Arguments for a Left Tackle in the 2010 Draft.

[Saccopoo]

While the vast majority of drafturbators around here think that Branden Albert is doing a remarkable job and had a great last half of the season, some people believe that adding a competent offensive left tackle would be a prudent and viable selection for the Chiefs with their first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Some supporting arguments for a left tackle:

Wes Bunting: Well, after Suh, McCoy and Berry, Russell Okung's a pretty safe pick. Sure, he might not be the sexiest of guys, but honestly Branden Albert was one of the highest rated guards I'd seen and yet he hasn't yet had the type of career because he's be a run-of-the-mill tackle. You'd be surprised how quickly that offensive line would improve if you got a legit offensive tackle in there and kick Branden Albert inside. Some good things could happen.

From Walters 2010 Mock:

Fortunately, Pioli, who is a big believer in positional value, can take Okung without sacrificing too much of his team's payroll into the left tackle position. Albert makes less than $1 million in each of the next two seasons, and was a guard at Virginia anyway.

Okung is the real deal. He could take the Chiefs' offense to the next level, though the team will ultimately struggle in the playoffs because of Cassel's limitations.

From Walters/Matt McGuire's Mock:

Russell Okung - This pick is a no-brainer and barring a huge screw-up, I think we can all be 99-percent assured the Kansas City Chiefs are handcuffed to taking a left tackle at this pick. It will be interesting to see whether it ends up being Okung, Anthony Davis or Bruce Campbell, as the battle for the No. 1 tackle spot is one of the best storylines of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Okung was the most consistent lineman in the nation this year and he will test out on a very high level athletically.

From Draftcountdown:

The Chiefs have plenty of needs and could go in a number of different directions here but their offensive line play has been particularly troubling. In fact, Kansas City ranked among the worst in the league when it comes to sacks allowed. Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung isn’t an elite prospect in the mold of Tony Boselli, Jon Ogden or Orlando Pace but he has clearly emerged as the top offensive tackle in this class and will likely be a Top 10 pick. With good size, long arms, great strength, above-average athleticism and feet as well as top-notch intangibles, Okung is just a very good all-around blocker. Okung could slide into the starting lineup at either left or right tackle for the Chiefs and any investment in keeping franchise quarterback Matt Cassel upright is money well spent.

From Mel Kiper:

I think the Chiefs could use help at safety as well, but Berry likely won't fall this far, and they'd be reaching on either of the two other safeties with first-round grades. Okung could solve two problems, making him a good value -- he could step in at LT and allow the Chiefs to move Brandon Albert to the right side. A pick that can pay immediate dividends for the Chiefs.

From Don Banks/Sports Illustrated:

If Berry should get this far, the Chiefs would be the benefactors, but Okung seems like the right fit in the right spot for Kansas City. The Chiefs have tons of needs, but in Okung they would be getting a franchise left tackle, allowing them to shift Branden Albert back to his more natural right tackle position.

It's damn near a cultural universal!

Also in opposition to people who believe that Branden Albert had a very good last four games, in the Buffalo game, he was penalized three times (tied for most in a game in 2009) and gave up a whopping five quarterback pressures. In the Cincinatti game, he was penalized twice and allow a hit on the quarterback. In actuality, taking out the fluke Denver game, which was a drive block fest as Jamaal Charles racked up a Chiefs single game rushing record, Albert did not perform well in the last quarter of the season. Yes, he didn't give up any sacks, but there were a lot of qb pressures and penalties.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Good thing there's 7 rounds in the draft, so they can address other needs after the first round.

You know, like nose tackle. And right offensive tackle.

Don't forget safety and middle linebacker, because you aren't going to convince anyone that they are more important than any position on the offensive line.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by philfree

However, there is reason to believe Okung won't be as effective in pass protection in the NFL. First, he is not as strong at the top of his pass set as teams would like because at 6-foot-8 he struggles to sink his hips. More importantly, Okung does not appear to have elite foot speed so his footwork will always have to be sound. He also lacks the agility and flexibility Davis has shown.

That pretty much sums up what I've said about Okung, and is pretty much the opposite of anything the SadSac has said.

[Saccopoo]

Actually, he's not 6'8" but rather 6'5" and he has very good knee bend and sinks his hips quite well. He comes out of his stance quickly and gets under the pads of his opponent very effectively.

Davis has been disciplined/suspended by his coach in college numerous times because he doesn't have the work ethic to keep his weight down.

[BossChief]

You could make a much better highlight video of Albert than that....

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by BossChief

You could make a much better highlight video of Albert than that....

Yeah but all of Alberts highlights would be against NFL defenders and thats worse

oh wait.

[milkman]

First, I was talking about foot speed, you know, the bolded part.

And really, you're using highlights in which Robinson is getting the ball out in 2 seconds or less, and on about three of them you can see Okung actually getting beat to the inside,and lose his balance once while trying to seal the outside edge?

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by BossChief

You could make a much better highlight video of Albert than that....

Not from his two years as a Chief you couldn't.

You could make a terrifically long lowlight video though.

(Besides, I just put on the first one that came up on YouTube to show Milk his knee bend.)

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by milkman

First, I was talking about foot speed, you know, the bolded part.

And really, you're using highlights in which Robinson is getting the ball out in 2 seconds or less, and on about three of them you can see Okung actually getting beat to the inside,and lose his balance once while trying to seal the outside edge?

Cripes, I didn't make the video. I thought you were complaining about his knee bend and sinking of his hips, which is definitely not a problem with Okung.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Cripes, I didn't make the video. I thought you were complaining about his knee bend and sinking of his hips, which is definitely not a problem with Okung.

Yeah, I could see how you would think that, since I bolded the part about the foot speed.

[RustShack]

OK so the first snap it looks like Okung is getting man handled even with the guard right there, the next snap he did an alright job pushing the DE out of the play even though he was clearly too fast for him, next was a great run block, the next play Okung was blown backwords bad.. the QB was about eight yards back and still almost got stepped on by Okung a second after the snap, can't really see the next one too well because the camera rolls out to the other side with the QB, the next play he does a decent job holding his blocker with the help of the TE.. still far from great though, this run block was just all around fail by him, Okung is getting pushed back into the QB again and Robinson has to drop back further than he should versus stepping up like a good pocket would allow you.

OK so after watching your clip of "highlights" I have come to the conclusion that the right side of their OLine did a far better job protecting the QB, Okung is great at run blocking unless its to the outside, and that his highlight film is what most elite LT's lowlight film would look like.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by milkman

Yeah, I could see how you would think that, since I bolded the part about the foot speed.

Looks like he has very active feet, keeping them centered underneath him and constantly moving to keep his center line.

Looks pretty good to me.

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Looks like he has very active feet, keeping them centered underneath him and constantly moving to keep his center line.

Looks pretty good to me.

He gets pushed into the QB, I see a good block on a LB as the TE takes the DE on a run play, I see him getting blown into the QB, I see nice pass protection on a very quick pass, I see him being helped be a TE again, I see him trying to pull and completely whiffs on a block , I see him getting pushed way outside and a LB blowing in, another nice runblock, I see him holding his block well but a flag was thrown, I see him doing an OK job pulling, but its hard to tell because that was just an all around ugly play but not on his part, he finally did a good job handing the DE, he is getting pushed back in to the QB again, nice block on the PA but I can't see much of it because the camera rolls with the QB on the bootleg, I see him holding the DT well and the TE running out so no ones blocking the DE, I see him finally pushing the DE well out of the play, he pulls for no gain, nice pocket but he also has TE help again, nice pass protection, another good block but on a LB, good protection on a very quick pass, nice protection, getting pushed into the QB but it really wasn't bad protection, good protection, good protection, good protection, pushes the DE away from the QB, I see the LB and DE just blowing past him on each side and he doesn't even touch either one , I see him pulling and the RB is stuffed for a big loss, nice protection on the quick pass, nice protection, QB sacked but nice protection for Okung's side, DE blows by and would get sack if not for quick release, I see him missing a chiping the DE and letting him by but HB sidesteps and Okung driving back a LB, decent pass protection, run block looks ok but hes lined up like a TE and it went to the other side, bad block even with help from LG but play is completed, keeps DE away from QB, great run blocking, hes getting drove back bad, great block again on the PA roll out(to the other side), decent pass block with help from TE, nice job of driving the DE way back but he should have moved on to the next guy that about smacks the RB, getting drove back again but pretty decent protection, best pass blocking I've seen from him yet, having trouble with the spin but holds it on the quick pass, does a pretty good job pushing the DE to the outside but falls over as the ball is quickly released, nice runblock but has to go down with the DE and LB makes play for minimal gain, good job pushing DE out of pocket, Gets pushed back but still holds a nice block, replay and it looks the same from this angle, nice run block it looks like but ball is fumbled at exchange, great run block, decent job pushing DE out but still gets pressure, looks like QB is ten yards back and Okung is still getting pushed into his face, getting pushed into the QB, nice pass protection, decent pass protection, nice initial runblock but its a flea flicker and he can't handle the block anymore and its almost ****ed, pretty good run block, a little better run block this time, nice protection with help and on blitz, looks better on this replay where you can't see outside pressure,

OK so after watching this clip, Okung is pretty damn good at run blocking, but ****ing sucks at pulling. He only made two pass blocks that looked like a great LT, it it weren't for the quick release shotgun spread it looks like he would give up quite a few sacks, the right side overall looked A LOT better in pass protection which makes me wonder who their RG and RT are, and Dez Bryant looks like a monster.

So to go off of that, he looks like a better RT to me still, and I guess it depends on if Haley and Weis want to use the LT to pull like last year.. because of thats the case it HAS to be Albert. It also looked like he had a TE on his side at least half the time if not more. His hand was rarely in the dirt and the few plays it was were some of his worst blocks, and Robinson was in the shotgun about 90% more than Cassel. Serious question though, it said highlights and lowlights.. was the run blocking the highlights and pass blocking the lowlights? I do admit he was better at run blocking than I thought(excluding the pull plays) and actually might be worse in pass protection than I was giving credit for.

[Saccopoo]

The pass blocking is pretty much what you want to see. Up, out and around. Don't let your guy inside you, which Okung is very good at in sealing off the inside. He only gave up one sack in 2009.

You're right - Dez Bryant is a monster. I wouldn't be disappointed if he was the pick at #5.

[The Bad Guy]

Is Sac related to Okung's agent?

Good lord.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Is Sac related to Okung's agent?

Good lord.

I'm starting to think he's related to Okung himself.

He's got a bigger hard-on for this kid than findthedr did for Trevor ****ing Laws.