can disrupt the timing of the quick-passing game. It’s more important than ever for a guard to be consistent and smart.

Just because great quarterbacks can mask a limited offensive line, and just because fullbacks and traditional running plays are trending down, doesn’t mean offensive linemen are headed for irrelevance. In fact, they may soon be more significant than ever because, as we’ll examine next, rushing attacks are going to take on a whole new, space-oriented dimension. With more run plays destined to occur out of passing formations, offensive linemen will have to be more mobile than ever. That’s convenient because, in the meantime, the sophistication and speed of defensive blitzes has increased the athletic demands on pass blockers.
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Because creating more holes is the best way to fix things.
 
OyeDale305 said:
Thank god colombo wasn't playing LT
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Colombo shouldn't have been playing period, regardless of position. What the author is saying is that Super Bowl-caliber teams get by with average-to-good LTs, while teams with elite LTs haven't exactly been going anywhere lately. Hence, why having an elite LT is overrated (and sucks up money from the skill positions).
 
Ive said it once. Ill say it again. Great QBs win. And great QBs make average OLs look great.
 
We have him now. Why trade him and try to replace him? Makes no sense.
 
I'd trade him for the right price. 1st and 3rd compensation. The Bills or the Cardinals could have him for that price. I'd draft kuechly and Chris Greenwood(the best pure athlete in this draft). I'd draft Tom Compton and Jeff Adams with our 4th and 5th to compete at OT.
 
Having a great LT is a good thing.  Having a great LT with a mammoth contract is less of a good thing.  If you could have 85% of the LT Jake is at one-third of the cost, it'd be a smart thing to move him for a 1st rounder, especially when you're up against the cap like we were this offseason.  Now that's a cap management problem more than anything else I'll admit, but I'm not sure any team with an elite LT is reaping the rewards compared to how much money they are doling out.  The point isn't to replace Long with a bum - it's to replace Long with someone who's good enough and costs a lot less.

Bang for your buck.  Cam Wake was a hell of a bang for your buck move, but now he needs to be paid.  Players that produce early in their careers are bang for your buck pieces.  Get enough of those "bang for your buck" pieces at once and you have a championship team because you can fit a lot more talent under your salary cap.  I'm not sure if anyone has done a formal analysis, but I bet there's a strong correlation between the number of players outperforming their contract and winning.

This is a production vs. cost business.  LT seems to be a position where 85% production at 30% of the cost is better than 100% production at 100% of the cost.  I'm not saying I want to trade Jake Long, but I can see the logic behind doing so.
 
LT is the 2nd most important position in football.

A distant 2nd of course. People who blindly mention Joe Thomas, Clady etc (or even Jake Long) need to consider who has been playing QB for these teams
 
Doctor Phibes said:
LT is the 2nd most important position in football.

A distant 2nd of course. People who blindly mention Joe Thomas, Clady etc (or even Jake Long) need to consider who has been playing QB for these teams
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Do you think it might have something to do with their contracts?
 
DevilInPgh said:
Do you think it might have something to do with their contracts?
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Do you mean if you pay your LT 8-10m a year then you can't afford an eilte QB ? i.e. it's one or the other

Well certainly the more you pay one player the less there is to spend elsewhere but I'm not sure you can't have both

Talking specifically about the Dolphins I'd rather pay 9m a year to Jake Long as opposed to 9m a year to Brandon Marshall, 7m a year to Dansby, 20m for 3 years of Carey, 10m for 1 year of Will Allen, 12m for 2 years of Smiley, 9m for 1 year of Gibril Wilson, 16m for 1 year of Grove etc
 
Wasn't Ryan Clady in the same draft as Jake Long? isn't he as good or better than Long? Miami could've traded down and still got a comparable LT. There's just no value in taking the 'best' player in a deep field where the margin between 'best' and 'second-best' is slight if not just subjective. This year, the overrated position could be WR.
 
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