Robert Gallery went # 2 Leonard Davis went # 6 Shawn Andrews went # 16 All were good picks. Just because someone hopes a guard can play tackle doesn't make the player a tackle.
Man, I remember the hype surrounding Peter Warrick. I desparately wanted the Jets to trade up to get him. Thank God we didn't - Coles didn't turn out to be a superstar, but he sure as hell was better than Warrick.
Except for the fact that they came into the league after playing tackle in college. It also doesn't make a guard a good pick in the top 10. They were valued that high based on their assumed ability to play tackle. If everyone knew they were going to be solid guards, they still would have gone much later in the draft. One of the facts that you're missing here is that these teams chose these guys to play tackle because they needed tackles. Robert Gallery turning into a Pro Bowl guard didn't solve the Raiders' left tackle problems. Then maybe they should have him try out at DE.
At this point, might as well. He may be bigger than the Ghost at this point. I don't know who would win a race though, could take a while.
Tackles are harder to find so most NFL guards played some OT in college. Even though guards haven't been targeted in the top 10 does not take away from the value that they provide to an NFL team. I don't care why the teams selected the guards, what is important is that they were worth a high first rounder. Guards also tend to play 10-15 years at a high level while many RBs wear out in five years. As NFL teams have come to realize the value of a pro bowl caliber guard, salaries have started to catch up. There is no reason a team shouldn't take a guard in the top 10 if they believe that he can play at a high level for more than a decade.
You're still missing the point that Gallery wasn't meant to be a guard and that his moving to guard still left them with a hole at LT. That is why he is a bust. I really don't want to go too far away from the OP in this thread.
The point you are trying to make is moot. Until you accept that intentions are irrelevant you will not understand why the picks made sense.
How can the pick make sense if it completely failed to live up to the way it needed to? The fact that these players worked out at a different position is a consolation prize. And how is having a hole at left tackle irrelevant?
Don't even get me started on need vs BAP. So the Jets taking a Mike Nugent in round two was a good pick because they had a hole at kicker and he started for them?
watching Joey Harrington in college he looked like a sure thing. the guy threw on laser lines to hit receivers perfectly. the Lions had to have simply ruined him.
Nobody ruined Harrington. He wasn't the first or will be the last good to great college QB to fail at the next level. He simply couldn't play. And the guy was an albatross in the lockerroom.
Agreed. Conventional draft wisdom is that you don't take interior OL in the 1st round unless they're damn good. They RARELY go top 15 because, frankly, they don't have to. You can get good guards later on; it's a lot harder to find a big strong guy that can pull and play in space. Those guys are tackles and they're drafted higher.
My point is that intentions are meaningless. The Jets got the kicker they intended to yet the pick still sucks.
That doesn't even change the fact that Gallery isn't a Pro Bowl guard. He's been good at the position, but he doesn't have that Pro Bowl appearance. The fact is, Gallery was picked because he was considered a potential All-Pro at Left Tackle. He didn't live up to those expectations. Therefore, he's a bust. Has he resurrected his career? Absolutely. Has he done well at guard? Sure. Does that change the fact that he 100% failed to live up to expectations? Not in the slightest. When Gallery reaches a Pro Bowl, we'll talk. All of the players around him in that 2004 draft did, and all at their drafted positions. Oh, and the first player tagged to play Guard in that draft wasn't taken until the mid-2nd round. And he has as many Pro Bowls as Gallery.
The last player taken in the Top 10 TO PLAY GUARD was in 1997, and that was at #10. Steve Hutchinson was considered a sure thing when he was drafted at #17, and even that was considered high for a guard.
