I think some of you could be a little more open-minded. Read this older article that shows the OTHER SIDE of the argument...
Chris Malumphy at
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Saturday, February 04, 2006
Steelers and Seahawks Used High Draft Picks to Build Strong Offensive Lines
If you want to understand how the most successful franchises use the draft to build their teams, a good place to start is to analyze the starting units of the Super Bowl contestants. Both the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers have starting lineups whose trenches are more often manned by high draft picks than are the so called skill positions. In short, winning football is played by real men, not by tippy-toed, small, finesse players.
The Seattle Seahawks will likely start seven first round draft choices in the Super Bowl (four on offense and three on defense) while the Pittsburgh Steelers will send eight first round starters onto the field (5 on offense and 3 on defense). But you may be surprised at the positions those high draft choices play. Not one is a wide receiver. Only two of the eight defensive backfield starters are first rounders, cornerback Marcus Trufant of the Seahawks and hard-hitting safety Troy Polamulu of the Steelers, who plays almost like an additional linebacker. The Seahawks and Steelers each have only one skill position player on offensive drafted in round one, running back Shaun Alexander for Seattle and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for Pittsburgh.
Both the Steelers and the Seahawks have focused on building strong lines through the draft. On offense, Pittsburgh will start three linemen drafted in the first round (guards Alan Faneca and Kendall Simmons and center Jeff Hartings, who was actually drafted by the Lions). Toss in tight end Heath Miller and four of the six front-line blockers are first round picks. Then note that left tackle Marvel Smith was taken with the seventh pick in round two and you'll truly realize where the draft focus of the Steelers has been the past decade. Seattle also expended top picks to build the left side of the line to protect Matt Hasselbeck's backside and to clear half the field for the running of Shaun Alexander. Perennial all-pro left tackle Walter Jones, perhaps the best in the business, was taken with the sixth pick of the 1997 draft. His sidekick, left guard Steve Hutchinson was taken with the 17th pick of the first round in 2001. Toss in tight end Jerramy Stevens and three of the six members of the offensive line are first rounders.
Amazingly, there have only been 10 guards taken in the first round of the draft since 1996, about one per year, two of whom have been switched to center and one to tackle. More amazingly, four of the 10 will be playing in the Super Bowl this year (Hutchinson for the Seahawks and Faneca, Simmons and Hartings, who will be playing center, for the Steelers). Even yet more amazingly, two of the remaining six (Jermane Mayberry of the Eagles and Ross Verba who was drafted by the Packers and later played tackle for the Browns) also played in the Super Bowl.
The only guards drafted in the first round in the past decade who have not gone to the Super Bowl are Chris Naeole, Pete Kendall, Vernon Carey and Logan Mankins. Naeole was picked by the Saints in 1997 and is now playing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team with reasonable Super Bowl aspirations. Kendall was drafted by the Seahawks in 1996 and now plays center for the Jets. Vernon Carey was drafted by the Dolphins in 2004, another team that can easily be envisioned as a Super Bowl participant in the next few years if they can improve at quarterback. Mankins was drafted with the last pick of round one in 2005 and contributed to the Patriots' second-half surge that led to the playoffs after the team was decimated earlier in the season by injuries.
The focus of this year's Super Bowl contestants on amassing high draft picks to man the offensive line is in sharp contrast to the fact that in recent years there have been more defensive backs and wide receivers taken in the first round than any other position. During the past five drafts the first round picks have included: 29 defensive backs, 25 wide receivers, 21 defensive ends, 20 defensive tackles, 15 quarterbacks, 14 tackles, 13 running backs, eight tight ends, eight linebackers, four guards and two centers. In each of those years, either defensive back or wide receiver was the position with the most players selected in round one. (Defensive end tied defensive backs with six picks each in 2003).
On defensive, there are also a few surprises. Both the Steelers and the Seahwaks have formidable defenses. In the AFC, only the Indianapolis Colts allowed fewer points than the Steelers. In the NFC, only the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers allowed fewer points than the Seahawks. Yet both the Steelers and the Seahawks have fewer first round starters on defense than on offense.
The Seahawks will play a 4-3 defense with first round draft picks Marcuss Tubbs and Grant Wistrom on the line and Marcus Trufant in the defensive backfield. The Steelers will counter with a 3-4 defense with one first rounders Casey Hampton at nose tackle, James Farrior at inside linebacker (originally drafted by the Jets) and Troy Polamalu at safety.
Now don't get the impression that the Steelers and the Seahawks are infallible in their draft selections or that they have a consistent strategy that sets them apart from all other teams. We know that isn't true because they have both made first round selections that just haven't worked out for the team and that have been inconsistent with the idea that they have focused entirely on using high picks to build their lines. The Steelers, for instance, expended first round picks on wide receivers Troy Edwards (1999) and Plexico Burress (2000) and defensive back Chad Scott (1997). Those picks never paid big dividends for Pittsburgh. The Seahawks missed badly when they selected wide receiver Koren Robinson with the ninth pick in 2001 and never made it very far with defensive back Shawn Springs, the third pick in 1997, who is an all-pro player who eventually became too expensive for the Seahawks to keep. The Seahawks also didn't receive any benefit from drafting tackle Chris McIntosh with the 22nd pick in 2000.
Nevertheless, it would be wise for teams with Super Bowl aspirations to note that this year's Super Bowl teams are built around high draft picks on the offensive lines and that the defensive line has not been overlooked either.