Teams in search of a left tackle need not dispatch scouts to Saskatchewan, Barcelona and Grand Rapids. They need not set up a visit with every street free agent who fills up a doorway. They need not butter up agents of undrafted players with fruit baskets and sweet-whispered promises.
All anyone in need of a left tackle has to do is select one in the first round of the draft. As cows come from farms, left tackles come from first rounds. Last season, 20 of the league's 31 starting left tackles--64.5 percent--were first-round picks.
Left tackles aren't like quarterbacks, receivers, defensive backs or interior offensive linemen--all of which can be found in many of the same places as loose change. The elite skill of the left tackle is so clearly definable that left tackles rarely slip through the cracks. Only two of the starting left tackles in the league last year were undrafted coming out of college--Barry Sims of the Raiders and Derrick Deese of the 49ers.
There are fewer left tackle prospects than prospects at most other positions. Phil Savage, Baltimore's director of college scouting, says the Ravens start out with 25 prospects on their board who can play tackle, compared with 50 who can play on the interior. And less than half of those 25 have quick enough feet to play the left side, where players must be both strong enough to stop a power rusher and quick enough to head off a speed rusher coming around the corner on the quarterback's blind side.
"The level of excellence at guard and center is so low compared to left tackle," Savage says. "A sixth- or seventh-round guy can play on the interior, but probably not at left tackle."
The April draft will add to the list of first-round left tackles because as many as five tackles could be taken that early. Miami's Bryant McKinnie and Texas' Mike Williams are expected to be top 10 selections. Arizona State's Levi Jones vaulted into the first round with a solid showing at the Senior Bowl. Florida junior Mike Pearson might sneak into the round after a solid combine. Auburn's Kendall Simmons, who is considered a tackle by some teams, a guard by others, also could go in the first round.
If history is a guide, left tackles chosen in the first round won't be busts. Picking a tackle in the first round is like picking a hamburger from an intimidating menu--it's the safest thing to do.
In the past 10 drafts, 81 percent of the 43 tackles chosen in the first round have played like first-round picks--or in the case of some younger players, at least have shown the promise to play at a first-round level. That is a phenomenal "hit" rate compared with other positions. Only eight tackles drafted in the first round since 1992 have performed clearly below expectations--Arizona's Ernest Dye, Philadelphia's Bernard Williams, Miami's Billy Milner, Kansas City's Trezelle Jenkins, Green Bay's John Michels, Pittsburgh's Jamain Stephens, Washington's Andre Johnson and Oakland's Matt Stinchcomb.
If McKinnie and Williams are picked in the top 10 and don't succeed, they will be true aberrations. In the past 10 years, every tackle chosen in the top 10 has been a success. Eight of the 12 top-10 picks chosen as offensive tackles since 1992 have been to the Pro Bowl--and a handful, like Tony Boselli, Jonathan Ogden, Willie Roaf and Orlando Pace, could be Hall of Fame-bound.
The low bust factor can be attributed to the fact that it's easy to evaluate left tackles. Lions executive director of player personnel Bill Tobin, who has taken part in drafting seven first-round tackles (Dennis Lick, Ted Albrecht, Keith Van Horne, Jim Covert, Stan Thomas, Tarik Glenn and Jeff Backus), points out that tackles, unlike players at many positions, are gradable on every play.
As a result, there are fewer surprises. Scouts can see how quick their feet are and gauge their ability to recover when caught out of position. They can see if the players can bend their knees. It's evident if they play with power. Height and arm length are indisputable pieces of information.
After watching only a handful of plays, Savage says he realized Ogden could excel at everything required of a left tackle. Rams offensive line coach Jim Hanifan recalls the nearly effortless process of studying Pace before the Rams selected him with the first overall pick in 1997. "If you looked at more than one tape of his, the only reason was to make sure you weren't seeing double," Hanifan says.
Indeed, the Mushroom Club, the brotherhood of offensive line coaches, must be doing a good job of identifying players and selling their needs to team executives and head coaches.
"Most teams rather would not expend a first-round choice on an offensive lineman," Hanifan says. "They'd rather use it on a playmaker, a skill-position athlete or a pass rusher. But if you don't have a left tackle, you'll have to put the tight end over there or chip with the back to eliminate the right defensive end. That takes away from the offense and lets the defense dictate."
The importance of the left tackle can't be overstated. Savage says it is perceived almost as another skill position because what the left tackle does is almost as important as handling the ball. A great one like Ogden makes other players on the line better.
Another reason for choosing a left tackle early is those players tend to be cornerstones who endure. "There is no guarantee when you take one high he's going to be a player," Tobin says. "But if you get a good one, and you usually can, they come in, play early and play long."
And that's what a first-round pick is supposed to do.
M@IL BONDING
DAN POMPEI ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS
I would like to see the Vikings trade Daunte Culpepper for the draft picks the Raiders got from Tampa Bay in the Gruden trade. First, I believe the Vikings could win with Todd Bouman. Second, Culpepper will be hard to sign in a year or two, and the Vikings need to improve their overall talent. Third, Rich Gannon can't play forever, and it would give the Raiders a young franchise quarterback. What do you think?
David Ackerson, Denver
David: I would never trade a potentially great young player like Daunte Culpepper. Players like him are just too hard to find, especially if they play quarterback. It's true Culpepper didn't progress as much last season as he did the year before, but he still has a lot of special qualities that should translate into a lot of special victories.
RELATED ARTICLE: Inside dish.
By DAN POMPEI
When many head coaches switch jobs, their new teams soon begin to look a lot like their old teams. But Jon Gruden isn't looking to turn the Bucs into the Tampa Bay Raiders. Gruden made a gentleman's agreement not to bring members of his Oakland staff with him to Tampa. He also indicated he won't look to sign free agents from his old team. And he says he "can't imagine" the Bucs' offense looking much like the one he ran in Oakland. Gruden is a master at finding the best ways to work with the personnel he has, so he won't try to turn Keyshawn Johnson into Tim Brown. Says Gruden: "I'm on a different time zone, bro." ... One of the reasons Vikings owner Red McCombs hired Mike Tice to be head coach was Tice's ability to influence people. That ability already has been on display. Tice lobbied McCombs and upper management to replace the Vikings' antiquated video system with an expensive state of the art system, and McCombs opened up his wallet. Tice also lobbied the Minnesota state senate for a new stadium. After receiving a standing ovation for his speech, Tice wrote each senator a personal note. Tice is even buttering up the media, giving cramped members of the press a larger work area by converting a racquetball court.... DE Andre Wadsworth, the third overall pick in the 1998 draft, is planning a comeback in 2002 after sitting out last year rehabbing his knee. Wadsworth never played up to his potential with the Cardinals, in part because of repeated knee problems, and the Cardinals let him go last March. His agent reports that every team in the league has inquired about Wadsworth except one--the Cardinals. Those interested teams will have to wait until April to find out more about Wadsworth; he is scheduled to begin making visits and taking physicals sometime next month.... The Bills were so interested in QB Jeff Blake that they were prepared to give the Saints a fifth-round pick for him. And Blake was so interested in playing for the Bills that he was willing to rework his contract. Knowing the Saints would release Blake anyway, the Bills backed out. Now that Blake has been released, he is expected to sign with the Bills.... Don't be surprised if Cowboys rookies are a little resentful of free-agent QB Chad Hutchinson. He will take nearly 15 percent of the Cowboys' rookie pool this season. Salary-cap experts say regardless of the spin coming from Valley Ranch, Hutchinson's deal means the Cowboys will have to play hardball with their other rookies, and perhaps use voidable deals.
3-POINT STANCE
1 Opener 1. The 2002 season may open with a Giants-49ers game on a Thursday night. Think of it as Phoebe, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Joey and Chandler on NBC vs. Terrell, Tiki, Kerry and Mr. Angie Harmon on ESPN.
2 Opener 2. On Sunday of Week 1, while all eyes in Seattle are on new starting quarterback Trent Dilfer, all eyes in the visitors' locker room at Veterans Stadium are blind-folded at the request of team lawyers.
3 Opener 3. ABC unveils John Madden as the replacement for Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football. At the same time, Fox subs Tony Siragusa for Robert Downey Jr. on Ally McBeal. --Mike Kilduff
DAN POMPEI
pompei@sportingnews.com