The Myth of not drafting Guards High

The Myth of not drafting Guards High

Everywhere I look, I see people saying that you do not draft guards high. But if you look at history, highly-drafted true guards have a higher success rate than any other position. Take alook at the history below -- you will see that most (if not all) of the true guards drafted in the top 20 have gone on to become pro bowlers.

Please note that some of the guards on the list never played OG in the NFL and moved straight to tackle. Jon Ogden, for example, is listed as a guard. Davis on Arizona is listed as a guard as well.

My point here is that we shouldn't be afraid to take Iupati if the opportunity presents itself. Scotty has an anti-OG bias, but he needs to get over it.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?position=OL&type=position

It's a key position. Concrete in place a pro bowl type of player for a decade, how can that not be good?

The main reason why guards are not drafted high is because the position doesn't offer much value.

If I draft a LT in the first round and he doesn't work out there, I can move him to RT. If RT doesn't work out, I can move him to G. Whereas, if I just draft a straight up G, there aren't many options for him if he busts.

Originally posted by RedWaltz24:
The main reason why guards are not drafted high is because the position doesn't offer much value.

If I draft a LT in the first round and he doesn't work out there, I can move him to RT. If RT doesn't work out, I can move him to G. Whereas, if I just draft a straight up G, there aren't many options for him if he busts.

Aside from the defensive backfield and the examples you gave, there isn't much movement aside from Mike Nolan's brainwaves such as MRob and Battle.

And any O linemen can move
around, not just tackles. So I don't think this explains it.

Originally posted by nickbradley:
The Myth of not drafting Guards High

Everywhere I look, I see people saying that you do not draft guards high. But if you look at history, highly-drafted true guards have a higher success rate than any other position. Take alook at the history below -- you will see that most (if not all) of the true guards drafted in the top 20 have gone on to become pro bowlers.

Please note that some of the guards on the list never played OG in the NFL and moved straight to tackle. Jon Ogden, for example, is listed as a guard. Davis on Arizona is listed as a guard as well.

My point here is that we shouldn't be afraid to take Iupati if the opportunity presents itself. Scotty has an anti-OG bias, but he needs to get over it.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?position=OL&type=position

2 OG's since 2005 taken at the top half of the 2nd = nickbradley fails.

What OG's did you want us to take since 2005 in the 1st round ?

Well, OGs and OCs are generally less athletic/talented. The better O-lineman tend to get moved outside in their college career, which depletes the talent on the interior. It's kind of rare to have studs like Hutchinson, Andrews and Iupati stick at OG. It's similar to the RB vs FB situation. Size and strength are certainly factors, but largely it comes down to their abilities.

Also, I don't think we can knock Scott for not drafting OGs early. Baas and Rachal were early 2nd rounders, which is very early for an OG. He said that he didn't believe paying an OG $50M+ in reference to Hutchinson's deal. I think most would also agree with that.

If you look at the history link that Nick gave in his post, you can do a percentage (x/32 picks) by round for how many guards were taken in each round. If you construct a small table, you will see that the majority of guards were taken in rounds 3 and 4.

GMs must know something that you don't, cause as a group, they have consistently not drafted OGs in the first and second rounds.

Originally posted by KRS-1:

Originally posted by nickbradley:
The Myth of not drafting Guards High

Everywhere I look, I see people saying that you do not draft guards high. But if you look at history, highly-drafted true guards have a higher success rate than any other position. Take alook at the history below -- you will see that most (if not all) of the true guards drafted in the top 20 have gone on to become pro bowlers.

Please note that some of the guards on the list never played OG in the NFL and moved straight to tackle. Jon Ogden, for example, is listed as a guard. Davis on Arizona is listed as a guard as well.

My point here is that we shouldn't be afraid to take Iupati if the opportunity presents itself. Scotty has an anti-OG bias, but he needs to get over it.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?position=OL&type=position

2 OG's since 2005 taken at the top half of the 2nd = nickbradley fails.

What OG's did you want us to take since 2005 in the 1st round ?

Where did I say anything about second round???

that's because alot of teams find quality guards in the later rounds like the 4th and 5th

Originally posted by nickbradley:

Originally posted by KRS-1:

Originally posted by nickbradley:
The Myth of not drafting Guards High

Everywhere I look, I see people saying that you do not draft guards high. But if you look at history, highly-drafted true guards have a higher success rate than any other position. Take alook at the history below -- you will see that most (if not all) of the true guards drafted in the top 20 have gone on to become pro bowlers.

Please note that some of the guards on the list never played OG in the NFL and moved straight to tackle. Jon Ogden, for example, is listed as a guard. Davis on Arizona is listed as a guard as well.

My point here is that we shouldn't be afraid to take Iupati if the opportunity presents itself. Scotty has an anti-OG bias, but he needs to get over it.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?position=OL&type=position

2 OG's since 2005 taken at the top half of the 2nd = nickbradley fails.

What OG's did you want us to take since 2005 in the 1st round ?

Where did I say anything about second round???

You said Scot has an anti-guard which is not true. He doesn't think OG's should be paid 50 million dollar contracts. He has shown he will draft an OG if the value is there which only proves he has no bias whatsoever.

Originally posted by RedWaltz24:
The main reason why guards are not drafted high is because the position doesn't offer much value.

If I draft a LT in the first round and he doesn't work out there, I can move him to RT. If RT doesn't work out, I can move him to G. Whereas, if I just draft a straight up G, there aren't many options for him if he busts.

This is dead on. When you add the fact that OG's are found in the later rounds that are very successful in the NFL it just doesnt normally make sense to take an OG or C in the top half of the first round.