Brian Galliford, who writes the Buffalo Rumblings blog for SB Nation, also thinks that too much emphasis has been placed on the left tackle by Lewis and others.
"I've long felt that the importance of the left tackle position has been overblown," he told The Good Point. "Not because it's an unimportant position, mind you, but because talking about that specific position seems too much like over-complicating what is, in reality, a pretty simple game. You can't even look at last year's Super Bowl contestants, Pittsburgh and Arizona, without seeing a giant flaw in the logic.
"The Steelers and Cardinals had two of the worst pass-protecting lines in the league; combined, Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner were sacked 72 times in 2008. Max Starks (Pittsburgh) and Mike Gandy (Arizona) are hardly considered to be the cream of the crop when it comes to "elite" NFL left tackles. The Steelers and Cardinals were able to overcome their pass blocking issues with consistent play up front. They didn't even have consistently good play up front, but it was consistent - and good teams can overcome their deficiencies when they're there."
There has been a lot of attention paid to Buffalo's left tackle situation over this offseason, as the Bills traded Pro Bowler Jason Peters to the Philadelphia Eagles for a first-, a fourth- and a conditional sixth-round pick after he had a contract dispute with the team. At the moment, the Bills plan to move right tackle Langston Walker to the left side and right guard Brad Butler to right tackle. Many analysts have criticized the Bills for the Peters trade, arguing that the team sacrificed its chances of winning by trading their star left tackle, but Galliford doesn't see it that way.
"For Buffalo - particularly playing in a division that features three of the better 3-4 nose tackles in the league (Miami's Jason Ferguson, New England's Vince Wilfork and New York's Kris Jenkins) - the whole was far more important than the sum of the parts," he said. "They were willing to sacrifice Peters, even if they didn't necessarily want to, if it meant they could field a better overall offensive line. They moved Langston Walker to left tackle, who at a bare minimum will play consistently. They drafted two guards (Eric Wood, Andy Levitre), signed a center, and moved their most underrated lineman, Brad Butler, out to his more natural tackle position.
"Trading Peters hurts from a talent standpoint - there's no question he's one of the NFL's ‘elite' at his position - but it's a necessary and worthy sacrifice if it means that the Bills have a better, more consistent offensive line. And if there are problems, the unit should be consistent to the point where the Bills can mask their deficiencies with smart game-planning."
Galliford said there's little correlation between having a star left tackle and winning games, so he's confident the team will be fine without Peters.
"The bottom line is this: if left tackles were as important as many make them out to be, teams like the Bills (Peters), Browns (Joe Thomas), Broncos (Ryan Clady), Vikings (Bryant McKinnie), and Redskins (Chris Samuels) would have won a lot more games than they actually have," he said. "All have had, or currently have, serious question marks at quarterback, however. It's far more difficult to find a bad team with a good quarterback, and there's a reason for that."
Jason Brewer, who covers the Eagles for the SB Nation site Bleeding Green Nation, said he regards the left tackle more highly than Joyner and Galliford.
"I think it's just about imperative to have a good LT on a winning team," he said. "Any time an opposing team can pressure the passer, the likelihood of turnovers goes up. When a team can pressure the passer from his blind side, turnovers are even more likely. We all know that moment that makes you cringe, when your QB is looking downfield, you can plainly see that DE coming unblocked at his blind side, and he doesn't know the guy is there. How many times that does end up in a strip sack or the QB getting hammered and fumbling? Often."
Brewer said if he was an NFL general manager, acquiring a solid left tackle would be one of his top priorities.
"I'd probably rank LT as my number-three priority," he said. "Franchise QB comes first, then an elite pass rusher, then the LT."
Brewer said he thinks the Peters trade is a good move for Philadelphia.
"The amount of picks is really not all that great," he said. "There was a late first, a fourth, and then I believe a sixth-rounder in 2010. For a two time pro bowl LT who's only 27, that's fairly cheap in my opinion. It's far less than the Eagles would probably have had to give up in order to move up in the draft for one of the two ‘elite' LT prospects."
Brewer said he expects Peters to have a big year in the Eagles' offence.
"I'm optimistic about Peters. He has the athleticism to do the kind of things the Eagles ask of their offensive lineman. I think now that he's properly motivated and got the money he was after, he should return that devastating form of 2007 that made the league sit up and take notice of him."
Despite the high price paid for him, Joyner agrees that Peters will make an impact in Philadelphia, but not necessarily because of his pass-blocking skills.
"At first I thought the Eagles might have made a mistake in the Peters deal because he gave up 11.5 sacks last year," he said. "After tabulating his run blocking totals (which included a terrific 90.1% Point of Attack block win percentage), I think the Eagles made a very good move, especially since I believe they are going to start leaning on the run game a bit more this year."
Current Comments
0 comments so far (post your own)