Clady and Long are completely different players. Let me give you a quick overview. Jake Long is the most dominant run blocker in this draft at any position and will instantly become one of the best--and quite possibly THE BEST--run blockers at the LT position in the NFL. He almost never gets penalties, he almost never has mental lapses, he almost never misses games from injuries, and in the last 2 years at LT in the Big 10 he allowed only 1 sack ... that's both years inclusive. That one sack was to Vernon Gholston whose entire game is built around being a pass rusher and who is expected to be a great pass rusher in this league. Long was rated higher than Joe Thomas when both were in the Big 10. Thomas also gave up a sack while in the Big 10.
Clady is a zone blocker who is very weak as a run blocker and often has mental lapses. Athletically he's really quick, fast, and long so he has the potential to be the best pass pro guy in this draft, but the end result is that his mental lapses really bring that into question. He scored low on the Wonderlich also, which didn't dispell the questions about his mental lapses in his game. IMHO, he's the 2nd best LT in this draft and the very best pass protector.
The thing to remember is that while Clady is athletically better and has the higher ceiling to be the better pass protector, he isn't that today, Jake Long is because he's so consistent. But the difference in their ceilings (Clady's is higher) at pass pro isn't all that large. In contrast, their run blocking isn't even close, as Jake Long is a true dominator in the mold of the old Erik Williams of the Cowboys and Clady is a bit of a cream puff. If we still had Cam and a passing oriented offense, I'd probably not pick Jake Long first, in fact I might pick Clady ahead of Jake Long, but with Parcells smash-mouth offense, it's really a no brainer, Jake Long is light years better than Clady for a Parcells team. In fact, none of the 1st round LT's is really a Parcells guy except Jake Long and Jeff Otah, and Otah is rough around the edges in every aspect of his game.
By the 2nd round, there's simply not going to be a starting LT available that fits Parcells' system. Your choices are either draft Jake Long in round 1 or keep Vernon Carey at LT ... it really is that clear cut.
Now, if we could trade down, we could take Jake Long somewhere in the 2-6 range, or maybe even get Jeff Otah in the 8-20 range, but that's really all we can do.
Clady isn't an option as he's not much of a run blocker and not nearly strong enough to work in Parcells' system. Williams is extremely raw and only has decent run blocking potential. Albert only started playing football his junior year in high school (former elite basketball prospect) and he played LG in college at UVa, so he needs work and he's a projection of a position change. I think Williams and Albert will take 2 years to become true LT's. Sam Baker isn't strong enough, fast enough, and has way too many injury concerns for Parcells to take him in round 1 or 2. Carl Nicks has lots of questions, including he's just not fast/quick enough to play LT IMHO, and he's got a lot of red flags including run ins with the law/character flaws.
If you want anyone other than Jake Long, what you're really saying is that you're happy with Vernon Carey at LT. [ b]I was pleasantly surprised he only allowed 3 sacks at LT last year[/b], but I don't think anybody really thought Carey was good at LT, and considering he's a borderline pro-bowl RT, it's kind of a waste to have him at LT IMHO.
