<b>DesertScar</b>: "Well, let us look at Jerry Rice instead. I do believe if the next Jerry Rice was coming out he would be the first pick without question." <b>RR</b>: Yeah, but the ORIGINAL Jerry Rice wasn't selected until the middle of the first round.
True, but don't you think the rest of the league wished they had their pick back? I personally don't believe Urlacher is overrated. And sure having a group of 4 excellent guys on the DL makes the LBs job easier. But I'll typically start a defense on an all-pro LB (Urlarcher, Lewis) or DE (Strahan) over a DT. Further, finding those 1-dimesional run plugging 350lbs NT types (Washington, Goose, Traylor, Brown) is a lot easier than finding an Urlacher, Lewis or Strahan's. Don;t get me wrong, those big guys are valuable and free up other players, but the fact they often sit for 3rd and long where the great LB/DEs play all downs gives you and idea of their relative worth.
It's a cause and effect relationship. The reason why you force the other team in a 3rd and long situation, is because the fat NG's stuffed the run... The fact remains that an average LB can look good, if he has space eaters at NG. I don't see anyhting wrong with having to take out NG's in pass situations. I prob would want to have 4 DE's on the DL in pass situations anyway.
But you are missing the other "cause" in this, the LBs making the plays. If you watch Urlracher and Lewis, they stop the backs cold. They make a 1 hard hole = a one yard run, where as other excellent but less dominant LBs (say the fine Zach Thomas) tackle the guy but the guy may still get another 2-3 yards on momentum. You get no argument from me that the Raven's and Bear's DTs are a big part of the defense, but the speed, force and instincts of their LBs in addressing the run and the pass is what seperates those defenses from the other good ones.
LB is my favourite position because i think they are the ones who run the D and do the most for their team, they just dont get the respect they deserve
<b>Desert Scar</b>: Sure everyone would like another shot at drafting Jerry Rice, but it's not the mid-80s anymore. That's the point: knowing who the next dominant positional player will be is a crapshoot. Fourteen NFL professionals were wrong about Rice; I think he was the 15th pick. I don't care who those 14 had lining up at wideout, if they had known how good Rice was going to become, they would have picked him regardless.
Knowing the dominant ANYTHING is a crapshoot. The best guard over the last 15 years wasn't drafted in the first 2 rounds (Larry Allen). If you look at the top 4 or 5 picks that were spent on QBs or RBs over the last 5, 10 or 20 years their payoff has been pretty good. Sure there are your Ki-jana's and Leaf's, but there are Manning, McNabbs, Coachs, McNairs, James, and Williams too. As any drafting is a risky position, after all career hampering injury can happen any time or the guy just might not pan out, but you want to have a huge potential payoff for a #1 pick. To me such a payoff is most likely to come from a franchise skill player (QB most likely, RB perhaps, WR doubtfully--but we did see what Jerry Rice has been doing for over 15 years), though an exceptional LB or DE is a solid route to go also.
