ESPN's Schefter channels his energy into NFL

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Jets:

LT: Ferguson-1st round (4th overall)
LG: Faneca-1st round (26th overall)
C: Mangold-1st round (29th overall)
RG: Moore-undrafted
RT: Woody-1st round (17th overall)

But when you think of how the Jets built this line (and even how the Ravens built theirs), it's mostly because of the value they put on the position. I mean, Mangold has developed into the league's best Center, which means he was way more valuable than the 29th overall pick, but no team besides the Jets was really considering him in the first round. They have him because they put a premium on a position that a team that continually trots out Casey Rabach clearly could care less about. It's a team that spent the 4th overall pick on a left tackle because they felt like if they could fill the position, it would free them up to do other things with the offense. And both Faneca and Woody were big money acquisitions.

The Ravens took Oher knowing that they probably could have convinced Anderson to give them one more season at the RT spot and got a high level of play out of him, but even with a young, elite LT, the Ravens took a guy that a bunch of other teams had undervalued. It's not like the Ravens didn't have needs elsewhere (such as WR or CB) that could have helped them just as much. They just prioritized the line. Flacco is just a standard-level first round talent, much like Jason Campbell, Josh Freeman, Jay Cutler, etc. But you keep feeding his offense talent, and he'll keep winning.